Founded over 70 years ago in the Italian town of Guastalla by businessman Vittorio Bertazzoni, SMEG (acronym for Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla*) has a long history of innovative firsts. Its “Elisabeth” stove was one of the first automatically igniting gas ranges.

SMEG carved out a unique niche in the kitchenwares market by embracing kitchen technology and by re-imagining what the common, mostly boring in appearance, functional kitchen appliance could look like. They took the everyday appliance and elevated it to a work of art through collaborations with prominent artists and designers including Mario Bellini, Mark Newson, Guido Canali, Renzo Piano and now with celebrated fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana.

SMEG at Ambiente Fair

The perfect marriage between innovative kitchen appliance technology and eye-catching design could be found at the SMEG booth at the 2019 Ambiente housewares and consumer goods trade show.

My favorites were the hand-painted appliances from the limited edition Dolce & Gabbana “Sicily is my Love” collection which included popular kitchen appliances like a coffee maker, blender, and toaster. Also on my style radar — the very distinctive SMEG appliances that struck a fun, flirty and light-hearted tone with their pastel nail polish inspired hues.

*Translates to Emilian metallurgical enamel works of Guastalla,