17 heart-stopping debuts from Milan Design Week 2023
Product Preview | May 5, 2023
Product Preview is a weekly series spotlighting the latest and greatest debuts in the marketplace. Check back every Friday for what’s new and notable.
Hot on the heels of High Point, this market editor finally has time to process all the amazing debuts I saw while in Milano. From cloudburst-inspired glass lights to sinuous, sunset-hued outdoor sofas, here are 17 highlights from Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone that I can’t get out of my head.
Artemest’s “L’Appartamento” made me want to sell all of my belongings and move straight to Milan. Set inside a historic 1930s apartment, the display boasted six different rooms curated by international designers using a symphony of the brand’s insanely cool pieces, including a gold-walled living room with a bright orange sofa by Dublin-based studio Kingston Lafferty Design, and a boldly banded modern dining room by Houston’s Nina Magon.
Lasvit blessed guests of the fair with a dreamy surrealist lighting exhibit called “It All Comes From Above.” Not only were designers Yabu Pushelberg and David Rockwell on hand to walk me through their respective introductions—including the former’s Miles collection and the latter’s celestial Constellations series—but the centerpiece of the showcase, art director Maxim Velčovský’s, boasted a cloudburst-inspired glass pendant light complete with LED raindrops.
Miami-based design brands Art + Loom and Bea Pernia joined forces to present “The Art of Formation” at Alcova. The joint installation paid homage to the raw beauty of natural stone and included four new geologically driven rug designs by Art + Loom, and three organic marble-offcut-clad tables by Bea Pernia.
Cassina’s Patricia Urquiola–curated “Echoes” exhibit inside Palazzo Broggi was truly a sight to behold. Divided into five red-light-flooded scenes inspired by the soon-to-be-released book of the same name, the immersive presentation paid homage to the 50th anniversary of the brand’s iMaestri Collection, and included iconic works such as the Sinbad chair by Vico Magistretti and the Banquette Méandre by Charlotte Perriand.
Vipp opened the doors to its exquisite pop-up hotel inside a 13th century palazzo in Brescia. Available for reservations through May 18, the Venetian fresco-filled Palazzo Monti is presently outfitted in the brand’s Scandi-style lighting designs and minimalist furniture, such as the curly shearling clad Lodge lounge chair and the shapely, six-piece Pouf ottoman.
Argentinian artist Cristián Mohaded transformed the main room of the Cortile della Seta building into a boulder-filled landscape for Loro Piana Interiors. The installation, called “Apacheta,” showcased an assortment of soaring sculptures that mimic the stacked rock formations found throughout the Andes mountains, and included a selection of monolithic furniture pieces upholstered in the brand’s ultraplush textiles.
Flos’s booth at the fair was a wonderland of illuminations. The expansive Euroluce showcase featured a series of small architectural spaces, each devoted to one of the brand’s latest avant-garde lighting designs, including the recently relaunched 2097 chandelier by Gino Sarfatti and Black Flag, a soon-to-be-released linear wall light by Konstantin Grcic composed of three horizontal bars that expand into a pendant.
Ralph Lauren transformed the facade of its famed Via della Spiga flagship into a showstopping outdoor scene. Drawing inspiration from a handful of signature designs from the brand’s heirloom home fabric collection, the display featured an Americana-esque patchwork quilt of classic florals, ticking stripes and antique block-print patterns painted on to the exterior of the stunning five-floor store.
Munna and Ginger & Jagger’s joint booth at the fair was teeming with eye candy. Though the former’s cocoonlike Pema Meditation chair first drew me in for a sit test, it was the latter’s Clarity sideboard—a deco-style stunner composed entirely of smoky glass—that made me second-guess my current console.
The frescoed interiors of Palazzo Arese Borromeo in Cesano Maderno were converted into a stunning tribute to Gianfranco Frattini. The exhibition presented an array of archival pieces from the Italian architect’s famed portfolio—including original sketchbooks, decor objects and drawings—alongside reeditions from major brands such as CB2, Artemide and Gubi.
H+O’s installation with Muuto and Vzug, “Butterfly Effect,” was a love song to form and color. Brimming with soft tones and gently rounded silhouettes, the airy exhibition was housed in a sun-drenched Brera apartment, and introduced new designs including the Wrap lounge chair by Normal Studio and the Couple coffee table by Sylvain Willenz.
Joana Vasconcelos’s whimsical installation inside the Roche Bobois showroom was every bit as magical—and Instagrammable—as expected. The kaleidoscopic display spanned multiple rooms, offering a rainbow of sculptural crocheted confections showcased alongside the artist’s new sinuous, sunset-hued Bombom outdoor series.
The Invisible Collection unveiled a new design by Osanna Visconti inside the sculptor’s enchanting Santa Marta atelier. Cast in natural bronze using the centuries-old lost wax technique, the Foglie vase features dozens of delicate hand-etched leaves and customizable dimensions upon request.
At the fair, Tom Dixon’s Puff chandeliers and pendant lights stopped me in my tracks. Like a free-form disco ball, the billowy design is bedecked in dozens of perforated metal panels that cast a warm, glittery glow in your choice of brass or stainless steel finishes.
Roberto Lazzeroni’s Duo collection was on full display at the Poltrona Frau showroom. The series pays homage to the Italian “salotti” (“salon-style”) designs of the 1950s, and includes everything from a serpentine sofa partially crafted from recycled materials to a solid ash bookcase with curved shelves and asymmetrical uprights.
Pierre Frey premiered five printed carpets in collaboration with Dimore Studio. The abstract and geometric designs served as the floorcoverings for the Milanese design firm’s fantastical (and slightly apocalyptic) “No Sense” exhibit, which spanned six rooms of a historic Via Solferino apartment filled with masterpiece furnishings such as Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni’s Mariano storage unit, and Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s bookcase for B&B Italia.
Fermob wowed fair visitors with a handful of innovative, soon-to-be-released designs and materials. Along with the clean-lined portable Ulli H.12 lamp and the garden-friendly Luxembourg Work high table, introductions included an indoor-minded oak iteration of the brand’s beloved Studie chair and leather-clad versions of the Bistro and Surprising chairs.
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