Curation is the new luxury

After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Milan Design Week returned to its traditional spring dates in mid-April. Since 1961, the week-long event has been centred around the famous Salone del Mobile furniture fair, which was created to highlight Italian design in particular, but today leads the way for product launches across Europe as well as many global brands.

For ten years now, the Salone has also been complemented by the Fuorisalone in Milan, which features design destinations around the city centre and its outskirts. Traditionally, most brands' showrooms are located in the Brera neighbourhood, which is bustling with life during the week.

Euroluce - this year's theme

As you know, the fair has a lighting theme every other year, called Euroluce, which suited German Ingo Maurer like a glove as they could present both new and classic products at the fair and exhibit light installations around the city. One of our favourites was the "Mr Bojangles" lighting, which, with a swivel arm in the form of a textile-covered cable, was imbued with a rarely seen elegance and straightforwardness. The fact that the arm can swivel 360 degrees doesn't make it any less attractive.

Other exciting lighting novelties included the British company Tom Dixon, which participated in Euroluce for the first time. The debutant showed the new "Puff", a pendant luminaire that can perhaps best be described as an imploded disco ball, and "Cone", a floor lamp in a reduced geometric shape, where the lighting globe seems to rest on the thin tip of a tapered conical lamp base - an intricate and dynamic balancing act. The globe is also interchangeable, a feature demonstrated by a robot at the fair.

To not mention London-based Cypriot Michael Anastassiades' contribution to Milan Design Week would be a faux pas. The minimalist Anastassiades presented not only at the fair, but also with an installation and performance in the Flos showroom and a collection of tiles in collaboration with tile brand Mutina. The result was - despite a large number of launches - sophisticated reduction at its best.

Textured glass

This year, our environments become dreamy and illusory as textured glass takes over and casts shadows on the character of a room. From the precise, ribbed and geometric glass surfaces to glass that has a more poetic character, like the '118' pendant lamp by Omer Arbel for Bocci.

Lessons in maths and physics

The modern updated home nowadays always offers at least one lesson in algebra. This year, we want objects with geometry as perfect as the rules of the maths book. From lighting to storage, Design Week featured triangles, circles and rectangles with straight lines - a fun nostalgia trip to the school desk.

Flos presented the 'Bilboquet' table lamp. It too has a playful design, revealing many hours spent in the physics classroom. Designer Philippe Malouin is said to have created the concept while playing around with magnetic elements. The light consists of two coloured cylinders connected by a magnetic sphere, allowing the light to be directed flexibly in different directions, for all the needs of the day.

Boucle everything

There is boucle and then there is heavy, oversized boucle, the one that dominated upholstery at the Salone del Mobile. The big advantage of boucle is that a highly structured weave gives life to neutral shades and enhances colours in the fabric, and can hide any future wear and tear. The fact that it also softens tight shapes is just a bonus. By far the best combinations of boucle and furniture, we saw at Moroso.

Mediterranean tones - caramel, dusky pink and lavender

Sun-kissed Mediterranean tones are the best way to bring in statement colour without it completely taking over. Green has long been the darling of the interior design world and this year a rich olive colour has emerged. It is reminiscent of Sicilian olives or dried grass. Also prominent during design week were a brick-like sunburnt terracotta red and a lavender purple that is often combined with brown.

Otherwise, butterscotch was the colour on everyone's lips, at least when it comes to leather upholstery. From sofas to chairs, the soft, sleek and smooth leather is both powerful and has references to the relaxed seventies.

If you want a calming colour, twilight pink is the way to go. This shade, which lies between pink and grey, is elegant and classic, rather than sweet. When used on accent pieces - a chair here, a cushion there, maybe the occasional sofa - the misty shade creates a delicate and bold element.

The joy of colour

The return of vibrant primary colours to our homes was evident in Milan. The cheerful colours are welcome and add playfulness, optimism and nostalgia - which is also Kartell's signature. Kartell, the Italian brand of iconic plastic design, celebrated 70 years with several exhibitions, including the extensive 'My Kartell' stand at the fair and several product launches. These included several products with designer Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola and a collaboration with Missoni. Real showstoppers were the elegant "Thierry" column tables, of course in bright colours.

The great champions were honoured

Cassina's iMaestri collection, featuring designs from the great masters of the 20th century, celebrated 50 years this year with "Echoes, 50 years of iMaestri", an exhibition curated by Patricia Urquiola and Federica Sala. The exhibition, held in a modern and industrial space in the historic Cordusio area of Milan, honoured the past while the high-end brand looked to the future and showed a prototype of the "Galaxy" lamp. A light that will be launched next year and is based on drawings by Charles and Ray Eames.

Beyond Beetle

Gubi's presence in Milan did not go unnoticed. Milan's Bagni Misteriosi was taken over by the Danish brand, which showcased new product launches with past classics. The separate exhibition 'TEN: Beyond the Beetle' paid tribute to the Beetle chair designed by the GamFratesi duo ten years ago. Ten designers reinterpreted the chair, including Adam Nathaniel Furman, who created the pink throne with a stand of frills, and Simon Wick, who used recycled garments to create the entire object.

Life imitates art

Nina Yashar's gallery Nilufar often presents the most exciting names in collectible design. For the past few years, they have also had a second outpost: Nilufar Depot, housed in an industrial building just outside the city centre. This year, the main floor was taken over by Objects of Common Interest with an exhibition based on resin works. Glossy, fluid and irridescent surfaces reminiscent of computer animation are likely to be something we will see more of - so keep an eye out.

The fashion injections that impressed

An impressive number of fashion brands were once again on show this year, launching collaborations with architects and furniture designers. Fashion houses that have previously been present under the Fuorisalone flag include Loewe, Hermès, Prada and Louis Vuitton.

A long-awaited collaboration was the installation by Bottega Veneta with the iconic architect Gaetano Pesce, who is the designer of the Serie Up 50 UP 5_6 armchair, more commonly known as "Big Mama". As well as the installation by the quality Italian fashion brand Loro Piana, whose quiet luxury has been widely publicised this year, including through the TV series Succession.

Marni's first tableware

Milan-based luxury fashion house Marni, launched an imaginative and sophisticated tableware collection with Belgian Serax. "Midnight Flowers" is a collection consisting of 120 exquisite pieces, including hand-illustrated porcelain plates, saucers, cups and teapots. The botanically inspired collection is a manifestation of Marni's avant-garde approach to art and design and reflects the brand's dynamic essence and slightly quirky yet sophisticated style.

Swedish Girls on Alcova

For the past five years, curators Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi have launched the Alcova exhibition, which takes place in one of Milan's dilapidated buildings. This year, the exhibition was held at the Porta Vittoria slaughterhouse and featured selected design works and the occasional brand. This year, the design duo Swedish Girls exhibited their acclaimed seating system.

Curation is the New Luxury

After a three-year hiatus, Milan Design Week was finally back and with more energy than before. Over 300 000 visitors flocked to Milan to witness the design event of the year. Overall, Milan was dominated by group exhibitions and interesting collaborations, and fashion and design continue to influence each other and create synergies.

More than 2,500 companies were present with launches and presentations, finding the goodies required knowledge and a keen eye. Incidentally, knowledge was one of the themes of the week, under the flag Education is the New Luxury. But it's only when knowledge is translated into interesting selections of objects, that design gains finesse - Curation is the New Luxury.