Milan style: coming to a high street near you
This high-end international furniture fair sparks the design trends that will filter down into our homes, says Jessica Doyle
The design world descended on Milan last week for the 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile, the annual furniture fair that takes over the city with hundreds of installations and exhibitions. Many of the pieces on show are not yet available – and are destined for only the most high-end of homes – but it is a hotspot for homeware buyers and designers. This is where the colours, forms and styles that will be filtering on to the high street in the coming months first take shape. Here’s our pick of this year’s trends.
The new palette
Colours remained, for the most part, soft and muted, but the sugary pastel pinks and blues of recent years are giving way to a palette of peachy terracotta, sage, olive green and faded mustard, with the odd shot of pale cobalt or petrol blue. The effect was a warm, slightly vintage look, recalling Mediterranean interiors bathed in sunlight, but Scandi brands such as Muuto and Gubi kept it contemporary with curvy chairs and sofas.
Tasteful tech
The question of how to integrate technology into the home without compromising aesthetics is occupying homeware designers and tech brands. Google staged an installation, called Softwear, that placed its Home products and smartphones amid hand-crafted homewares in wood, ceramics and textiles. Similarly, the Danish brand Hay chose a neoclassical palazzo in central Milan to demonstrate that the speakers it has designed for Sonos, in pastels and rich tones, can fit seamlessly into all manner of interior schemes.
Bang & Olufsen introduced its chic new Beoplay P6 speaker; Natuzzi and LG showed their “smart sofa”, from which you can control the lighting, TV and sound in a room; and Kartell launched a “smart table’” which turns from a dining table or desk into an induction hob at the flick of a switch.
Luxury craftsmanship
The association between luxury and craft was much in evidence in Milan. British designer Bethan Gray continued her collaboration with Italian company Editions Milano with a collection of ethereal lights handcarved in arabescato marble, while Established & Sons drew on Italian wood and glass-blowing traditions to produce the chair and light that formed part of its new collection. Brit brand Pinch showed its new armoire, Elan, which employs marquetry on the outside and traditional woodworking techniques on the inside.
Also focusing on craftsmanship was Louis Vuitton, which showcased its Objets Nomades – a collection of furniture and accessories that it has been building since 2012, in collaboration with a selection of big-name designers. New pieces this year include a “conversation chair” by André Fu, designed so that two people sit facing it each other; a cloud-like modular sofa and hanging chair by the Campana Brothers; and faceted mirrors by Marcel Wanders.
The fashion pack
Bottega Veneta showed spectacular sofas and chairs in bright white and dusky-rose fringed suede; Hermès offered textiles, trays and tableware; Versace reintroduced the archive prints that were a feature of its recent fashion collections; and Marni teamed up with Colombian weavers on chairs, hammocks and baskets. Dolce & Gabbana added to its kitchen collection for Smeg, with range cookers, extractor hoods and fridges in bright patterns.
Maximalism was also the order of the day at Kartell, which joined forces with JJ Martin of fashion brand Ladoublej to update its designs with a vintage print.
Cosmic creations
The heavens were the inspiration behind British designer Lee Broom’s new lighting collection, which aims to capture “the mesmerising quality of the night sky” in lights comprised of spheres and tubes in polished metal and opaque acrylic, plus a showstopping modular chandelier.
London-based brand Sé collaborated with Californian designer Ini Archibong on a new collection of furniture and lighting titled Below the Heavens and comprising tactile forms in marble, glass and brass; while interior designer Juan Montoya was inspired by the moon to create four new carpet designs for Stepevi.