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All the fashion-focused highlights at Milan Design Week

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7 months ago

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All the fashion-focused highlights at Milan Design Week

The worlds of fashion and interior design are becoming increasingly interlinked, with brands from Hermés and Loewe to Ralph Lauren and Versace putting their own aesthetic spin on homeware. The ultimate showcase of designer interiors is undoubtedly Salone del Mobile Milano, the infamous annual Milan Design Week in April, during which every name-to-know in the interiors space reveals key new pieces for the year ahead.

For 2024, several designers better known for their fashion collections put on particularly special displays and presentations at Salone – we explore the best below. Be warned: you may want to redesign your entire home after reading…

Bottega won’t be put in a box

At the Bottega Veneta Winter ’24 show, creative director Matthieu Blazy explained the catwalk’s set design in his show notes, saying: “I have been visiting and thinking about the South of Italy, of Calabria and the cactus. It is an idea of resilience – the cactus grows where nothing else can grow. I’d like the floor to be seen as this landscape; the show might have a sense of introspection, but one with resilience and a feeling of hope.”

In his effort to reflect resilience, Blazy filled the venue with LC14 Cabanon stools by Le Corbusier, a legendary piece of furniture that first came to be when Le Corbusier found a whiskey box and decided to repurpose it.

Now, months after attendees sat on special editions of these stools – which were a collaboration between Bottega Veneta and Italian design house Cassina – a few of the pieces became a hot commodity when they were displayed during Milan Design Week, where they were also available to purchase.

Moncler goes mobile

For the Salone del Mobile Milano, Moncler transformed the Milano Centrale train station into one of the world’s largest public galleries, where they hosted an immersive exhibition titled An Invitation To Dream.

“Dreams are what have been moving myself and Moncler forward since day one, because we never stop dreaming about what is possible, and how we can inspire and be inspired by others around the world,” CEO and Chairman Remo Ruffini said. “Always aiming to
not only do new, but to do better.”

Curated by Jefferson Hack and filmed and photographed by Jack Davison, the exhibit united creative forces like Daniel Arsham, Laila Gohar, Jeremy O. Harris, Francesca Hayward, Rina Sawayama and more for an event that took over one of the buzziest hubs in the city.

As part of the display, all of the screens throughout the station were rewired to create a “dreamscape”, and visitors could also appreciate handprinted lithographic prints from Davison that were on display.

Loewe lights up Milan

Besides being known for artful fashion, Loewe has slowly been creeping into the design space, offering everything from eye-popping pillows to deliciously-crafted candles. So it was no surprise when the Spanish fashion house debuted an awe-inspiring collection in Milan, which explored a new facet of the home design world: lamps.

The brand commissioned 24 different artists to design lights for the presentation, including creators like Anne Low, Kazunori Hamana, and Alvaro Barrington. The collection ranged from glowing minimalist walnut boxes to suspended leather and paper designs.

“Light is the central medium in all works on view and its properties have been embraced and manipulated by each of the the 24 artists commissioned, guided by their own individual practice,” a press release explained.

Gucci honours design icons

At the Gucci flagship store on Via Monte Napoleone, creative director Sabato De Sarno decided to honour “five icons of Italian design” with a special exhibit for Milan Design Week, called Gucci Design Ancora.

Michela Pelizzari, the co-founder of creative agency P:S (which co-curated the project), said: “Through Design Ancora, Gucci doesn’t simply celebrate old icons, it creates new ones. The aura emanating from the brand spotlights five pieces by Italian masters that are perfect from a design standpoint but less known to the general public.”

The through-line connecting all of these redesigns was the colour: Rosso Ancora. De Sarno had all of the pieces done in this shade in order to mark Gucci’s next chapter as a brand, which added a rich, cohesive element to the entire exhibit.

JW Anderson finds meaning in materials

As part of a new collection, titled “DAYS,” JW Anderson used his namesake brand to explore “how one makes meaning out of materials.” Through this presentation, Anderson aimed to “thematize the labor of art and study,” exploring what it means when we learn from those who made art before us.

For the exhibition, Anderson collaborated with artist Patrick Carroll, who specializes in stretched textiles and uses scavenged yarn from remainder shops that liquidate the industry’s leftovers. Carroll’s works were framed and hung all over the space, with words like “shame,” “defeat,” and “minimalism,” on display, inviting viewers to dig into their feelings and process what it is that brings art to life.

La DoubleJ presents dancing plates

For the first time at Milan Design Week, La DoubleJ moved outside of their local storefront to offer a whimsical presentation at the Palazzo Belgioioso.

While debuting their new homeware collection, called “Solar,” the brand teamed up with artist Max Siedentopf for an installation that looked like something straight out of a Roald Dahl novel.

All throughout the space, there were “dancing plates” that swirled and spun around a tablescape, giving life to the already vibrant designs on the porcelain pieces. Meanwhile, for the first time ever, visitors were able to purchase pieces they saw right there at the space.

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