The international design world is currently turning all its attention to Milan. At the 61st Salone del Mobile, the world’s largest and most renowned furniture fair, not only the latest designs for furniture, lighting, home textiles and ceramics are presented. More and more fashion houses are using the design-savvy public in the city to demonstrate their own creativity with collaborations and objects. After all, design is a cross-genre discipline.
Ferragamo: balance and design
On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile, from April 15th to May 5th, the Ferragamo shoemaker shops in Via Montenapoleone will present special window displays, combining products from the current SS23 collection with architectural elements to highlight the themes of balance and design. Salvatore Ferragamo has studied the anatomy of the foot and its contribution to the overall balance of the body. His goal was to combine the aesthetics of materials and detailing with a comfortable fit and an elegant gait.
Design and balance also define today’s designs, created by Creative Director Maximilian Davis. In the showcases dedicated to the Salone, elastic ropes draw lines supported by hands carved in dark stone, holding the iconic bags and shoes of the Ferragamo collection.
Bottega Veneta & Gaetano Pesce: come and see
Bottega Veneta presents in its shop in Via Montenapoleone the installation “Vieni a Vedere” (“Come and See”) in collaboration with the Italian artist Gaetano Pesce. Pesce had previously created a space for the Bottega Veneta SS23 fashion show that was conceived as a temporary, site-specific work of art, to which he refers again here.
The immersive installation, which spans the entire store, uses resin and fabric to create a unique experience that the visitor moves through. It frames an edition of handbags that Bottega Veneta made for the artist based on his designs.
“The room in which we present the bags is ‘a grotto’. It is narrow and is walked through individually, whether underground or above ground, you will find a way through. What you actually walk through is the outline of a character shooting at a basket,” says Gaetano Pesce. It’s about opening up new avenues for design.
The installation can be visited for a week, from April 15th to 22nd.
Dior Maison and Philippe Starck
On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile, the interiors division of the fashion house Dior, Dior Maison, presents a new creation from the collaboration with the French star designer Philippe Starck. The “Monsieur Dior” armchair is a tribute to the founder Christian Dior. “After the Miss Dior armchair presented in 2022, inspired by the iconic medallion, it was only natural to expand the family with Monsieur Dior, this new armchair”, comments Philippe Starck on his idea.
These exceptional pieces of furniture are presented in different materials and colours: in polished or lacquered aluminium, in bouclé fabric in ecru and in toile de jouy in pink, black and bright orange. They complement the house’s furniture collection, which Dior Maison says is the “largest” ever presented.
The collection can be seen from April 18th to 23rd in the heart of Palazzo Citterio in Milan.
Timberland & Suzanne Oude Hengel
The 50th anniversary celebrations of The Original Timberland Boat will also take place during Salone del Mobile 2023. Timberland presents the Timberland × Suzanne Oude Hengel Future73 project at the Triennale Milano art and design museum through an immersive artificial intelligence installation run by the creative studio Ouchhh.
The installation refers to a shoe that was developed by knitting expert, shoe innovator and designer Suzanne Oude Hengel together with Timberland. She is one of six well-known designers from all over the world invited by Timberland to reinterpret the brand’s cult boot. The AI installation brings Oude Hengel’s knitting innovation to life.
In line with Oude Hengel’s passion for pushing textile machines to their limits and thereby creating seemingly impossible shoe designs, the AI installation similarly uses the potential of technology to convey her ideas alongside the Timberland story.
Suzanne Oude Hengel: Suzanne Oude Hengel: “Having the opportunity to put Timberland’s legacy in a new context and take it beyond what people expect has been a highlight of my career. And now to see the ideas I explored for the Future73 capsule being shaped by AI, to see my brand’s DNA and Timberland’s merge through an immersive experience that brings our universes to new audiences , is really exciting.”
The installation by Timberland × Suzanne Oude Hengel Future73 can be seen from April 17th to 23rd at the Museum Triennale Milan. The collection will be available worldwide from May.
Louis Vuitton: eleven new Objets Nomades
The fashion house Louis Vuitton presents eleven new “Objets Nomades” during the Milan Design Week, developed by the designers and creative studios Atelier Oï, Raw Edges, Atelier Biagetti, Marcel Wanders, Zanellato/Bortotto, Studio Louis Vuitton and Campana. The Objets Nomades collection, which was first launched in 2012, has grown to over 60 pieces with its original and functional furniture and objects. The eleven new objects will be exhibited in a specially designed space in the historical Palazzo Serbelloni.
The House is also introducing Marc Newson’s Cabinet of Curiosities, an elegant reworking of the Australian industrial designer’s classic Louis Vuitton trunk. After the Pégase and Horizon luggage lines, this is the latest collaboration between the house and Newson. The new specially designed case has a monogrammed exterior and is fitted with 19 leather covered metal cubes, eight of which have doors and secret compartments for valuables.
All new projects can be seen from April 19th to 23rd at Palazzo Serbelloni.
G-Star Raw: The Art of (Denim) Waste
Dutch denim brand G-Star Raw has teamed up with artist Maarten Baas to turn denim scraps into design and art objects during Design Week. The “More or Less” exhibition showcases the endless possibilities of denim and the tension between wanting more and needing less. Three closets modeled after the shape of a pair of jeans and a 15-metre private jet – all made from recycled G- Star Jeans – are presented for the first time during Milan Design Week.
Maarten Baas is considered one of the most important designers of the 21st century, known for his surprising, rebellious work. Showcasing new, creative ways to recycle, the presentation is designed to get visitors thinking about the duality of wanting more in today’s world.
The 16th-century Church of San Paolo Converso is the unexpected backdrop for the “More or Less” exhibition during Design Week. The exhibition runs from April 18-23.
The Milan Furniture Fair runs from April 18th to 23rd, 2023.