Pioneers of beauty and function The roots of Iittala date back to 1881 when a glass factory was established in a village of the same name in southern Finland. In its early years Iittala produced blown, pressed, polished, painted and etched glass according to continental models. In the beginning of the 20th century dinnerware was decorated with a variety of ornaments. Iittala was one of the first companies to make the transition from decorative dinner sets to functional, aesthetically pleasing objects infused with progressive Scandinavian design.The breakthrough came in the early years of modernism and functionalism during the 1930s and 40s. At that time it was pioneers like Alvar Aalto, Aino Aalto and Kaj Franck who led the development of the Iittala brand. Their belief was that objects should always be designed with thought and make them available for everyone. It was Aalto's and Franck's thinking that set the foundation for the Iittala design philosophy: to push the boundaries and to give people beauty and function. This breakthrough in Finnish design, also changed glassware ranges led by Iittala in the 1950s and 1960s. A new kind of aesthetics and functionality affected Finnish glassware design while most other countries still used traditional, extensive glassware ranges. A simplified, modern design took over from cut crystal.