RELATED TOPICS: BULGARI, FENDI, ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA, BOTTEGA VENETA, ANTONIO MARRAS, ADIDAS, KARTELL, CAMPANA BROTHERS, LOEWE, MARTINO GAMPER, VERSACE, ROBERTO CAVALLI, GIORGIO ARMANI, MARNI, EMILIO PUCCI, MISSONI, VALEXTRA, COS, SALONE DEL MOBILE
Fashion brands leave their sartorial imprint on the 2015 Salone del Mobile
Milan's Salone del Mobile - the most important appointment in the global design calendar - continues to also be catnip for the world's top fashion brands. Though some labels such as Giorgio Armani, Versace and Missoni show the latest collections from their own home divisions, most fashion houses get in on the action by partnering with architects or furniture designers on one-off projects. Displayed inside their shops or showrooms, the results contribute to a highly engaging and often entertaining series of events outside of Milan's traditional fairgrounds. Here's a look at the best of the Fuori Salone fashion bunch...
Loewe: Spanish leather goods house Loewe presented a limited edition collection of leather vessels inspired by Austrian potter Lucie Rie and produced by Spanish artisan José Luis Bazán
Loewe: Creative director Jonathan Anderson designed three sets of 50 different leather bowls, sculpting each one with his hands for a collection of one-of-a-kind creations
Marni: Marni's successful fruit bazaar at last year's Milan fashion week morphed into a fruit market at the brand's Milan Headquarters during the Salone del Mobile
Marni: Baskets brimming with exotic fruit from Colombia were all put on display with woven PVC, wire furniture and tabletop designs from a group of female Colombian artisans
Brioni: The master tailors and Wallpaper* joined forces once again this Salone. Paying tribute to the Viennese elegance that inspired Creative Director Brendan Mullane's latest collection, the fashion brand teamed up with Vienna-based glassmakers Lobmeyr to create a specially oversized version of its legendary Oswald Haerdtl-designed Candy Dish, which in turn takes centre stage for a city of glass for Brioni’s mini heroes, all immaculately dressed in miniature replicas from the collection
COS: Visitors to Spazio Erbe in Brera wandered through an enormous all-white, cave-like structure created expressly for the COS clothing brand
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COS: Designed by New York-based studio Snarkitecture, the space was showered in translucent white textile strips that looked like icicles dripping from the roof of a grotto
Clarks: In honour of the 65th anniversary of its Desert Boot, British shoe brand Clarks partnered with the Halo Trust to present new versions of the boot created by 14 different UK-based artists and designers including Marc Quinn, Lee Broom and Faye Toogoode. The painting featured is entitled 'Urban Nomad' by artist Marc Quinn
Giorgio Armani: In addition to a new Armani Casa collection that featured the limited edition 'Justin' desk in sea-green leather and red lacquer chairs among other items, Giorgio Armani also transformed his Armani Teatro space into an interior design studio
Alexander McQueen: Studio Wieki Somers and Kvadrat took up residence at McQueen's Via Verri home through a unique, bespoke installation. Inspired by the Spring/Summer 2015 collection, 'Blossom Rain' featured three geisha warriors holding a series of lamps against a blossom haze backdrop of laser cut textile from Kvadrat
Giorgio Armani: A retrospective of the company's top design projects over the last decade were on display in honour of the designer's 40th anniversary that is coming to a culmination next month with the debut of his new museum Armani/Silos
Giorgio Armani: Mr Armani also opened a brand new flagship store at Via Montenapoleone 2, which is dominated by sweeping curves. Photography: Matteo Piazza
Fendi: The Roman brand has been dangling its Bag Bug fur charms from its handbags for a few seasons now, but it took the Campana Brothers to throw 100 of the playful furry creatures all together on a single seat. Entitled 'The Armchair of a Thousand Eyes,' the chair is a riot of colour, pattern and mixed tufts of kidassia, mongolia, shearling and rabbit furs
Tory Burch: Celebrating the launch of their new Lettuce Ware in collaboration with legendary Palm Beach ceramicist Dodie Thayer, the American lifestyle brand and Wallpaper* commissioned Bethan Laura Wood to create a unique installation. Inspired by retro party nibbles, Wood created a equally bright and cheerful installation of super-sized canapés. Following their Milan debut, they will next tour around Tory Burch stores in London, Munich and New York
Fendi: The house also showed a new Casa collection with the 'Blixen' lounge chair by Toan Nguyen taking our fancy
Antonio Marras: The Italian's long-running collaboration with boutique creative design agency, Segno Italiano, yields increasingly satisfying results. This year, the team created a giant bird cage featuring a series of hand-made wooden nests swinging from the ceiling and trailing with Marras' own textiles, while 50 tiny birds happily chirped and fluttered about. The same artisan who made the nests was also commissioned to weave river cane rods with strips of Marras' fabric to create a series of vases and baskets
Missoni: Apart from its latest home collection featuring graphic black and white upholstered furniture, Missoni also created a lounging experience for weary Salone visitors in its Via Solferino Showroom
Missoni: Entitled 'Missoni Mirroring,' the setup included suspended mirrors, peep-holes featuring endless reflections of ceramic vases. Walls were covered with mirrors and tapestries, and floors were strewn with carpets and poufs for guests to lounge on
BassamFellows: As part of its five-designer series to recreate the classic shoes worn by Marcello Mastroianni in the 1960s, traditional Italian footwear designer Sutor Mantellassi collaborated with Connecticut-based furniture designers Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam. BassamFellows, already intimately fond of finely crafted materials, choose strips of eel skin on a sleek, slip on loafer, and sturdy leather for their chelsea boot
Bottega Veneta: The house secured a superb location for its first free-standing home collection boutique. Located discreetly on Milan's Via Borgospesso, the store unfolds like a series of grand rooms in a renaissance palazzo with magnificent wall frescoes and double-height wooden ceilings
Bottega Veneta: This was the first time the brand properly showed off its full home offering in a single dedicated space
Versace: The latest Versace home collection comes revved up with the usual sparkle, flash and oversized shapes that drives its signature excess. The new 'Coupe des Dieux' chair, however, is cut in slim lines and covered entirely in leather (either dark grey, white, red or turquoise) and is an antidote to the usual extravagance
Bulgari: To celebrate its latest Serpenti jewellery collection, Bulgari worked with Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid to create a snake-inspired installation in the garden of the Bulgari Hotel
Bulgari: Hadid's enormous white metal structure slithered across the grass like a tunnel featuring an open mosaic of reptilian scales
Valextra: The Italian luxury handbag label teamed up with furniture designer Martino Gamper for the design of several new handbags featuring his signature intarsia work as well as a special installation at the Via Manzoni store
Valextra: Gamper lined the shop in magnetic sheets. He covered the walls with rich Kvadrat wool and then affixed handbags directly to the walls using magnets. This created a floating sea of accessories
Emilio Pucci: The Italian house partnered with industrial designer Philippe Starck on the design of a new chair produced by Kartell and presented in Pucci's new Via Montenapoleone boutique
Emilio Pucci: Entitled 'Madame,' the new chair features Kartell's signature plastic clear legs, while Pucci's 'Cities of the World' scarf prints (offered in four city graphics, including New York, Paris, Shanghai and Rome) provided a printed outer wrap to the solid silk seats
Ermenegildo Zegna: The house tapped Milan-based Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola to create a series of seating elements from recycled wine barrel wood
Ermenegildo Zegna: Entitled 'Baco,' Urquiola's concept included two forms: a tunnel shaped stool and a three-petal seat, both of which were displayed in the brand's boutique. The project was conceived by San Patrignano Design Label who has worked with over 45 designers to create modern pieces from antique casks
Adidas: In conjunction with their Body Building Design collection, which graces the cover of this month's issue (W* 194), Milan-based duo Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldessari have also designed a pair of shoes produced by Adidas. Featuring muscle-men graphics, the shoe was presented at INNER, a boutique in Via Pasquale Paoli 4, Milan
Paula Cademartori: Atelier Biagetti has had a busy Salone. In addition to their Body Building Design exhibit and the Adidas shoe, they also created a totem shaped book shelf for Paula Cademartori, the Brazilian-born Milan based accessories designer who launched her new 'Lotus' sandal at Corso Como 10
Marcelo Burlon: Fashion designer Marcelo Burlon has quickly made strides with his eponymous sportswear label. Now the young entrepreneur is growing his brand with a collection of three graphic carpets, all hand-knot in Nepal that he designed for Italian rug company Illulian
Lawrence Steele: Marble manufacturer, Marsotto, partners with different industrial designers every year, but they've never teamed up with a fashion designer until now. The marriage with Aspesi designer, Lawrence Steel, was a happy one, thanks to Steele's three collections of tables and consoles featuring sharp lines and graphic black and white intarsia patterns
Tod's: What would the ideal bag for a male architect look like? This was the task set forth by Japanese design studio, Nendo, in its second collaboration with leather goods company Tod's. Crafted from super soft calfskin, the resulting bag features multiple pockets both inside and outside for documents and pens, while its form can morph from a carry-all tote, and a fold-over man-bag, to a strapless clutch with just a few quick snaps
Roberto Cavalli: More continues to be more in the home world of Roberto Cavalli, where the designer offers all manner of exotic pattern for every interior surface. This season's collection came brimming with lush florals and his beloved leopard print crawling on plates as well as floral intarsia rugs and upholstered dining room chairs
La Rinascente: Milan's most famous department store collaborated for the second year in a row with the Serpentine Galleries for a special commission on eight store front windows. Entitled 'Pasted' and curated by Libby Sellers, the window display featured a preview exhibition of a soon-to-be-launched collection of Serpentine Gallery wallpapers. These wallpapers were designed by various artists and architects. They also featured three specially commissioned and filmed dances choreographed by Malgorzata Dzierzon that screened against site-specific installations by emerging set designers and paper sculptors including Lydia Shirreff, Anna Lomax and Carrie Louise
Bertoni 1949: Classic Italian trunk maker Bertoni 1949 partnered for the second Salone in a row with Hangar Design Group on a 'Game Trunk'. A traditional oak casket, covered in Bertoni’s leather parchment and alligator trim, is set on elegant steel legs and features drawers stocked with a chess set, a set of poker playing cards, a mahjong game and dominoes, all of which can be played on the pull-out table
