Although the dust has hardly settled on a post-pandemic existence, the Milan Furniture Fair – or Salone if you’re talking to a designer – is back and it’s not holding back. Arguably the most important week on the design industry calendar, the Fair turns 60 this year but – with around 2 000 exhibitors set up around Milan, a glut of new bars, restaurants and even a new museum (ADI Museum) – here’s nothing fuddy duddy about the bash.
We’ve rounded up the top design collabs spotted at yesterday’s opening.
Artisan weavers x Loewe
Under the standard of craftsmanship, the fashion house and its creative director, Jonathan Anderson, launch ‘Weave, Restore, Renew’, an exploration of weaving as a way of reviving wasted materials and reimagining them as baskets, handbags and vases. Partnering with artisans from Spain (using coroza, traditional straw-weaving technique) and Korea (who employ the paper-weaving skill known as juseung) the medium is looped, woven, sripped and shaped into a variety of striking objets.
Swarovski X Rosenthal
A collaboration brokered by Swarovski creative director Giovanna Engelbert sees Rosenthal, the storied German-based porcelain producer, apply its skill at panel cutting through the lens of crystalline facets. The resulting Signum collection of tableware – tea and espresso sets (as well as vases) – is available in aloe green, Aegean blue, canary yellow and cyclamen pink.
Vincent Van Duysen x Molteni&C
Inspired by the architectural form, the Belgian designer plays with scale to create a pared-back open console, which can be used for storage or to showcase pieces within the home. Executed in oak and eucalyptus wood with a marble top and softly illuminated within, the piece is a master class in both striking and minimalist design.
Jaime Hayon x Nanimarquina
The product of imagination and craftsmanship, these New Zealand wool rugs – hand tufted in India – are transformed with the fanciful illustrations of the Spanish designer. Featuring turtles, fish, lips and birds, there is a childlike playfulness to the pieces that only further enhances their serious design cred.
Louis Vuitton x Atelier Oï
Drawing on its original designs for Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomades Collection – now in its tenth year – Atelier Oï unveiled a new take on the classic Belt chair. Incorporating leather straps and buckles (a nod to the fashion house’s long history of luggage manufacture), the stylish range now includes a lounge chair and bar and side stools.
Marcel Wanders Studio x Fendi Casa
This year, the Italian fashion and furniture house partners with the Dutch designer’s studio on a reimagining of the classic ‘Cloe’ chair, incorporating the classic pequin stripe motif with dark leaver and soft velvet for a striking yet soft form.
