Emerging galleries to discover during Milan Design Week

Though the Rho Fiera, the fairground where Salone del Mobile is staged, is the true powerhouse of the wider Milan Design Week – the corporate fuel that keeps the industry running – it’s the smaller, independent projects that most of the design watchers who flock here each April really want to see. These exhibitions – largely independent and self-funded – are the design world’s bellwethers, the ideas, aesthetics, and materials we’ll see spreading across the globe over the next year.

Naturally, you’ll find a dense concentration of gallery projects clustered at Alcova, a few train stops north of the city in Varedo, where many independent spaces will have new projects on display. But in the city centre, where exhibitions are scattered across disparate neighbourhoods, it’s slightly harder to navigate what’s on – so we’re here to help.

From intimate presentations in private homes to new openings from up-and-coming galleries, here are the eight exhibitions we’re most excited to see when Milan Design Week 2025 kicks off on 7 April.

Emerging galleries to visit during Milan Design Week 2025

Boon Editions x A-N-D

Parisian collectible design gallery Boon Room returns to Milan Design Week with a bold presentation in collaboration with A-N-D, the Vancouver-based design studio and manufacturer. Taking over a former bank in Piazza Affari, the financial district, the two join forces to unveil four new collections: sculptural marble furniture by Pieter Maes; Stefano Giacomello’s homage to 1980s Italian design; monolithic pieces by Atelier Pendhapa; and new works by Tom Hancocks inspired by digital art.

Via San Vittore al Teatro 1/3
3-12 April
11am-7pm

Studioette

The interior and furniture design practice Studioutte made waves last year with ‘Sala D’Attesa’, an artful take on the waiting room. This year, it returns with an equally compelling presentation at its new headquarters on Via Volturno in Moscova. The duo, Guglielmo Giagnotti and Patrizio Gola, introduce a collection focused on simplicity and essential forms – monolithic tables, chairs, and lighting reduced to their purest expression.

Via Volturno 45
7-13 April
10am-7.30pm

Oxilia Gallery

One of Milan’s most cutting-edge young galleries, Oxilia, in the vibrant NoLo neighborhood, presents ‘Duetto’ – a striking dialogue between art and design. This dual exhibition pairs Flaminia Veronesi’s dreamlike paintings with the innovative work of Spanish design studio Kutarq, led by Jordi López Aguiló. Among the highlights, Kutarq unveils the ‘Bamba’ sofa, its sinuous form inspired by a single pencil stroke, while Veronesi responds with a textile interpretation of her Chironte Blu canvas, reimagined in knit by Gruppo Florence.

Via Nino Oxilia 9
5-13 April
11am-7pm

Tutto Bene x Beton Brut

Design studio Tutto Bene, led by Felizia Berchtold and Oskar Kohnen, debuts its first furniture collection – sleek, metal-framed sofas and pared-back lighting echoing the curves of a classic cornice – inside a lavishly decorated private flat in the Monti district. Joining them, collectible design gallery Beton Brut presents, for the first time, archival pieces by late Italian sculptor and designer Salvino Marsura. Beton Brut will also showcase Marsura’s work at Alcova’s Villa Borsani.

By appointment only

Cour & Uppercut

Several galleries, artists, and designers converge at Ordet, which recently relocated from Porta Romana to Isola. The exhibition ‘News From Home’ promises to be a standout. Belgian gallery Cour, featuring works by Fritz Adamski, Hermann Becker, and Yoonjeong Lee, transforms the artist’s studio into a space for experimentation and dialogue. Meanwhile, Belgian gallery Uppercut brings Milan’s Concorde and LS Gomma to stage ‘a collision of historical opulence and radical new forms’.

Via Filippino Lippi 4
8-14 April
12pm-7pm

Giuseppe Porcelli

Interior designer Giuseppe Porcelli, the visionary behind The Arts Club’s London and Dubai locations, debuts his first furniture collection in an intimate presentation at a private home in Città Studi. Titled ‘Garçonnière’ – a nod to secretive bachelor pads once used for illicit affairs, now reimagined through a queer lens – the show features exquisitely crafted pieces, including hanging mirrors adorned with bamboo and tassels, and table lamps with softly pleated shades.

By appointment only

Riviera

Canadian designer Jamie Wolfond and creative agency Simple Flair explore the design of clocks in their collaborative exhibition ‘SpaceTime’. The group show features 24 interpretations of a timepiece by designers including Maddalena Casadei, Sam Stewart, and Marco Campardo. The scenography embraces time travel, with collectible design gallery Vaspaar curating vintage furniture, including rare 1960s and 70s floor lamps by Giuliano Cesari and Goffredo Reggiani, all displayed at Riviera’s Cinque Vie space.

Via Gorani 4
7-13 April
9am–7pm

Strata

Three powerhouses of Belgian design unite for ‘Strata’: Tim Vranken, Middernacht & Alexander, and Linde Freya Tangelder of Destroyers/Builders. Showing both new and archival works at a post-industrial venue near Fondazione Prada, the exhibition is framed as an ‘interplay between individual expression and collective presence’.

Via Rutilia 10/9
7-13 April
11am-7pm

Check out our Milan Design Week 2025 guide for more must-sees