The best of the Milan Furniture Fair

The Milan Furniture Fair, the biggest event on global design calendar, runs 17-22 April, launching the products and trends that will hit the shops come autumn. Nicole Swengley highlights four of this year’s key players

Marc Ange with Sunbrella

THE MOST INSTAGRAMMED project at Milan last year was Le Refuge, a jungle-like oasis of frondy, pink perforated-metal palm trees sheltering an outdoor daybed. This time around, its Franco-italian designer, Marc Ange, returns with what is sure to be an equally eye-catching photo op.

Last year’s palm trees have mutated into floor lamps in the La-based designer’s Le Roi installation, a collaboration with outdoor-fabric brand Sunbrella. ‘He is so curious about materials – their origin, fabrication and human backstory,’ says Sunbrella’s Marie-hélène Roeland. ‘To find a designer who is equally passionate about materials and colour opens up so many possibilities.’