New kids on the block: six new brands set to launch in Milan

Among the stalwarts at this week’s Salone del Mobile, a smattering of ambitious new design studios and brands will launch on to the scene. Offering a new spin on everything from wallpaper to plastic furniture, here are six design debutantes hoping to turn heads.

Writer: Ali Morris

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Qeeboo: Figurehead of Italian design Stefano Giovannoni returns to his industrial design roots with the launch of Qeeboo, a brand that produces plastic furniture at affordable prices. Sold online – on the company’s own website and international web platforms – Qeeboo’s debut collection will comprise 25 injection-moulded furniture, lighting and decorative object designs by design stars such as Nika Zupanc, Andrea Branzi, Richard Hutten, Front and Gabriele Chiave (creative director at Marcel Wanders).

Pictured left: Marcel Wanders with his ’B.B.’ chair and ’B.B.’ table. Right: Stefano Giovannoni with his ’Rabbit Chair Baby’ and ’Rabbit Chair’

via Stendhal 35
11–17 April

Ghidini 1961: Developed in collaboration with Milanese designer Stefano Giovannoni, Ghidini 1961 is the new design brand from Ghidini Giuseppe Bosco, Italy’s leading manufacturer of classic and baroque-style brass hardware. Marking the brand’s first foray into the contemporary consumer market, the debut collection includes over 40 cast items including champagne buckets, mirrors, candle holders and fruit bowls designed by the likes of Nika Zupanc, Richard Hutten, Andrea Branzi, Fernando and Humberto Campana and Studio Job.

Spazio Rossana Orlandi
Via Matteo Bandello 14/16
12–17 April

Botteganove: Having grown up among the pottery, plaster moulds and kilns of Nove, Italy, young entrepreneur Christian Pegoraro was frustrated by the lack of personality in contemporary ceramics. To counteract what he refers to as ‘a standardisation’ in the industry, Pegoraro has launched Botteganove, a new mosaic tile brand that seeks to combine ancient tradition with a modern vision. Six collections of textural tiles designed by the company’s art director Cristina Celestino draw upon feathers, flowers and the graphics of Gio Ponti for inspiration.

Ladies&Gentlemen
Via Cesare Correnti 14
5VIE Districts
10 – 17 April

Texturae: Created by young entrepreneurs Daniele Morabito and Dario Pulitanò, Texturae is a new Italian wallpaper brand that pairs the visuals of graphic designers and artists with the latest manufacturing technology. Comprising three distinct collections – ’Warp’, ’Weft’ and ’Yarn’ – conceived by an impressive roster of young designers, Morabito says the Italian-made designs will ‘transform spaces and habitats into an aesthetic experience.’ Presented as part of ’Woven and Printed Surfaces’.

Gallery Statuto 13
Via Statuto
13, 20121
12–17 April

JCP: Milanese architect Livio Ballabio is the man behind new experimental furniture brand JCP, which will debut a collection of ten pieces at via Solferino’s Teatro dell’Arte della Triennale di Milano. Titled ’Ten Secret Treasures’, the rule-breaking pieces include a sofa made from welded golden wire designed by Milan-based Emanuele Magini.

Teatro dell’Arte della Triennale di Milano
via Solferino (in front of n. 22)
12–17 April

Astep: Following Alessandro Sarfatti’s eight-year tenure as CEO of Luceplan, the lighting company that was set up by his parents in 1978, the Italian businessman is back with the launch of new lighting brand Astep. As well as re-releasing designs from the 1950s by Vittoriano Viganò and Sarfatti’s grandfather Gino Sarfatti, Astep will debut ’Candela’, an energy-harvesting lamp designed by Francisco Gomez Paz. ’Candela’ uses the heat of a flame to generate electricity, to provide illumination as well as power for charging mobile devices.

Pictured left: ’Candela’ bedroom light, by Astep. Right: ’Model 2065’ living-room light, by Astep

Palazzo Litta
Corso Magenta 24
12–17 April