From the famous Swiss Army knife to iconic objects such as benches in parks and railway clocks, up to the electric scooter and, of course, the Riri signature zips. The book ‘Swiss Design’, issued by the Niggli Verlag publishing house (https://www.niggli.ch/), pays tribute to timeless classics and contemporary design creations which, thanks to their minimalism, functionality and high quality, have become emblematic of ‘Swissness’.
Among the stories told one could not fail to mention that of Riri and the brilliant intuition of its founder, the Swiss Martin O. Winterhalter, who realized that the zipper could revolutionize the world of fashion! Then followed a series of successes, including the opening of the historic factory in Mendrisio in 1936, the invention of the first die-casted plastic chain and the winning of the Swiss Technology Award in 2004, thanks to the innovative Storm zipper.
On the pages dedicated to Riri there is also space for the most recent milestones: the acquisition process, started in 2008, which has enabled the product range to be extended to buttons, metal components and fashion jewels and the entry into the Oerlikon Group in 2023.
Read here the chapter about Riri.
