History of i-label

The i-collection by Timo Sarpaneva, the result of two years of intensive work, was shown for the first time in April 1956.

The new collection was modern household glass where each product also had its own aesthetic value. The delicate colours and the harmony of shapes made various combinations possible, either with other i-collection products only or together with more traditional glassware. The sophisticated and simplified beauty of the new collection was a natural continuation of the successful Finnish art glass that had become world famous in the early part of the 1950s. Above all, the modern design had now been extended to household glass.

The i-collection and its art pieces received numerous awards in the Triennales of Milan in 1957 and 1960.

For the collection Sarpaneva also designed the packages and the little red i-label. Step by step the i-collection grew and in the 1960s the red label became the trademark for the whole Iittala collection.