Design company Alessi, famous for household items with a modernist twist, said Friday it was cutting over a quarter of its workforce in Italy and was looking for an outside investor. Some 80 jobs out of a total of 315 in Italy are to go, the firm said, blaming changing consumer habits and falling demand, especially in its home market.

Alessi's worldwide staff is 360. The family business, which has used some of the world's top designers including Philippe Starck and Ettore Sottsass, saw sales plummet to around 60 million euros ($69 million) in 2018 from 86 million in 2010.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019