The company was founded by Giulio Castelli, a chemist who begins to work on his own producing plastic accessories. The success for Kartell does not arrive immediately, in the seventies thanks to the support of Anna Castelli Ferrieri, wife of Giulio Castelli the company began to participate in numerous exhibitions around the world, including the exhibition dedicated to made in Italy in New York at the Museum of Modern Art. In the nineties he began to collaborate with several internationally remarkable designers, including Antonio Citterio, Ron Arad, Vico Magistretti, Philippe Starck, Piero Lissoni and many others. At the end of 2017 Kartell embraces an important issue: eco-sustainability, buying a company specialized in the sustainable market.