The Firebird gas lighter was created in 1993 following a design workshop to investigate the communicative dimension of objects, their ability to inspire, intrigue and amuse people, in a word, to relate to them. With its educated but, nevertheless, explicit, erotic allusion, at the time it generated a lot of criticism in the more puritanical environments, both inside and outside the design world.

Over the years it became a real pop icon and, when it went out of production, it was obsessively sought after by collectors, ready to invest quite considerable sums of money to have it in their collections. 
Almost thirty years after its first appearance, Alessi proposes a reissue that expands its use: Firebird 2.0, presented in 2020, is an electric arc lighter that supplies enough heat to light a cigarette, a candle or whatever.