The Milan furniture fair kicked off its global programming series in New York
Words by LESLEY McKENZIE
Photography courtesy of SALONE DEL MOBILE.MILANO
In April, Milan’s annual design fair swung open the doors to its 62nd edition, a splashy, record-breaking affair with 371,000 attendees, up more than 20 percent from 2023.
In April, Milan’s annual design fair swung open the doors to its 62nd edition, a splashy, record-breaking affair with 371,000 attendees, up more than 20 percent from 2023. Now Salone del Mobile.Milano is on an international tour of sorts with stops around the world.
The unprecedented throngs of buyers, curators, design aficionados, and furniture lovers made this year’s jamboree one for the books. But this latest iteration of Salone del Mobile.Milano, which drew almost 2,000 exhibitors from 35 countries, garnered buzz with cultural programming in the form of three large installations. These included Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room, featuring two identical, mirrored “thought rooms” envisioned by the Mulholland Drive filmmaker, and All You Have Ever Wanted to Know About Food Design in Six Performances, a series of talks, exhibits, and experiences hosted by six international food magazines, designed to shine a spotlight on the present and future of ingredients found in nature.
Headline-grabbing launches also lent an air of excitement to the six-day affair at Rho Fiera Milano — the most sustainable version of the trade show to date thanks to new green guidelines — including the debut of Hermès’ interiors collection and Loewe’s commissioning of lamps by 24 artists. But the main draw of this year’s fair? The 25th anniversary of SaloneSatellite, known for celebrating the work of up-and-coming designers, which was feted with an exhibit at the Triennale Milano museum.
Seizing the momentum from this year’s edition, Salone del Mobile.Milano has its sights set beyond Italy with a program of international events that kicked off in New York last month.
“We are happy to return to New York as the first stop on a new journey that will take us all over the world to present Salone del Mobile Milano as the event that enhances the quality, heritage, vision, and passion of Italian companies and all our exhibitors,” says Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile.Milano.
From Sept. 5 to 29, the design fair teamed up with Bloomingdale’s New York flagship store for Italian Design: From Classic to Contemporary, an installation curated by Ferruccio Laviani that celebrates Italy’s rich design culture, paired with a series of talks curated by Annalisa Rosso. Next, Salone del Mobile.Milano is headed to Shanghai (Nov. 8–10) for The Orbit’s Orbit, a performative installation at West Bund Art & Design, followed by Hong Kong (Nov. 11–12) for the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998–2004 Exhibition at the Arts Pavilion. The 2025 edition of Salone del Mobile.Milano will take place April 8–13, 2025. salonemilano.it/en.
October 10, 2024.
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