Year after year the fairgrounds at Rho-Pero loom as something to take a deep breath, put your head down and get through as quickly as possible. Not to say there isn't a vast amount of wonderful things to see, more that the very concept and reality of a trade fair isn't an inherently pleasurable experience in itself.
But each year it's never as bad as you dread it might be. Once there (and often it's the getting there that's the horrid bit) as long as you employ a certain degree of ruthlessness, it's really quite doable. And very pleasurable in places too. Satellite, the hall devoted to young designers and their prototypes, is always a highlight and this year was no different as it celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Gently themed along green lines, there was lots to see (over 570 designers) and heaps that was really very good. After just a few stands it became quite clear that white lacquered metal teamed with natural wood was something of a trend, spotted in various guises across the show. In fact most people had a go at mixing raw and manmade materials, to a largely sophisticated end.
There were lots of individual products that caught our eye but as far as spotting tomorrow's stars is concerned, we'd hate to give away too much. People and things we liked very much however were: Finnish designer Hanna Ehlers, whose ceramic and wood occasional vases and tables were elegantly proportioned and pleasingly characterful, Lime Studio's lacquered shelving, refined wooden and marble bench and ceramic coffee tables, Marco Dessi's grey powder-coated steel table with wooden legs and Small Factories' gas pipe hanging system, the industrial chic of which appealed to us immensely.
