Milan Design Week 2025: Discover the Latest Trends from Fuorisalone to Salone del Mobile

Milan Design Week 2025: Discover the Latest Trends from Fuorisalone to Salone del Mobile

From April 7 to 13, the Milan Design Week 2025 transformed the city into an open laboratory, where architecture, art, and design engaged in dialogue across historic palaces and industrial spaces.

We explored some of the most remarkable installations from Fuorisalone 2025, featuring visionary concepts, innovative materials, and spectacular set designs. At the Salone del Mobile in Rho Fiera, this year dedicated to Euroluce, we discovered a wide range of products interpreting light as a physical element capable of shaping space.

Here is our selection of must-see projects from Milan Design Week 2025

Louis Vuitton – Objets Nomades at Palazzo Serbelloni

At Milan Design Week 2025, Louis Vuitton once again captivates audiences with a collection that blends art, design, and experimentation. The exhibition at Palazzo Serbelloni explores the Home Collection through five thematic chapters — Objets Nomades, Signature, Play, Decoration, and Art de la Table — each interpreted by internationally renowned designers and architects. The pieces on display stand out for their formal elegance, refined use of color, and meticulous attention to detail.

Among the most iconic creations are the High Tea Trunk, a storage piece with retro flair, and a playful take on design through foosball tables and pinball machines — where precious materials and soft hues elevate the game into a true work of art.

The exhibition path also includes a tribute to Fortunato Depero, featuring textile objects inspired by his archive, and concludes with an immersion into Brazilian culture. Four suspended seats evoke mythological Amazonian creatures, turning materials and colors into a poetic, dreamlike narrative.

This exhibition confirms the brand’s ability to explore new frontiers of living, where each piece is both functional furniture and a unique story waiting to be told.

In the courtyard, a tribute to Charlotte Perriand recreates a living space with minimalist, functional furnishings in chromed steel and textile inserts. These fabrics echo Charlotte’s nature-inspired graphics, with a special focus on alpine environments.

Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades 05
Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades 01
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Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Fortunato Depero 01

Elle Decor – ALCHEMICA at Palazzo Bovara

Elle Decor presents ALCHEMICA, a theatrical and immersive project exploring the theme of contemporary living, staged within the elegant setting of Palazzo Bovara during Milan Design Week 2025. The rooms unfold like scenes in a play, creating a sensory journey that invites reflection on the evolving identity of domestic spaces.

The experience begins in the vestibule, where modules in vegan leather cover dark, textured walls, leading into a dramatic gallery lit by theatrical lighting and featuring faux fur-covered seating. The transition becomes increasingly dreamlike with a red corridor illuminated by ceiling neon lights and CC-Tapis’s iconic arrow carpet.

At the heart of the exhibition, the symbolic figure of the Philosopher’s Stone guides the narrative, weaving together mythological references and material transformations. Each space represents a stage in the alchemical process: from the Nigredo kitchen, defined by sculptural black stone and onyx volumes, to the ochre-toned bathroom, where glazed lava stone surfaces conceal cutting-edge integrated technology.

The final phase of the transformation is embodied in the suspended, light-filled relaxation area, culminating in an enchanted garden that concludes the immersive experience.

With ALCHEMICA, Elle Decor offers a vision of living that transcends pure functionality — a sensory, almost spiritual narrative where light, material, and symbolism interact in perfect harmony.

Milan Design Week 2025 Elle Decor Alchemica 01
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Marie Claire maison – La casa dell’architetto at GAM

Within the historic halls of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Marie Claire Maison presents an intimate and contemporary interpretation of living for Milan Design Week 2025. La casa dell’architetto unfolds across four rooms designed to center the individual and their well-being, through sensory stimulation and reflections on everyday gestures.

The entrance, bathed in light and draped in yellow fabrics, welcomes visitors into a warm and enveloping atmosphere. Next is the Tinder Room, a reimagined bedroom concept: two single beds connected by a symbolic thread of lower fringes express a new way of sharing space, while honoring the quality of individual rest. Green tones and an undergrowth-inspired setting create a calm oasis and a connection with nature.

The bathroom becomes a space of regeneration: mirrored walls and soft pink hues shape an immersive environment where self-care is translated into architecture. The experience concludes in a dedicated relaxation area — a space for pause and introspection, even at the height of the busiest week in Milan’s design calendar.

A home that welcomes and protects, where architecture becomes a tool to enhance the quality of everyday life.

Milan Design Week 2025 Marie Claire casa architetto 01
Marie Claire casa architetto 02
Milan Design Week 2025 Marie Claire casa architetto 03

EDRA at Palazzo Durini

The Edra exhibition at Palazzo Durini captivates with its sparkling elegance, reinterpreting the brand’s traditional models through the use of fabrics inspired by the natural world. Stones, gems, and minerals such as amazonite, white quartz, and onyx transform into precious coverings for upholstery, creating a veritable Milky Way of vibrant colors that capture the light. Silver, gold, and light gold give the furniture an intrinsic luminosity, with reflective effects that make them almost luminous sculptures.

The outdoor space also takes center stage, with fabrics that evoke nature, perfectly complementing the greenery of the climbing plants decorating the portico of Palazzo Durini. The contrast between the natural tones of the upholstery and the surrounding environment generates a visual harmony that highlights the organic and sophisticated beauty of the collection.

In summary, the Edra exhibition represents a fusion of aesthetic research and natural elegance, turning furniture into works of art that enchant with their beauty and the quality of the materials used.

Milan Design Week Edra Palazzo Durini 03
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Edra Palazzo Durini 01
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STAGING MODERNITY – Cassina, Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber

With Staging Modernity, Cassina celebrates the 60th anniversary of its iconic collections by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand, offering an immersive experience during Milan Design Week 2025 that embraces all forms of art. This tribute invites reflection on the dualism between modernism and contemporary design, and the contrast between artifice and nature. The theatrical performance, conceived by Formafantasma and directed by Fabio Cherstich, takes place in the evocative setting of the Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, blending music, texts, and reflections by philosopher Emanuele Coccia, architect and curator Andrés Jaque, and artist Feifei Zhou.

At the heart of this exploration are not only the actors but also the Cassina furniture itself. The revolutionary decision to replace wooden frames with tubular metal in the past becomes part of a deeper analysis of living spaces and the dialogue between the industrial and the natural. The result is a fragmented, dynamic scene where the stage space extends between the auditorium and elevated balconies, with actors sharing the stage with animals and the iconic Cassina seating.

Hermès at La Pelota

For Milan Design Week 2025, Hermès presents a bright, minimalist environment curated by Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry. The simple, squared geometries, covered in white plaster-effect fabric, seem to float above the white floor, with vivid lights gently fading into infinity.

In this suspended atmosphere, pieces from the Hermès Home collection stand out as isolated points of color. Special attention is given to artisanal craftsmanship, with a preference for transparency. Among the highlights is the Pivot side table by Tomás Alonso, crafted from curved Japanese cedar, seemingly floating in a circular and translational motion, with a colored glass base that plays with planes and interlocks.

The vases and glasses from the collection, combining the traditional glass-making technique with stitched leather, also stand out for their artisanal precision.

Hermes La Pelota 01
Hermes La Pelota 02
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Milan Design Week 2025 Hermes La Pelota 06

La prima notte di quiete, Dimorestudio x Loro Piana at Cortile della Seta

La prima notte di quiete is an immersive experience that begins in the foyer of a vintage cinema, where the muffled atmosphere invites silence and creates a respectful detachment from the outside world. The performance unfolds in a darkened space, gradually revealed by a theatrical dance of lights that guide the visitor through rooms designed to awaken the sense of touch.

Loro Piana Interiors textiles are the undisputed protagonists, with luxurious materials such as Altai wool and cashmere fabric, cotton velvet, and mohair defining each setting. The night zone—featuring a bathroom, dressing room, and bedroom—is followed by a reverse journey that explores the living room, dining area, and finally the entrance.

The installation includes standout pieces like the Snooker sofa in cashmere, the Quarona coffee table in walnut burl, and the Valsesia dining table paired with Sciura chairs in undyed cashmere. Attention to detail, from brass inlays to the refined choice of materials, shapes the identity of each element.

La prima notte di quiete is more than a design exhibit—it’s a sensorial journey that must be experienced to be fully understood. Undoubtedly, it stands out as one of the key installations of Milan Design Week 2025.

Milan Design Week 2025 Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 04
Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 05
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Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 03
Milan Design Week 2025 Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 01
Milan Design Week 2025 Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 02

Bamboo Encounters, Gucci at Chiostri di San Simpliciano

Gucci celebrates bamboo at Milan Design Week 2025, paying homage to its enduring connection with the Maison and its “timeless legacy.” The installation reinterprets this material through the hands of artists and designers, creating a series of works that convey lightness, elegance, and savoir-faire. The installation comes to life through the wind, which gently moves the tails of kites and interacts with the bamboo canes, animating the PASSAVENTO screen and fragmenting the stream of water in the sculpture 1802251226.

Bamboo—already iconic in the curved handles of the Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag—is reimagined through seven contemporary works. Scaffolding by Laurids Gallée explores the duality between the material’s lightness and strength, while Hybrid Exhalations by Dima Srouji combines bamboo with hand-blown Palestinian glass, creating a delicate yet profound encounter. Engraved by Sisan Lee reflects on the Korean aesthetic of subtraction, while bamboo assemblage no.1 connects the natural essence of bamboo with the industrial era, creating a dialogue between past and present.

Milan Design Week 2025 Gucci Bamboo Encounters 01
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Frozen, Tokujin Yoshioka x Grand Seiko at Palazzo Landriani

Frozen is a poetic, multisensory installation that celebrates nature and time—two deeply intertwined elements. Conceived by Tokujin Yoshioka, a Japanese artist known for blending art, design, and the natural world, the work aligns seamlessly with the aesthetic and values of Grand Seiko, a brand synonymous with precision and refinement.

At the heart of the installation is the Acqua Chair, a continuously transforming seat that changes its appearance throughout the day, responding to light, wind, and nature itself. Made entirely of ice, each of the eight chairs becomes a unique sculpture shaped by natural forces—melted by the sun and carved by the breeze—highlighting nature in its most raw and authentic form.

Inside the adjoining room, the meticulous attention to detail inherent in Japanese culture is showcased through a selection of Grand Seiko timepieces, crafted by takumi—master artisans whose work embodies the timeless bond between craftsmanship and the passing of time.

Milan Design Week 2025 Tokujin Yoshioka Gran Seiko Frozen 01
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LOEWE Teapot at Palazzo Citterio

For Milan Design Week 2025, Palazzo Citterio hosts a refined passing of the torch between two fashion giants: from Dior to LOEWE. The new protagonist reimagines the tea ceremony as a creative ritual with the project LOEWE Teapot, featuring the work of 25 international artists, designers, and architects.

At the heart of the exhibition is the teapot, transformed through unexpected forms and traditional materials such as porcelain and stoneware. Each piece on display is the result of both formal and conceptual exploration—teapots are shaped, reinterpreted, and decorated to become true functional sculptures.

More than a style exercise, the exhibition is a reflection on ergonomics, craftsmanship, and material experimentation. Everything is displayed on a long, minimalist white table that runs through the main hall, providing a stark, clean stage to highlight each creation to its fullest.

Milan Design Week 2025 Loewe Teapots 01
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HYPER PORTAL, Michela Picchi x Glo For Art at Palazzo Moscova 18

Color takes center stage in a fluid, dynamic, and ever-changing form in the immersive installation by Michela Picchi for Glo For Art at Milan Design Week 2025. This is an installation that actively engages the audience—the artwork itself is born from the viewer’s interaction. A constantly evolving flow of color transforms at the user’s touch.

The theme of connected worlds, shared by many installations in the Brera Design District, is here interpreted through a portal, whose access creates a bridge to the digital realm. By becoming a co-creator of the work, the viewer establishes a bond with the virtual space, modifying and shaping it to their own desire.

Milan Design Week 2025 Michela Picchi Glo For Art Hyper Portal 01
Milan Design Week 2025 Michela Picchi Glo For Art Hyper Portal 02
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Light as Matter at the Salone del Mobile, Fiera Milano Rho

Milan Design Week 2025 isn’t just Fuorisalone — it’s also the Salone del Mobile in Rho Fiera, in a year entirely dedicated to light! So, what did it gift us?

Hinpan is the sound-absorbing solution designed by Mandalaki Studio for Luceplan. A soft, cloud-like form that feels light and enveloping, it integrates a diffuser that distributes light evenly — making it perfect both as a spotlight above a dining table and as ambient lighting for an entire room.

Davide Groppi brings a playful, poetic take on lighting. With RACE OF LIGHT, he invites us to return to a (mindful) childhood. It’s a racetrack for toy cars — but also a modular, electrified rail that unlocks creative freedom. The cars are colorful light sources, magnetically fixed and ready at the starting line for their brightest race yet.
Groppi also reimagines MAGIA with a new suspended version: a lamp where light and transparency merge. The light source is hidden behind a convex lens that creates an optical illusion, leaving behind only its luminous trail — a concept meant to intrigue and delight.

At the Foscarini booth, Ferruccio Laviani curates a luminous narrative. Here, Francesca Lanzavecchia creates Tilia, a chandelier that plays with mathematical and physical principles observed in nature, such as the Fibonacci sequence and fractal structures. The result is a poetic yet precise object. The use of satin opaline borosilicate glass diffusers ensures a soft and diffuse light despite their compact form, while the ramified structure subtly nods to organic forms.

Luce5 unveils HYLEtech, a highly refined integrated lighting system derived from research into recycled aluminum. This ultra-thin profile (just 10mm wide) emits light without exposing the light source, showcasing not only exceptional design and technical prowess but also a firm commitment to sustainability.

Lucaplan Hinpan 01
Lucaplan Hinpan 02
Davide Groppi Race of Light
Foscarini Tilia
Luce5 HYLETech

Bye bye Milan Design Week 2025

Milan Design Week 2025 revealed an increasingly emotional, intimate, and conscious way of living. At the heart of it all, not just the object — but the atmosphere it can create. Materials become a space for experimentation, light takes on a physical presence, and color becomes a vehicle for emotion.

In this weaving of aesthetics and storytelling, each installation offers a different way to interpret the present and imagine the future.

As the spotlight dims on this year’s edition, we’re already looking ahead to the next — set to illuminate Milan once again from April 21 to 26, 2026.
Until next year!

In the meantime, why not take a journey through the recent history of Milan Design Week — exploring both Fuorisalone and Salone del Mobile from the 2024, 2023, and 2022 editions?

Design Week 2023: New trends in the record edition

Design Week 2023: New trends in the record edition

Milan Design Week 2023: the year of records! Confirming expectations, this edition finally returned in April with a boom in visitors and not only industry insiders.

2023 Colour Trends in Interior Design

Retracing the time course of the colours in trend in recent years, we start with the colour brass which accompanied the design world in the years 2019 and 2020, with a slight trailing off also in the first half of 2021.

Now completely disappeared, its decline has instead sanctioned the introduction of greens in all its shades. Starting with light shades such as sage, it then turned to the dark, intense tones also found in the Verde Alpi and Guatemala marbles. Already appearing in the first post-covid editions, it reached its peak in the 2021-2022 two-year period often combined with pastel pink. It also reappears in Design Week 2023, albeit in a different form. In fact, it can be found in veined marbles and open-pore wood and lacquer shades, combined with charged tones of red and terracotta but also with neutral tones of beige and powder grey.

Fuorisalone 2023 sage green
Design Week 2023 powder grey
Design Week 2023 blue Klein terracotta

Whether warm or cool, they certainly play a key role in the contemporary design scene. Terracotta tones, the great protagonists of the previous edition, are not slow to reappear in monochrome interiors or combined with intense blues.

The latter, which timidly appeared in the form of Klein blue in 2022, find their greatest expression in the current edition. Combining with the increasingly popular powder or ice grey and veering towards their darker hues, they create elegant contrasts by softening their shapes. Giving a foretaste of this is, as always, the fashion world, which in the autumn-winter 2023/2024 fashion shows in London and New York proposes interesting combinations of silver grey with darker tones of blue and burgundy.

Design Week 2023 cream terracotta
Salon green marble stained wood

The materials protagonists of Design Week 2023

Continuing the theme of the trends of this Design Week 2023, one cannot ignore the chapter on materials. The common denominator is certainly the desire to dare and experiment, underlined already by the choice of colours.

Fuorisalone desk petineuse metallic lacquered leather insert
Salon metallic copper scratched natural wood
Fuorisalone metal sample palettes
Salon kitchen metallic effect burnished brass

Metals certainly dominate the scene, experimenting with satin finishes, vibrations and chemical treatments. Lacquers also look in this direction with metallic effects ranging from delicate uniform shades to more pronounced finishes.

Design Week 2023 Elle Decor Art Light kitchen glass mirror
Salon glasswork geometries 02
Salon glazing geometries 01
Design Week 2023 transparent corrugated glass
Design Week 2023 green corrugated glass
Design Week 2023 black corrugated glass
Design Week 2023 orange corrugated glass
Salon corrugated glass 01
Corrugated Glass Salon 02

In keeping with the theme of reflections, mirrors and coloured glass are combined with these. The latter deserve a short parenthesis. During this Design Week 2023 in the Rho Fiera spaces, there was a veritable invasion of glass. Already in previous editions, they had been recognised for their caned and wavy shapes, with workmanship aimed at geometric rigour. In this edition, the attention paid to this material emerges even more, through corrugated glass that seems to recall rippled waves and sinuous movements.

Design Week 2023 transparent corrugated glass detail
Fuorisalone ash stained aqua green red
Fuorisalone ash stained aqua green
Salon pink veined marble wood metal
Velvet green veined marble salon

The desire for grit and character can also be found in the choice of woods, which dare iridescent colours such as red, blue and green treated and lacquered in both closed-pore and, above all, open-pore finishes. Marbles are also of the same type, as veined and coloured as possible. Among them all, however, is the neutrality of Travertine, which with its elegant porosity and reference to tradition embraces furnishings of all kinds.

Design Week 2023 bedside table travertine metallic lacquered dark wood
Fuorisalone armchairs travertine structure
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Salon woven fabrics 06
Furniture Exhibition Metallised fabric

The last chapter relates to the textile world, where the bouclet in trend in 2022 has given way to cottons and stripes with stronger contrasts, almost simulating the jeans effect. Great attention is also paid to weaves and textures, first and foremost straw. It is found both as a characterising element of chairs and armchairs, but also interpreted as a decorative element, layered with glass or mirrors.

All these trends espouse the philosophy of contrast, the guiding principle of this Design Week 2023, whether it is material through strong choices of materials that are, however, chromatically uniform, or tonal contrasts, even daring bold colours as opposed to neutrality.

Design Week 2023 straw laminated panels glass
Fuorisalone Loewe weaves
Fuorisalone Armani home weaves straw fabrics

The theme of light at Design Week 2023

Great attention in this Design Week 2023 is certainly reserved for light, not only in the spaces of the Salone in Rho, through Euroluce, but also in the many installations in the off-site area.

Among the various installations of note, The Art of Light curated by Elle Decor certainly stands out. The historic rooms of Palazzo Bovara, which has been home to the renowned trade publication for years, are metaphorically translated into the highlights of the home. The focus is precisely on the change in their perception depending on the type of light and time of day.
Thus the living area goes from being a bright room with diffuse natural lighting, conveying energy and freshness, to a comfortable environment with artificial lighting.
The latter certainly provide a more theatrical light, calibrating its intensity in relation to darkness. Indeed, the latter becomes a co-star in the design of a home.

At Villa Necchi Campiglio, it is the Occhio brand that analyses the future of light through a convivial space of discussion rather than mere exhibition. Enclosing the essence of the new proposals is an immersive installation in which the products come alive through elegant movements and dances. The theatricality of light reappears in this Design Week 2023 in the subways of the Stazione Centrale and in the nearby via Sammartini, where Dimore Gallery stages settings on the borderline between cinema, art and design.

Fuorisalone Elle Decor Art Light entrance hallway
Fuorisalone Elle Decor Art Light hall
Fuorisalone Elle Decor Art Light sofa room
Salon bookcase black glass lighting transparencies
Fuorisalone ventura central subway
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Design Week 2023 Louis Vuitton 01
Fuorisalone Brera District light installation
Salone Mobile Euroluce BIG

The universe of fragrances

A recurring and unusual theme during this Design Week 2023 is the focus on olfaction as a design element. Analysed both as an added value of an environment and as a characterising element, it contributes to creating a perceptive memory. Analysing this theme is Mooi through its digital perfumery.

Algorithmic Perfumery mixes tailor-made fragrances thanks to a creative and experimental test integrating artificial intelligence. It is no coincidence that the installation focuses its main rooms around this machine. Placed in the centre of the entrance, it welcomes the visitor by immediately making itself known as the protagonist of the scene. It is then found on the outside, in a sort of contemporary square, where its presence can be likened to that of a bar with seating and conviviality points arranged around it. Elements that underline the importance of the experience.

At Alcova, whose location during Design Week 2023 will be moved to the former slaughterhouse of Porta Vittoria, the brand Les Eaux Primordiales, to launch its latest essence, proposes a sensorial installation composed of two towers inspired by the industrial buildings of Northern France. In the first tower, in a sort of conceptual and physical decomposition, the individual essences are presented in their purity, usable by the visitor through glass ampoules. The interactive component represents the crucial moment of the installation, also allowing the creation of movement and fluidity in the space.

Profumeria algoritmica Moooi
Acque primordiali di Alcova

Design and Haute Couture

As in past editions, contaminations from the world of fashion dominate the design scene during this Design Week 2023.

The partnership between Dior and Philippe Starck continues in the spaces of Palazzo Citterio, re-proposing the Medaillon Chair in a colourful guise. Fluid and elegant movements take the form of a path on the borderline between triumphal march and design catwalk.

Fuorisalone Dior Medaillon Chair Philippe Starck 02
Fuorisalone Dior Medaillon Chair Philippe Starck 01
Missoni

Like every year, Missoni gives energy and lightheartedness by creating a dreamlike world in which fabrics embrace doughnut and panettone seats. An environment in which to become a child again, breathing an air of freshness and brightness.

Fuorisalone Missoni 01
Fuorisalone Missoni 02
Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta entrusts Gaetano Pesce with the presentation and design of two new Limited Edition bags. Through a contemporary cave with resin walls and rock carvings in green tones, he combines the mountains of Este and the American prairies.

Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta Gaetano Pesce 02
Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta Gaetano Pesce 01
Furla

Furla interprets its home line through delicate neutral tones, combined with more decisive touches of colour such as green, midnight blue and bronze. Here then, at Design Week 2023, it proposes sophisticated combinations of fabrics, leathers, metallic effect lacquers, velvets, metals and the ever-present marble. A glimpse of the oriental world can be found in the choice of materials and shapes, such as the proposal of round tables instead of the traditional western-style rectangular ones.

Fuorisalone Furla home 01
Design Week 2023 Furla home powder grey midnight blue
Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton returns to Palazzo Serbelloni with Objects Nomades, a metaphorical journey among iconic furnishings set in a timeless context. In this example too, light becomes a design element in which furniture in neutral tones is inserted, as if to further soften its forms.

Fuorisalone Louis Vuitton 01
Louis Vuitton Fuorisalone 02
Loewe

Loewe instead interprets the design-fashion binomial through a parallelism between the new bags and the Loewe Chairs proposals. In the evocative inner courtyard of Palazzo Isimbardi, craftsmanship is translated into weaves and refined techniques among iridescent colours and provocative proposals.

Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta 01
Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta 02
Armani Casa

Texturality can also be read in the interior proposals of Armani Casa, which for the first time opens the doors of the historic Palazzo Orsini to the public. Between straw, onyx and jacquard fabric, one recognises the timeless elegance and mastery of Armani, in an interpretation that unites the outdoor and indoor lines in the sign of essentiality. The combination of diametrically opposed materials, such as straw and onyx, results in an absolutely recognisable stylistic interpretation. Special attention is paid to the Italian tradition and its craftsmanship, hence the choice of materials for most of the interior proposals.

Fuorisalone Armani Casa 01
Fuorisalone Armani Casa 02
Hermes

Closing the circle is the always masterful interpretation of Hermès‘ home proposals, in the well-established La Pelota location. Cement and iron are dematerialised from the building context to which they belong to become synonymous with lightness and elegance in a stylistic oxymoron. The Maison’s theatrical interpretation succeeds in transposing elements that are by nature raw and robust into light, somewhat ephemeral stylistic traits.

Settimana del design 2023 Hermes 01
Settimana del design 2023 Hermes 02

Bye bye Milan Design Week, see you in April 2024

This edition, too, concludes amid historic districts and new proposals. From the world of fashion to the influence of artificial intelligence, craftsmanship and labour.

Contaminations play a leading role in giving life to an eclectic panorama in continuous movement. Undoubtedly the great protagonists of Design Week 2023 were the palaces and historical residences that with their extraordinary opening attracted not only professionals but also families and the curious, who thus had the opportunity to get to know the world of design.

It is no coincidence that this edition was certainly one of the most complete and high-performing, as witnessed by the large numbers and huge queues to access the exhibition spaces. An edition marked by grit and personality that dares strong colour and material contrasts, but does not renounce elegance and uniformity. Let’s close the curtain with a reminder for next year!

Milan Design Week 2021: between the new Supersalone format and the fuorisalone districts.

Milan Design Week 2021: between the new Supersalone format and the fuorisalone districts.

Milan Design Week 2021 has finally arrived, exploded in all its energy!
Last week Milan brought back the ever-moving machine of the Salone del Mobile, in an extraordinary version, accompanied by the districts of Fuorisalone threatened in the urban fabric of the capital.
The long-awaited autumn edition has aroused an ever more tangible ferment, which was followed by a positivity and acceptance by the whole population. A clear message of restarting a Milan that is rediscovered in all its energy and desire for innovation.
The digital edition in April has also increased the desire to return to the presence, between stands and creative installations!

We also looked around the Supersalone stands and the fuorisalone exhibitions, looking for ideas and inspirations, for a continuous update on trends and design ideas.
Here is our balance of this autumn edition between considerations and personal selection!

Milan Fuorisalone Modulor map

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Between Fashion and Interior Design: care of visual

Over the years, the Fuorisalone has always been recognized for its thematic installations, on the edge between art exhibitions and immersive installation. In recent years, brands from the fashion world have been increasingly recognized.

In 2019 the most successful is certainly Cos at Palazzo Isimbardi with its unstructured portal in 3D printed volumes. Accompanying him, Hermès at the La Pelota complex and his attention to the handcrafted product, but also Missoni with Home Sweet Home staging a textile world permeated with saturated colors.

During the just ended Milan Design Week 2021, high fashion brands are once again recognized for their exhibition methodology and amazing sets. Hermès, Antonio Marras, Dior and Gucci certainly among the most nominated of this edition.

Hermès Milan design week 2021 La Pelota

Hermès, Collection for the Home – La Pelota

The French haute couture house returns to Pelota with a dreamlike setting: 5 display totems hand-decorated by the scenographers of the Teatro alla Scala, reinterpreting the concept of “home”. Internally, divided into different themes, Objects from the Home collection that enhance the materiality, the artisan imprint and the meticulous work of the handmade. An installation that strikes and remains impressed not only for its aesthetic impact, but also and above all for the values ​​transmitted and the emotionality of the space. To admire the obsessive attention to points of view, the architectural lines and the seriality of the graphics, the tactility of the materials enhanced by the objects that want to be touched and felt.

Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 01
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Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 05

Dior, The Dior Medallion Chair – Palazzo Citterio

The theatrical installation commissioned by Maria Grazia Chiuri comes to life at Palazzo Citterio. The protagonist is the iconic Medallion Chair, in Louis XVI style, chosen by Christian Dior as the essential emblem of the French Maison for its elegance and its “Parisian style”. 17 artists and designers were thus invited to reinterpret the original chair, giving life to objects at the mercy of fantastic creation, conceptual and graphic reinterpretation. Provocative, witty, haughty, deconstructed, impossible. An installation that fully enhances the various chairs, making them the protagonists of a masterful staging.

Milan Design Week 2021 Dior medallion Chair
detail Dior Medallion Chair 01
detail Dior Medallion Chair 02
detail Dior Medallion Chair 03

Left: Ma Yansong, Meteor
Center: India Mahdavi, Swan
Right: Seungjin Yang, Blowing chair for Dior

Alcova – Former Military Hospital

The charm of abandonment enchants visitors to Alcova, creating interesting conceptual and visual contrasts with the design works. Among exposed systems, peeling walls and sinks with rusted pipes of the former Military Hospital, contemporary design takes center stage.
Here settings with a sophisticated and immersive scenographic impact meet exhibition environments with a highly expressive concept.

An example is Brassless, curated by Studio Vedèt for Nilufar Galley, whose stated goal is to accelerate the end of the brass trend. Extremely used material from 2017 to today, whose diffusion has been emphasized by the fast distribution of the internet and social media, the exhibition does not want to sanction the end of brass, but rather a denunciation of the decadence of trends.
With this logic, 13 talented designers, deliberately extraneous to contemporary trends, were selectedwhose objects experience the ductility, resistance, aesthetics and technical properties of metals. From gold, to pressed aluminum, passing through nickel and copper, but also silver and steel. Transparent Landscapes by Studiozero, on the other hand, investigates the theme of transparency, declined in a sensorial set-up, between visual and sound, and in the presentation of three iconic objects: a mirror, a carpet and a floor lamp.

On the upper floor of the Laundry building, instead, one finds oneself projected into the surreal atmosphere of A Clockwork Orange through the revisited reproduction of the Milk Bar curated by HEAD.

Milan Design Week 2021 Nilufar Gallery Brassless
Milan Design Week 2021 Nilufar Gallery Objects of common use

Nilufar Gallery, Brassless e Object of Common Use, Alcova

Transparencies Alcova
Transparencies Alcova 02

Transparent Landscapes, Studio Zero, Alcova

Clockwork Orange Milk Bar Alcova
Clockwork Orange Milk Bar Alcova 02

Korova Milk Bar, HEAD

Turri, Supersalone

Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 03

La Casa Fluida, Elle Decor

Senato Hotel Milano Aqva
Senato Hotel Milano Aqva detail

ACQVA, Senato Hotel Milano

Ferri Mobili Supersalone

Ferri mobil, Supersalone

Supersalone DeCastelli
Kerakoll Design Milan design week 2021

Left: De Castelli, Supersalone
Right: Kerakoll Design House, Kerakoll

Supersalone Connubia Milan Design Week 2021
Luigi Ghirri Mutina 2021

Left: Connubia, Supersalone
Right: Between the lines, Luigi Ghirri, Mutina

Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe
Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe 02
Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe 03

Studiopepe per Mohd Milano

Between reflections and suggestive ideas: the importance of the concept

In this Milan Design Week 2021, the care of the concept and the message conveyed are undoubtedly given greater importance to the most successful installations. In addition to the aforementioned exemplary installations by Hermès and Dior, Nilufar Gallery by Alcova and La Casa Fluida by Elle Decor also find a double positive response.
The latter, already mentioned for the chromatic setting of its interiors, is even more appreciable because it is flanked by the development of contemporary themes.
The fluidity of domestic rooms gives light to some of the increasingly aware needs that the pandemic has left us.
11 environments decline these needs with increasingly flexible solutions and food for thought for the new domesticity.

Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 03
Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 01 Milan Design Week 2021

La Casa Fluida, Elle Decor

Living Corriere, Double signature – Palazzo Morando

At Palazzo Morando, among the projects presented in Living Corriere’s Double Signature, Ugo La Pietra pays homage to the crafts of art and genius loci through Vasi Architettura / Natura. The message transmitted, between provocative and denouncing, aims to protect urban greenery, often included in architectural and urban planning projects to justify and try to restore balance to the continuous construction action to which cities are subject. The architectures then become the cradle of land within which nature should find life, but is instead bound.

Milan design Week Doppiafirma Palazzo Morando

Vasi Architettura/Natura, Ugo La Pietra per Doppiafirma, Living Corriere

Interni, Interni Creative Collection – State University of Milan

At the State University of Milan, the theme of nature, linked to its animal species, returns with Survival within the Courtyard of Honor. A raft, a modern Noah’s Ark, welcomes the iconic animals of Qeebo in an extreme rescue attempt from global warming, loaded by means of mechanical elevators.

The exhibition curated by Nanda Vigo with Ctrlzak in the west loggia also has an almost apocalyptic vision. Two large glass cases welcome artifacts and artistic creations in a lunar landscape, enriching them with an otherworldly connotation.

Survival Qeebo Universita Statale Milano Milan Design Week

Survival, Qeebo

Saeturn Nanda Vigo CTRLZAK

Saeturn, Nanda Vigo and Ctrlzak

Care of detail: textured leather inserts for high-end products

If the Fuorisalone reserved great surprises during Milan Design Week 2021 as regards ideas, themes and installations, the credit for the attention to details and finishes certainly goes to the products displayed during the Supersalone. various brands, giving up distinct and iconographic stands, focus attention on the products.
Here then is that details and finishes are even more appreciable.

Among these we mention Turri, whose sofas have leather-covered seams create interesting chromatic and material contrasts.
Also reflected in the detail of the armrest, in which a visible light structure is re-proposed that recalls the initial of the logo.
Also in leather are the CPRN handles with a semicircular development, matching the warm orange color of the doors, also used in the top.

Ceppi embraces the soft structure of a large sofa with containing tie-rods which, rolling around the exposed structure, then winds around the entire external perimeter. Porada embellishes a dark wood console with prestigious pull-out drawers whose handles are replaced by knotted laces.
An almost masculine complement, with an austere and modern look.

The theme of the lace is also found in Hausen, whose bookcase has shelves connected to each other by a metal profile that winds around embracing the individual elements.

sofa detail Turri Supersalone 2021
Turri Supersalone 2021 leather armchair

Turri, Supersalone

Ceppi Supersalone 2021
CPRN Supersalone 2021

Hausen (Left) e Porada (Right), Supersalone

Hausen Supersalone
Porada Supersalone

Hausen (sinistra) e Porada (Destra), Supersalone

Materials among new trends, processes and sensations during Milan Design Week 2021

In the textile world, the well-identified address is witnessing the rebirth of bouclé both in light monochromatic shades and in two-tone variants.
Among the many examples exhibited in this Milan Design Week 2021 we can mention SEM Milano in Alcova and Porada itself.
Still as regards the fabrics, the chromatic choice and the thoughtful combinations of Hermès are masterful.

Turning instead to timeless marble, Salvatori’s proposals are extremely refined, as every year. Miniatures of domestic architecture are combined with objects of common use, made courtly by the eternal material par excellence.

To enhance its ductility, making it almost a fluid material, is the Agglomerati in Alcova proposal. Here the Palissandro marble seems to bend softly in an interesting interlocking game in the MASS proposal. In the Round Table variant, the same principle transforms the top into structural legs, gently unraveling like a soft fabric.

Also noteworthy is the new Antolini showroom inaugurated during Milan Design Week 2021 in Piazza Fontana. Here a spectacular open spot develops from the exhibition wall through double-sided strips. A perfectly successful scenographic effect capable not only of enhancing the beauty of the marble essences, but also the infinite processing skills. On the lower floor, different set-up methods expose the natural material distinguished by color, type or surface finish.

Agglomerati Alcova Milan Design Week 2021
SEM Milano Alcova Milan Design Week

Left: Agglomerati, MAAS
Right: SEM Milano, Alcova

Antolini Showroom Milano Design Week
Antolini black marble sample book
Onice bathtub Antolini Milan Design Week

Antolini Showroom in Piazza Fontana

Conclusions of the Milan Design Week 2021 in the autumn version

After the digital edition of Milan Design Week, what remains of this edition finally in attendance is a great desire to leave. Milan, which seemed almost passable and turned off during the period of the pandemic, instead showed the great car in turmoil that was feeding itself. The spotlights are therefore turned off for this edition, ready to turn on again from 4th to 10th April with the traditional and beloved week of furniture.

 

See you then in 2022, ready to welcome the news!

Digital Design Week 2021: our selection and thoughts

Digital Design Week 2021: our selection and thoughts

The 2021 edition of Digital Design Week has just ended on digital platforms, with the hope of seeing taken the traditional version on place in September.

The Salone del Mobile makes Milan the undisputed protagonist in the world of contemporary design, turning the spotlight on new projects, cutting-edge proposals and events capable of enhancing Italian “know-how” but also its international contamination.

We at Modulor also remotely participated in the rich schedule of talks and webinars offered on the main digital platforms … here are some of our thoughts!

Missoni-Milan-Design-Week-2019
Nendo-fuorisalone-2019

Outfitting of Fuorisalone during its 2019th edition: on the left the installation “Home sweet home” by Missoni in Via Solferino. On the right Nendo in “Breeze of light”

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Time Machine, the installation durinf Fuorisalone 2017 in the new design district of Ventura Centrale

citizen-time-is-time-fuorisalone-2016

Time is time, an immersive environmet setted in the Superstudio’s place during the 2016 Design Week, focused on the theme of time

Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone: ​​Milan the capital of design

It seems centuries have passed since Milan, in the central weeks of April, was filled with international tourists, young emerging designers, professionals hunting for innovative proposals and university students eager for events and new product launches.
From the design enthusiast, to the sector’s professional, to the simple citizen who loves social life: the week of the Salone del Mobile has always managed to capture everyone’s interests.

One of the few events able to involve such a large audience as to transform Milan into a great “design community”.
Impossible to walk along the streets of the county seat during those days and not be involved in the beating heart of the Design Week.
Colorful graphics that identify the various districts, art installations and advertising banners with pieces of furniture just launched on the market reach every corner of the city.

The professional variant of the Salone del Mobile, in the huge spaces of Rho Fiera and even more its Fuorisalone organized in ever-changing design areas now seem an old memory. Two realities that over the years have known such success that they have become distinct entities, each with its own target audience.

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salone-mobile-logo

Fuorisalone, the design districts map of the 2019 edition.
On the right, the official logo of Salone del Mobile.

Digital Design Week: what is it and what changes does it make to the traditional version?

The cancellation of last year due to the health emergency and its uncertain future also for the 2021 version did not, however, stop the creativity of Design Week. The 2020 edition of the Design Week had already moved to digital channels, meeting the approval and involvement of both the realities that make it up.
Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone never as today find themselves in dialogue with each other to create a rich schedule of events.
Talks, webinars and reflections on what it means making design nowadays and on the various facets of this world. The stringent safety restrictions have also completely revolutionized the methodology for presenting new products. Physical presence is now too restrictive a possibility, so naturally the attention shifts to the digital world. In order not to stop the great design machine, the realities that have always accompanied the traditional edition of Milan Design Week have organized a digital version. Digital Design Week 2021 took place on the web platforms of Interni (historic magazine associated with the week of the Salone), Fuorisalone and Ad Italia. From 12th to 19th of April, a series of talks involving professional figures took place. From the world of furniture, to architecture, but also literature, technology, art and craftsmanship, opinions and reflections are exchanged on the contemporary themes that drive design. Furthermore, in the specific case of Interni, its version continued until 23th April, with a fixed evening appointment scheduled for 6.30 pm in streaming.

Digital-Design-Week-quote-custom-Marco-Spinelli-Poliform
san-siro-seat-cappellini-jasper-morrison

A Marco Spinelli quote, shared on social pages of AD Italy that underlines the importance of “custom-made”. 
On the right: San Siro seat, designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini and launched during the Digital Design Week 2021

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Aldford table by Bentley Home – Luxury Living Group disegned by LLG Creative Team

Smartworking and a new perception of the domestic environment

Undoubtedly a contemporary theme during this Digital Design Week was the introduction of the concept of smartworking and the new domesticity.
We at Modulor have already addressed this issue, also bringing design examples from the previous months.

In this regard, the interpretation proposed by Lara Facchinetti, HR Manager of Zamperla, in the “Study” chapter of the laboratory proposed by Strategy Innovation is interesting. The theme of reflection shifts to the hybridization between work from home and office life, noting how the best working condition derives from the integration of both.
If before the working world and the private sphere were very distinct areas of our daily life, now it often happens during an online conference to witness small “intrusions”. Children intrigued by the screen and pets who have run away from their places become actors of a connection that is not only conceptual, but also physical and visual. With this in mind, the best productivity is achieved by being able to take advantage of both work contexts.
The home is identified as the environment of concentration, where one can isolate oneself from colleagues, and the office is instead an environment of sharing.

What is missing during smartworking are in fact the impromptu meetings and the brainstorming process that spontaneously arise during a coffee break.
Linked to the new needs of spatial reconfiguration, as also confirmed by our experience, the change in the perception of the working space opens in parallel.

In this regard, it is interesting to report the point of view of Marco Roversi, colleague specialized in the design of custom-made furnishings in the contract sector. In fact, if the reconfiguration of the home environment is often restrictive, and bound to changes that are not too intrusive, the workspace undergoes a radical change. It is rethought in its basic setting, making flexibility its founding feature.

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Funivia, sunspended lighting design by  Carlotta Bevilacqua for Artmide 

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6x6the modular system for office designed by Roversi

The reinterpretation of system engineering components

The continuous search for flexibility in the working place brings the contract further closer to the world of retail, used to constant changes.
The design of the architectural component then becomes a fundamental point to guarantee infinite spatial configurations.
As in the case of white boxes for the retail world, the system engineering component is reinterpreted now more than ever for its aesthetic impact.

A great example is certainly the design thinking of Davide Groppi during the talk “Living the work space” proposed by Lombardini22. The vision of the internationally renowned designer is precisely linked to the flexibility of light, which is released from the electrical system to which it belongs.
The solutions proposed over the years by the designer himself have always been designed with the desire to make light free from pre-existing plant constraints.
Providing the right light does not only mean allowing you to see the space but also to feel it.
A setting that becomes more and more scenographic with a design work that becomes a work of elegance.

The second example is the series of projects brought by architect Duccio Grassi during the talk Design beyond Matter.
A relationship between the architectural and system design components that goes beyond the level of necessity to become a project integration with the aesthetic vision.

Another issue connected to the relationship between structural needs and project flexibility is that of the exploitation of interstices, the so-called architecture in between. We have recently analyzed the potential of designing functional furniture capable of optimizing spaces and therefore we fully share the reflections of Daniele Lago, founder of the well-known mass-production furniture company.
The in-between is not only a domestic environment design issue but also a metaphor for the relationship between the brand and its community.

Davide_Groppi_Infinito

Infinito, Davide Groppi

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Zara Rome, Duccio Grassi Architects.
Engeneering system and outfitting matches in a design element which disappear in the environment.

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Max Mara Tokyo Ginza Home, Duccio Grassi Architects

Sustainability and environmental impact: visions related to design

Perhaps one of the most inflated issues in recent years is certainly linked to sustainability and environmental impact.
Countless could be the visions and projects that make it the flag carrier.
From the world of design, the theme of the circular economy directly moves to the productive world, finding infinite results.

But what does it actually mean to be sustainable today?
Producing using recycled material is not always the ultimate solution. In fact, it is necessary to put the entire life cycle of the furnishings on the scales and consider their environmental impact over the years.
Here then is that the word “recycling” appears several times during this Digital Design Week.

The architect and designer Paola Navone brings her vision of recycled objects as a series of handmade products obtained from processing waste.
A vision that wants to break the mold by bringing color and joy into the projects, managing to enhance what is the local craftsmanship.

Giuseppe Pedrali, CEO of the homonymous company from Bergamo, also focuses on the regulatory aspect of sustainability.
“Being sustainable” has now become the common motto of various manufacturing companies, but how many of them actually focus on the certifications that can officially certify this characteristic? Are the production processes actually controlled and designed in order to reduce waste and affect the environment as little as possible?

Ico Migliore, architect of Migliore + Servetto, underlines how the issue of sustainability is not only linked to materials but to user behavior.

Of all the thoughts analyzed, the one that we at Modulor certainly fully embrace is the one proposed by the architect and designer Piero Lissoni during the conversation “Everything is a project” available on AD Italy.
Sustainability consists in designing furniture that can last over time

What does it mean to design nowadays? How to emerge within an increasingly large market?

We share once again the words of Piero Lissoni as the fulcrum and summary of this Digital Design Week.
The world of design now looks worldwide, what allows it to be valued is high quality and knowing how to maintain and preserve the “craftsmanship”.

While knowing the relationship to the increasingly frequent technology and the world of the intangible, it is essential to recognize the wealth offered by craftsmanship. The new model of craftsmanship, although it has lost some qualities transmitted over the years, meets new possibilities.

Knowing how to relate the ability to use hands, touch materials and interpret them with incredible technologies is the design of the future.
A less drawn and more product design. Although the very term “design” or industrial design, it would seem to live in the opposite of the concept of craftsmanship, the conjunction of these worlds is the real innovative key for the future of interior design.

Digital-Design-Week-quote-Giulia-Molteni
Round-D.154.5-molteni-Digital-Design-Week-2021

Round D.154.5, the historic armchair designed by Gio Ponti and reinterpreted in a contemporary way by Molteni & Co

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Moroso_Patricia_Urquiola_Pacific

Soriana, Afra and Tobia Scarpa forCassina
On the right: Pacific,the new collection signed Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

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The Connery seating system designed by Rodolfo Dordoni for Minotti