Finding favourites
Studio Italia’s Valeria Carbonaro-Laws finds inspiration aplenty at the fair
I love going to Salone del Mobile. Seeing it, feeling it, smelling it, being there among so many people. I’ve been going to the fair for 22 years – my goodness! – and every time I step onto a stand it’s exciting to see what the designers have come up with.
Material drama
I’ve been working with Poliform for 18 years and in the last few, I’ve noticed that they really keep pushing that boundary – they keep coming out with materials we haven’t been seen before, or used in new handcrafted ways. They’ve started using smoky glass, it’s not a new thing but I’ve never seen it on a side table or a dining table like this before. The new marble is ‘Sahara’. It’s very black and dramatic and I absolutely love it.
Jean Marie Massaud
The star of Poliform’s showcase, Massaud has created a number of new designs, my favourite being the ‘Creek’ dining table. It has a metal frame, to which you add either a marble, wood or glass top. Just beautiful.
Hand-finished
This year I went to see Poliform’s factory and saw that so much is still finished by hand. Really, every single piece is different, with its own character. At their amazing factory, they have the capacity to produce to a certain level, which is why good designers tend to team up with them, including Massaud, Carlo Colombo and Emmanuel Gallina. The designs are both contemporary and timeless, pieces that you love a little bit more every day.
New and old
In the last few years, there has been a boom of creativity and excitement in how furniture is displayed. The showroom of Poltrona Frau in Milan almost made me cry. I was expecting a normal showroom, but instead it showed contemporary furniture in a building with antique frescoes on the walls and high ceilings – it was amazing seeing how an old house can take beautiful modern furniture.
Organic and crafted
In the colour spectrum, we noticed forest green and burgundy coming through. We’re seeing a move to smoother shapes – with arched corners and curves, everything is softer. With the celebration of craftsmanship, there’s also a lot more attention to detail coming through.