Kartell was founded in 1949 by chemical engineer Giulio Castelli and his wife, architect and designer Anna Castelli Ferrieri. Initially aiming to produce light and cheap car accessories and household objects using plastic, the company ended up turning plastic into a vital material for design. Ferrieri, the company’s art director from its beginning until 1987, and Ignazio Gardella designed the building in Naviglio that has been Kartell’s headquarters since 1967.

Designer Gino Colombini, technical director of Kartell from 1953, designed many household items, creating bright, colourful products to revolutionise the home. During this time, Castelli developed a stronger polymer, suitable for manufacturing larger and more complex objects, and 1963 the company opened a furniture and interior design division.

In the late 1980s, the company was taken over by Claudio Luti, Castelli's son-in-law, who had a background in fashion. He started collaborating with well-known designers and architects including Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Antonio Citterio, Ferruccio Laviani, Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola, Mario Bellini, Alberto Meda, and Vico Magistretti. The result was a string of iconic products.

Kartell, known for colour, also perfected transparent plastic, and in 1999 became the first company in the world to use transparent polycarbonate to produce furniture. The result was Philippe Starck’s completely transparent La Marie chair, made from a single mould. This paved the way for Starck’s 2001 Louis Ghost chair, which has become symbolic of the brand and is still one of Kartell’s bestsellers to this day. The company has continued to explore the theme of transparency, researching into surfaces and shapes, and embracing new technologies and high-performance materials.

For a long time, the only wood item in the Kartell furniture range was the 4801 chair, designed by Joe Colombo in 1965. It was too complex to be made of plastic, so the first versions were released in plywood, but in 2019, the Smart Wood collection, designed by Philippe Starck, was added to the series.

Alongside its habitat division, Kartell also has a lighting division, writing a new chapter in the history of lighting design with lamps like FL/Y and Bourgie. It has also moved into textiles, working with fashion designers and artists including film director Bob Wilson and rock star Lenny Kravitz; and into tableware, bathroom accessories and fragrances.

The brand currently has 150 flagship stores, 850 Kartell spaces and 1500 clients around the world. Kartell flagship stores offer special displays that change four and six times per year, and dedicated events staged during the week of the Salone del Mobile fair in Milan. Today the brand can be found in many museums, including its own Kartell museum, opened in the company's general headquarters in 1999, the company’s 50th anniversary.