The company has become a household name in Germany, where one in three consumers recognizes the Flötotto brand name. Elmarflötotto sees itself as an ideas business and has moved far beyond what the non-expert might associate with this name. Its program now embraces original furniture, lamps and various objects that defy easy classification. Take for example the Fluffizoo (by Studio Vertijet): the playful animal shapes in brightly coloured foam can serve as both a toy and a child’s seat. In the late 1970s Anna and Elmar Flötotto took over the family company in its third generation. They soon introduced a fresh approach, setting up a furniture import agency under the Elmarflötotto label and creating their own product designs from time to time. By the beginning of the 1990s, the first collection of Flötotto designs was on the market. And a decade or so later – having completely unexpectedly taken the world by storm with their luminous Lumibär and then acquired the Authentics brand – the eastern Westphalian company was producing a regular program. The Elmarflötotto strategy has always been to provide a space for a relaxed, unpretentious kind of avant-gardism. To this end, it has attracted an illustrious circle of creative minds. Predominantly German, the collaborators range from newcomers like Neunzig° Design to established pros like Konstantin Grcic and Vogt + Weizenegger. Among the most remarkable pieces of furniture are the flexible, simple yet extremely comfortable plastic chair Wait (by Matthew Hilton), the container shelving Big Bin (k p.425), and the lounge suite Couch, whose simple looks belie surprising sophistication (both by Stefan Diez). The company's top-sellers have included Freddy (by Hertel & Klarhoefer), a shelf system in the tradition of FNP (by Axel Kufus k p.248) and Endless Shelf (by Werner Aisslinger k p.266), which employs a novel network structure. Since the boards come in only two formats, it can be quickly assembled in countless arrangements. Much like the Koziol brand, Elmarflötotto has brought together the right design expertise for its project of offering a novel repertoire of shapes and colours that banishes boredom and the clichés of neomodernism. So the lack of a common thread running through the program is no accident, although there is no mistaking a certain fondness for the Swinging Sixties. A swirling example: Flowerpower, the ventilator with a difference.