VOGUE ITALIA’S
Life in Vogue instal lation, now in its second year at FUORISALONE, sees the revered fashion title’s office reimagined by leading designers and open to the public. Editor-in-chief EMANUELE FARNETI talks to Vogue Living about the changing face of Milan Design Week.
Salone has evolved from being a very specific moment related to a very specific industry to an immense occasion covering a large range of different topics in the last 10 years. The number of events is growing year after year and design is everywhere. It’s becoming so important for everyone, including people who are not working within the industry. It’s a unique opportunity to show ideas, launch new products or just host clients and friends.
And it’s no longer just about the furniture — it’s about creativity in general. It’s super interesting for all the fashion brands, not only to show, but also to do research here. This is happening more and more. For me, being surprised is the most interesting aspect of the week. My favourite way to enjoy these few days is to ride my motorbike around the city — I try to keep a couple of hours aside each day for this, stopping by places that I see daily and may never actually look at and discovering unique ideas. You can find ideas everywhere, and not just in the famous, expensive installations.
Design is in the DNA of Italy as a country. It’s one of the pillars that helped the country to be rebuilt and move into modernity after World War II. There were these incredible talents — designers and architects — in the late 1940s and early ’ 50s working with this idea of re-shaping a country. Design is continuing to move things on, even in a moment when the country is not exactly in its best shape. It’s also a really interesting way to describe the good qualities of Milan and is what makes this week so special, for not only people visiting but also for people living here.
When I was a kid I moved back and forth between Milan and Rome. They’re two very different cities with very different approaches to beauty — unlike Rome, you need time to understand the beauty of Milan but once you do, you understand that it’s a very unique place. In Milan, work is planned around design, architecture and industry, and it has a different beauty compared to the Italian art cities but no less interesting than other art cities.
Life in Vogue began because we wanted to have an event that would be relevant for Salone. It’s very important to me because it instills a positive message that you’re able to open the doors to readers, design lovers and fashion lovers of
Vogue Italia because it has always been perceived as a beautiful but somehow unreachable brand. We were looking for a way to be closer to our audience and this installation presented a very good opportunity.
The quality of designers involved in both last year’s debut installation and this year’s event adds another layer of attention to the project. Last year our idea was to work with the big design names, while for this second edition, we went a little deeper into an area where design, art and fashion meet and the selection was more specific. Starting with fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, all the designers included are in one way or another connected to the fashion industry. I think it’s a very good combination — every single room looks very different from the others.
It’s not easy logistically, but I love that Life in Vogue is becoming something that people wait for — we have people queuing from all over the world, including some of our Milanese readers who have never had the opportunity to enter Vogue House. This is something that has given us a lot of energy.