The Milan Furniture Fair, the annual blowout of design and arguably the world’s most important, turns 60 this year—but don’t expect anything yawningly middle-aged from the roughly 2,000 exhibitors setting up in the Italian city June 7 through 12.
Energy is running high after a subdued showing in 2021, and the city has been buffing itself up for the past few years in anticipation of postpandemic crowds. There are refreshed hangouts (Marchesi 1824 for pastry, Bar Basso for negronis), a livelier restaurant scene (sushi is suddenly everywhere), a new museum (ADI Design Museum, near the Brera district) and new circulation routes that promise to unsnarl Milan’s infamous traffic.
Among the design debuts, we have our eye on film director
Luca Guadagnino’s
entry into home furnishings and a growing number of designers who are promising a real step forward in sustainability, from Nature Squared’s plant-based building materials to Loewe’s look at the art of repair.
Photo:
Courtesy of LOEWE
Artisans for Loewe Baskets
Inspired by the concept of “repair, recycle, revive,” the fashion brand has partnered with artisans in Spain and South Korea on four different projects, each foregrounding the beauty of traditional weaving techniques. Korean paper string craft as practiced by Young Soon Lee is one focus; the heritage of Galician weavers in northwest Spain is another. Loewe.com
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MOLTENI&C
Molteni&C Living Box by Vincent Van Duysen
Practical and monumental, simple and highly refined, the Living Box by Belgian designer Vincent Van Duysen is an open console that can serve many functions, from storage to display. Subtle interior lighting plays up the oak and eucalyptus woods used in constructing the piece, which is available in four sizes. Molteni.it
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Swarovski
Swarovski X Rosenthal Tea Set
Giovanna Engelbert, the creative director of Swarovski, has whipped up a collaboration with the German porcelain house of Rosenthal that takes the craft of panel-cutting to new heights. The Signum collection of tea and espresso sets as well as vases come in four colors: aloe green, Aegean blue, canary yellow and cyclamen pink. RosenthalUSA-Shop.com, Swarovski.com
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Fendi Casa
Marcel Wanders Studio for Fendi Casa Chair
The firm of Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has reinterpreted Fendi’s pequin stripe motif with loops of dark brown leather wrapping the smoked-oak form of the Cloe chair. A velvet seat softens the chair’s masculine silhouette. FendiCasa.com
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Frederik Vercruysse
Muller Van Severen x Laila Gohar Table
Food is meant to be shared, an idea that’s baked into the playful design of the Pigeon Table, a collaboration between Laila Gohar in New York and Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen of Muller Van Severen, in Evergem, Belgium. Galvanized steel legs meet bright polyethylene tops: seven surfaces, seven colors, seven chances to try something new. MullerVanSeveren.be, LailaGohar.com
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Garnier et Linker
Garnier et Linker Furnishings
Ancient materials come together with gemlike refinement in the lighting and accessories of Paris-based design agency Garnier & Linker, whose Hemera collection includes a cast-glass sconce and an alabaster pendant light. GarnierEtLinker.com
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Courtesy of Moroso
Front Design for Moroso Sofa
The Swedish design duo known as Front Design has been thinking about nature lately and how much better we feel being in it. One result: the Pebble Rubble sofa for Moroso, a modular system of soft, huggable shapes that can be combined infinitely, and upholstered in colors to mimic a mossy wood, a summer beach or an early snowfall. Moroso.it
Photo:
Carlotta Manaigo
Bethan Laura Wood for CC-Tapis Carpet
British designer Bethan Laura Wood is known for her wild ways with color, but the Covid lockdown spurred her return to the relatively sober practice of pen-and-ink drawing. Her sketches of succulent plants on her windowsill have been translated into the four-piece Euphorbia carpet collection by CC-Tapis, in handmade Himalayan wool. CC-Tapis.com
Photo:
Mattia Balsamini
Philippe Bestenheider for Billiani Side Chair
Swiss designer Philippe Bestenheider sees his Edelweiss chair as a marriage of his masculine and feminine sides, rigor and fluidity united in a sturdy hardwood design produced in the Billiani Italian workshop. Billiani.it
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Courtesy of Nanimarquina
Jaime Hayon carpet for Nanimarquina
Hand-tufted in India of 100 percent New Zealand wool, this fanciful carpet depicts imaginary beasts straight from the imagination of Valencia-based Spanish artist and designer Jaime Hayon, who transferred the design from one of his paintings. Nanimarquina.com
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Courtesy Louis Vuitton. Photographer Tommaso Sartori.
Louis Vuitton Belt Chair by Atelier Oï
This year Louis Vuitton is marking the 10th anniversary of its Objets Nomades collection, a wide-ranging series of design collaborations. One of the original partners, Swiss studio Atelier Oï, has riffed on its classic Belt chair, made with straps and buckles recalling the maison’s luggage. The expanded Belt family now includes a lounge chair, bar stool and side stool. US.LouisVuitton.com
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courtesy of Ginori 1735
Luke Edward Hall for Ginori 1735 Candles
Inspired by five of his favorite travel destinations, British artist and designer Luke Edward Hall has worked with Ginori 1735 to create Profumi Luchino, a line of perfumed candles corresponding to each: the Cotswolds, Marrakech, Rajasthan, Big Sur and Venice. The hand-decorated porcelain vessels each have a matching plate, tray and accessory, the last a “souvenir” of the olfactory journey the scents provide. Ginori1735.com
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Photo by Luca Rotondo
Massimiliano Locatelli Editions Glass Tables and Stools
Infinitely recyclable, glass and aluminum are building materials with unrealized potential—so thinks the Italian architect Massimiliano Locatelli, whose Al13 tables and stools make the most of these two elements. Locatelli starts with metal window frames, transforming them with stacked glass into furnishings that are, he says, “precious, unusual and at the same time simple.” LocatelliPartners.com
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Matthew Hilton for SCP
Matthew Hilton for SCP Recliner
Can a recliner be both comfortable and cool? Emphatically yes, according to British designer Matthew Hilton, whose electric-powered Ewelina armchair for SCP has a gently curved back and graceful, rounded arms that hide all the hardworking mechanics. SCP.co.uk
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Tooy Nastro
Studiopepe Lighting System for Tooy
The inventive Milanese design team of Studiopepe has expanded its Nastro collection into a modular lighting system that can snake along walls or be suspended in midair, with two light sources: cylindrical cans and straplike panels. Tooy.it
Photo:
Andrea Ferrari
Mario Bellini for Tacchini Sofa
A classic of ’70s lounge culture, the Le Mura sofa by Mario Bellini is getting an update on its 50th anniversary. Inspired by the walls that surround ancient cities, the low-riding modular design is being reissued with high-performance foam and memory foam and new buckles and hinges, all the work of Italian furniture maker Tacchini. Tacchini.it
Photo:
Rebecca Reid
Lara Bohinc Derrière Chair
With an arch sense of humor and an eye for trends, Lara Bohinc has designed the Derrière chair in celebration of the voluptuous female form. A frame of wood and steel underlies generous foam padding and soft wool upholstery, resulting in a piece that’s all sensuality—with “no straight lines or sharp angles in sight,” Bohinc says. BohincStudio.com
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