🇮🇹 Postcards from Milano Design Week

What a week! I posted on Instagram that it has been wonderful to be back in Milano, visiting family and enjoying the city. Many of you asked me to share some highlights from Milano Design Week, which is, in my very subjective opinion, one of the world’s most important and influential design events - even for play designers like myself. The city was buzzing with energy and creativity, and the fair itself was a feast for the eyes and the mind! I took my daughter with me so enjoy our joint selection of favorites.

First things first; color is back baby. I am happy to report that the fair was full of colorful and whimsical designs that contrasted with the minimalism and austerity of previous years. 

Qeebo the design brand founded by Stefano Giovannoni, was notably on the forefront of this shift presenting its latest collections with renowned designers such as Philippe Starck, Estudio Campana, Kris Ruhs and Dai Sugasawa. 

My daughter also really enjoyed the Missoni Installation featuring giant donut-shaped play objects covered in the brand's patterns. 

Vieni a Vedere, was an installation by Bottega Veneta and Gaetano Pesce, that invited visitors to enter a cave-like structure made of resin-covered fabric, leading to a handbag shaped like a mountain landscape. It was a delight.

As a design educator Salone Satellite (the Milano Design Week event that showcases young designers and design schools from around the world) was a personal highlight. Founded by Marva Griffin in 1998, it aims to connect emerging talents with the design industry. This year, the theme was “Building the (im)possible: Process, Progress, Practice”, and the participants presented innovative and original projects in various fields of design and sustainability.

I personally love 10 Corso Como any season but the @scarlet_splendour pieces presented during Design Week were just a synomy for wonder; inspired by an exotic forest you can enjoy them here. “Chow Cabinet ” by @elenasalmistraro , “Forest” by @marcantonio and “Animagic” by @matteocibic.

Our design-hunting adventure ended in Alcova, a platform for independent designers in historically significant locations. This year, Alcova was in the industrial grounds of a former market featuring over 90 different installations. It was both haunting and beautiful.