Highlights from Salone del Mobile 2021

The design world, as one might guess, is an extremely tactile one: the nubby silk of a rug, the buttery leather of a floating sofa, the silky birch grain of a Danish wood table. Which is why it felt so important to celebrate this year's Salone del Mobile, delayed 18 months by the pandemic. Editors, designers, architects, and buyers reunited to peruse showrooms and revel in new collections, some of which had been secreted away since 2020. The design houses delivered, from Dior's fabulous display of Louis XVI chairs and Hermès's artistic textile display to Artemest's curated commissions of water-inspired objects and Supersalone's acknowledgement of the students who graduated to little fanfare (and a lot of anxiety) last year with the "Lost Graduation" exhibition. At night, with notebooks full of specifications and camera rolls of photos, everyone gathered at (where else?) Bar Basso. And if the Aperol Spritzes felt slightly out of season from their usual April appearance, no one minded. Below, our favorite design moments from Salone del Mobile 2021. Saluti!