Marni La Vereda: Colombian crafts have once again inspired Marni’s Salone del Mobile presence, which this year celebrates the sense of community, traditions and colours of the South American country, à la Marni. The woven baskets, for instance, pair the centuries-old tradition from Ibagué, with a bold injection of colour by adding bright plastic filaments to the process. Other borrowed traditions remain intact, like the papier-mâché and bead chicken ornaments which were hand made by a community of women from Villanueva, each taking four days to craft. The Viale Umbria display is as spirited and playful as we’ve come to expect.
Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomades and Les Petits Nomades: The travel-inspired objects, designed by the usual roster of design heavyweights including Marcel Wanders, India Mahdavi and Raw Edges, are a Salone staple now. New to the line-up this year is Hong Kong-based architect and designer André Fu, his “Ribbon Dance Chair”, a sculptural seat for two spins around like a twirling ballerina in a darkened room at Palazzo Bocconi. Also making their debut this year are the Louis Vuitton Les Petits Nomades, a collection of decorative objects - vases, origami flowers, mirrors and the like - designed by Atelier Oï, Patricia Urquiola and the Campana brothers. They may be smaller in scale, but they retain the spirit of refined travel and sublime craftsmanship the storied trunk maker is known for.
Diesel Living: Last year Andrea Rosso’s furniture collection took inspiration from a road trip he and his team took from Phoenix to Palm Springs. This year, the monumental scale and brutalism of Mexico City plays muse to the denim brand’s Living team. At the Fiera, that translates into makeshift concrete walls against which Rosso’s colour palette of rusty reds, foliage greens and indigo blues play against. At the pop-up in Via Cesare Correnti, guests are invited to lounge about in the imaginary home.
Loewe: Jonathan Anderson ventured to the far corners of the world to discover and explore various artisanal textile production methods, which are celebrated in a series of rugs, tapestries and totes in a quiet courtyard off Via Montenapoleone. The crafts on display include the Indian tradition of ribbon hand-embroidery, the ancient Japanese method of boro and elaborate Senegalese patchwork, though it is perhaps the black and white portraits — printed like shadows on feathers — that are real standouts.
Dolce & Gabbana x SMEG’s Divina Cucina: Following on from their artisan Smeg fridges and small appliances —juicers, toasters, kettles, coffee machines etc — of previous years, the Italian powerhouses have teamed up yet again to complete the set. With Eurocucina returning to the Fiera, the Italian appliance brand has two new cookers (with matching extractor hood) and matching fridges (printed, rather than hand-painted) in two colourways. The prints are classic D&G: the more demure of the two is a ceramic-inspired pattern of ocean blue and pearl white, depicting Mount Etna and mythological scenes. The second, brighter version, is a vivid medley of Sicilian decorations — yellow lemons, pears and bright cherries — framed in geometric shapes and floral motifs.
Issey Miyake’s ’My First Me’: A year on from setting up shop in Milan, the Japanese brand is hosting Masahiko Sato, a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, and his work at the Via Bagutta boutique. Through four separate installations — three of which are interactive - ‘My First Me’ invites visitors to see themselves ‘like never before’. Technology plays an important role — film being Sato’s favourite medium, after all - but most poignant of all is his ‘Pool of Fingerprints’, where the prints of visitors gone before dance around a screen, like flocking birds or crawling insects, little calling cards of complete anonymity.
