Milan Design Week (MDW) unfold throughout Milan, has two parts — the Salone del Mobile and the Fuorisalone. The Salone del Mo bile (Milan Furniture Fair) has its venue at Fiera Milano exhibition district in Rho, a suburb of Milan. It’s the most important furnishings honest on the planet, this time with 2100 exhibitors from 37 nations. Fuorisalone started spontaneously for the reason that Nineteen Eighties, when exhibitors prolonged occasions ‘outside the Salone’. The honest, which ran from April 8 to 13 this yr, dazzled each guests and contributors with its scale and deal with craftsmanship.
The Fiera Milano, a number one commerce honest and exhibition organiser has been working since 1920.
In a world more and more empowered by AI, designers and artists have gotten tangibly conscious of the sentient qualities of being human — ardour, satisfaction, love, anguish and sorrow — and it’s this sentiment that prevailed within the 63th version of Milan Design Week and its theme, ‘Thought for Humans’.
India in motion
Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth of Klove Studio
“Milan completely transformed into a city of design. It felt like every street corner was telling a story. The whole city came together beautifully, and it was inspiring to see art and design take over in such a powerful way,” says Prateek Jain. Jain and Gautam Seth, his co-founder at Klove Studio, are taking part for the primary time as Klove. The duo was greatly surprised by the response for VISTA, a set of sculptural lights created by NYC designer Kickie Chudikova with Klove Studio for the Shakti Design Residency.
Klove for the Shakti Design Residency
Multiple concentric glass shades in scalloped kinds derived from shapes of Mughal arches, create gradients inside a selected hue from glazed caramel and sensuous reds to sapphire blue. There’s a way of containment, mimicking dwellings for gentle from bygone eras.
“For me the most impressive and outstanding show was the installation by Loro Piana and Dimoremilano. ‘La Prima Notte di Quiete’ showcased the boundaries between reality and cinematic fiction.”Vikram GoyalDesigner
Meanwhile, designer Vikram Goyal, who’s captivated with deciphering artisanal craftsmanship, introduced a number of items for Nilufar Depot product of brass and hollowed joinery. Goyal brings his architectural kinds to life with the metalworking craft of repousse, hammering and welding sheets to create textures and patterns in his beautiful Shaded Graphite assortment.
Vikram Goyal’s Shaded Graphite Cabinet
“The show-stopper was the three-part Mesa console,” he says, commenting on this revived take of his console piece at PAD London. Nilufar is exhibiting Goyal’s work for the third consecutive yr at MDW.
Phantom Hands’ Geoffrey Bawa furnishings
Another model, Phantom Hands from Bengaluru, introduced their meticulous revival of Geoffrey Bawa’s furnishings, a tribute to the late Sri Lankan-based architect’s humanistic strategy. The licensed re-editions, which comprise of lighting, objects and furnishings made by Bawa between the mid Sixties and Nineteen Nineties, had been usually for buildings he designed.
Richard Hutten’s Holi-inspired assortment for Jaipur Rugs.
| Photo Credit:
Neville Sukhia
Meanwhile, Jaipur Rugs additionally showcased their collections at MDW. Working with 40,000 rural artisans, they’ve been pushing boundaries to innovate with custom. They had a couple of collabs on present, beginning with Richard Hutten. One of essentially the most collected dwelling designers with works in 40 museums worldwide, Hutten bought the epithet ‘Playing Man’ by Dutch historian Johann Huizinga for channeling play into tradition. In his assortment Playing with Tradition for Jaipur Rugs, impressed by India’s Holi competition, Hutten splashes vivid dots, squares and even banana motifs throughout conventional patterns. The daring and sudden twist infuses a full of life up to date aesthetic into the wealthy heritage of hand-knotted wool rugs.
Jaipur Rugs’ ‘Jardins du Monde’, in collaboration with Paris-based Tatiana de Nicolay.
Jaipur Rugs additionally unveiled Jardins du Monde, a collaboration with Paris-based Tatiana de Nicolay, which gained an EDIDA ( Elle Déco International Design Award). This serene and classical assortment of seven rugs is an ode to gardens the world over from the Parisian Albert Kahn gardens to quintessential English meadows. Every rug tells a narrative, from The Tea Pavilion, a concord of palms leaves and architectural components, The River of Roses patterned with verdant trellises, to The Mysterious Labyrinth with its maze of climbing vines.
Other collections on the Salone by Jaipur Rugs had been The Gilded Age with Peter D’Ascoli, echoing Parisian and Hollywood opulence; and the Atelier Collection with Chanel-owned VIMAR 1991, mixing high fashion methods with rug artistry.
Installations
The particular exhibit for 2025 was a spectacular showcase by Euroluce, the biennial International Lighting Exhibition, with emphasis on progressive supplies and applied sciences. Encouraging contact, these tactile installations made participation key to the expertise on the Salone. Italian lighting model FLOS’ video set up titled The Light of the Mind, made by FormaFantasma was one such.
Linked Lights by FLOS
The Library of Light
Ever since Orhan Pamuk tailored his novel The Museum of Innocence as a literal museum in Istanbul in 2012, the guide has leapt out of its pages. Italy’s historical past of centerstage spectacles in amphitheatres like The Colosseum continues in right this moment’s theatrical area. British artist Es Devlin’s mesmerising set up, The Library of Light, within the Cortile d’Onore (Courtyard of Honour) on the Pinacoteca di Brera (est. 1809) reckons the library because the illuminating middle of shared experiences and information. A rotating library of 18m diameter, half empty — even after being stocked with 3,500 books donated by Italian publishing home Feltrinelli — invited guests so as to add their beloved titles.
The Cloister of Frogs
In a hidden nook of Milan was The Cloister of Frogs. Luca Trazzi in collaboration with FAN EUROPE Lighting created an ethereal backyard of splendor. Radial floral components illuminated the pathways, showing between the foliage and intertwining with columns. The dazzling works are a tribute to Bramante, the architect of the Basilica’s tribune, as Trazzi drew inspiration from an ornamental flower aspect within the cloister.
La dolce attesta
The Italian love for theater extends to movie areas, which in flip is carefully relatable to spatial design. For Salone 2025, Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino was commissioned, as an auteur who enjoys creating movie units. Sorrentino devised an set up “La dolce attesta” or ‘The sweet waiting’. The longish room of crimson hues with two armchairs, a glass sculpture on the middle and a soundscape by sound artist Max Casacci immersed guests with the sensation of indefinite anticipation.
Tufts, knots and weaves
Visionnaire
Shibari armchair
Shibari in Japanese refers to a type of bondage and the chair by Studio Pepe for Visionnaire, performs on the various technique of a love knot, becoming a member of and connecting two strands with concord and unity. Shibari Easy Chair comes with a polyurethane seat, with its delicate upholstery product of recycled wool. The powder-coated metallic framework is hid in a high-density polyurethane foam tube.
Moooi
Moooi
Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc, whose work has earned titles resembling ‘punk elegance’ and ‘techno chic’ brings her ‘larger than life’ tag to the Knitty Lounge Chair. Designed for the model Moooi, in 15 color choices, the chair makes use of an outsized yarn much like giant-sized ship rope to create an uncommon design with a basket weave. The yarn itself is upholstered with knitted cloth for a delicate and indulgent sitting expertise.
Sustainability focus
Earth, hemp, seashells and extra
Living Divani
Technology has grow to be key to sustainable approaches. Noai, a biocomposite materials, made out of uncooked earth and hemp, is used within the Etoile assortment by Living Divani, a collaboration with designer Marco Carini.
Breathair
With their continued curiosity in supplies with low affect on the surroundings, Arper is now the primary firm to form a seat cushion product of Breathair, a breathable and totally waterproof polymer, which they launched of their Catifa 46 chairs.
Legacy and luxurious
A Luxury Way designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon
Villa Heritage, a site-specific set up was a journey of marvel throughout Pavilions 13 and 14 on the Salone. On an total sq. structure, Pierre-Yves Rochon, designer and grasp of luxurious hospitality, created immersive evocative narratives ranging from the Red Drawing Room. Standout options included a Napoleon Chandelier by iDOGI reputed for his or her inventive glass lighting sculptures and stable wooden armchairs by ZANABONI.
On a tea observe
The Milan honest showcases a deep respect for historical past and heritage. This was evident within the quixotic ‘Kaikado 150’, an set up of 150 Japanese tea caddies in a courtyard in Milan. The exhibition celebrated the Kaikado legacy, the oldest household enterprise making tea caddies since 1875, with a guide launch by ERG Media. Five Japanese artisans transparently shared their caddy-making craft for the primary time.
The author is a model strategist with a background in design from SAIC and NID.
Published – April 19, 2025 06:05 am IST
