Alessi and Stefano Giovannoni

Ali Babà: The Genie of the Kitchen Counter

In 1998, Stefano Giovannoni gave the humble thermos a personality. His Ali Babà for Alessi took the vacuum flask — a category defined by dull, purely functional shapes — and turned it into something sculptural. The piece has also circulated under the name "Baba Multi-Purpose Container."

True to Giovannoni's style (the same playful sensibility behind Alessi favorites like Bombo and Anna G.), Ali Babà swaps utilitarian steel-and-plastic austerity for soft, rounded curves that feel almost cartoonish sitting on a table. It's made in 18/10 stainless steel and is dishwasher safe, so the whimsy doesn't come at the cost of everyday practicality — you can keep coffee or tea hot (or wine and water cold) without babying the thing. 

What made Ali Babà notable wasn't just the shape, but the attitude: it argued that even the most overlooked object in your kitchen — a thermos, of all things — deserved real design thought. That's very much the Alessi ethos of the era, when the company's "Family Follows Fiction" line invited industrial designers to make everyday objects feel like little characters rather than appliances.

Decades later, original Ali Babà pieces have become minor collector's items, turning up on vintage marketplaces as a snapshot of late-'90s Italian design optimism — proof that a thermos, done right, can be as expressive as any centerpiece.