Michele De Lucchi started studying architecture at Padua University, switching to Florence University, where he took his diploma in 1975. In 1978 Michele De Lucchi went to Milan to work for Kartell as a designer at Centrokappa, the proprietary Kartell design studio. After meeting the designer Ettore Sottsass, Michele De Lucchi joined the Studio Alchimia designers and from 1980 he belonged to Memphis, the designer group around Sottsass. Working with Giancarlo Fassina, he designed the best-selling Tolomeo range of lamps for Artemide in 1987.

Founded in 1960s, Artemide is one of the most known illumination brands in the world. Known for its "The Human Light" philosophy, Artemide is nowadays synonym with design, innovation and made in Italy. Artemide’s products are much more than highly refined design objects, ensuring a top technical performance – they are objects born from man’s experience to satisfy man’s needs. Since the 1990s, with the launch of the The Human Light philosophy, promoted by Carlotta de Bevilacqua, Artemide has changed the way to conceive and develop its products. The guiding idea was to start from people’s needs in terms of light, and understanding first and foremost how to respond to individual needs in the different spaces and stages of life.