
Hermès: Where Charlotte Macaux Perelman’s previous sets employed towering structures and solid walls to create pockets of space and hidden rooms, this year she’s opted for a smaller yet equally intriguing scale. Back at La Pelota, this year Hermès made the most of the space with uncharacteristically low walls, made from dry stone. The labyrinth-like space effectively guides visitors around, building anticipation as you can just about see what lies around the next corner. Displayed amongst the nooks and crannies is the new homeware collection, which celebrates materials. Tomás Alonso’s ethereal lamps strike a poetic balance between bamboo, paper and aluminium, while Barber & Osgerby’s intense black and white Halo and Hécate lights, crafted from granite and porcelain respectively, are pleasingly hefty. Joséphine Ciaudo was inspired by the silk jackets worn by jockeys, playing with the bright colours and contrasting patterns, crafting them in leather marquetry to create the most sublime of mahogany boxes.

Miu Miu: Staged at Teatro Gerolamo, a former puppet show theatre in the shadow of the Duomo, Miu Miu’s limited-edition furniture collab with M/M (Paris) takes center stage. Inspired by the decor of the A/W 2018 show and made of linden wood, the three-legged stool is punctured with perforations. The potential for play and personalisation is endless: coloured matchsticks turn the seat into a puzzle, reflecting the cheerful spirit of the fashion brand, interpreted through the graphic eye of Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag’s namesake agency.

Rimowa: The luxury luggage brand has teamed up with creative studio Kaleidoscope and Spanish designer Guillermo Santomá to create a special installation, short film and one-off print publication. Entitled ‘GAS’ after Ed Ruscha’s Twentysix Gasoline Stations series, the installation element turns a fully functioning car - customised with Rimowa aluminum - into a light and sound sculpture, surreal suspended in mid-air. Photography: T-Space Studio

Valextra: Each year, Valextra entrusts it’s flagship store on Via Manzoni to a different architect, from Kengo Kuma to Snarkitecture. This year, the British master of minimalism, John Pawson, was enlisted to transform the space for good, marking an end to those annual refits (at least another edition of Salone del Mobile beyond this year). True to form, Pawson’s gone back to basics, creating a spatial narrative through architectural proportion, simple surfaces and sparse displays. The Ceppo di Gré floors set the tone for the monochrome colour palette, broken only by the museum-like exhibit of the Italian brand’s wears. Most pleasing of all is the library of small leather goods, small sets of which are bookended by geometric blocks and balls of marble.

Diesel Living: The Diesel domain looks like a construction site, in the best possible way. Inspired by the idea of building a future using the past’s materials, and a present in a constant state of flux, the brand’s ‘Work In Progress’ display is as industrial as it is charming. Working with Moroso, Aerozeppelin is their newest sofa, putting a vintage bent on seating solutions. Poised on a platform, it seems to float, while soft pillows and armrests can be moved and styled at will. Those looking for something more playful still can look to their Foscarini collab, a decade in the making, and most specifically still, the wrecking ball lamp.

Marni: ‘We like to explore different paths, different ways to make creativity,’ Francesco Risso tells Wallpaper*, ‘to make Marni as a whole world that can be fully experienced rather than just consumed.’ This year, the fashion brand has turned Viale Umbria into the Marni Moon Walk, an otherworldly experience with a social bent. ‘It’s about what the brand can bring to the outside world,’ explains the creative director, who’s chosen to support Future Brain Project, a charity which helps children undergoing treatment at the neuro-oncological ward in Rome, with a share of the profits. ‘I truly believe in humanistic value, sense of community, and connection through mindful creativity,’ he says. Designed by Colombian artisans, as is now tradition with Marni’s Design Week collections, the furniture and objects - from primitive benches to sculptural metal tables - really are out of this world.