The terrace at Artemest’s Appartamento, designed by Miami design duo Moniomi.
Milan was abuzz last week with the electrifying creativity of Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week. From furniture debuts in palazzos to inventive installations and conceptual creative showcases around the city, inspiration abounded—and our intrepid group of Members wasted no time soaking it up. If you missed the festivities this year, read on for the best of what our Partners presented—and mark your calendars to join us next year, where we plan for an even fuller DLN itinerary a Milano.
L’Appartamento by Artemest
A bedroom by Dubai-based Styled Habitat at the Artemenst Appartamento.
In an 18th-century palazzo with a traditional Italian courtyard layout, Artemest tasked a bevy of designers to design modern rooms using wares from the brand’s inventory of Italian design. The catch? No changes could be made to the apartment’s 1930s interiors, including walls, floors, and lighting. The resulting spaces stand suspended in time, bridging 100-year patina with contemporary shapes and concepts. DLN Members enjoyed yours throughout the week, and enjoyed an apertivo on the balcony space at Artemest’s evening celebration (followed, for a few Members, by a pop into Milan’s new Portrait Hotel, where we enjoyed nightcaps as the bar).
Cristian Mohaded for Loro Piana Interiors
The courtyard at Loro Piana Interiors, designed by Cristian Mohaded.
In the Brera Design District, Loro Piana Interiors made use of the courtyard space inside its Brutalist HQ to house a refreshingly modern presentation by Argentine designer Cristian Mohaded, which our members took in on a private tour that served as welcome respite from a rainy day in Milan. Inspired by South American Indigenous heritage and the landscape of his native country, Mohaded created a series of towering obelisks that riff on the Andean tradition of travelers leaving cairns as an homage to Pachamama, or Mother Earth. The stacked towers surround a collection of sculptural, contemporary furniture Mohaded devised for the brand in forms of carved wood, glazed ceramic, and bulbous upholstery that beg to be viewed from all angles. Each of the “stones” in the cairns were upholstered in remnants from the Loro Piana fabrics created for the collection, whose tones speak to the mountains and lakes of South America.
Rubelli x Ginori
The Richard Ginori collection at Rubelli.
Rubelli reached into its rich history with an Italian design great for its latest collaboration, with Richard Ginori, another Italian heritage brand. Both enjoyed prolific collaborations with Gio Ponti, whose beloved Oriente Italiano for Richard Ginori is the subject of a collaboration presented in Milan. Inspired by 18th-century ceramics, Ponti created his pared-down, monochrome take on chinoiserie porcelain patterns for Ginori in 1945. Now, Rubelli, the 300 year-old Venetian company, has reinterpreted Ponti’s bridges and butterflies into sumptuous silks in a range of rich hues. For DLN Members who had spent the earlier part of the day in a private tour of Rubelli’s mill facility north of the city, the presentation took on a deeper meaning in the context of firsthand understanding of the meticulous attention to detail and brilliant artistry of Rubelli’s artisans.
Armani / Casa at Palazzo Orsini
Wicker furniture by Armani / Casa on display inside Villa Orsini.
Against the backdrop of the magnificent Palazzo Orsini, DLN Members were treated to an early look at Armani / Casa’s range of impeccably crafted furniture and decor. The new introductions range from the playful (Armani tarot cards) to the historically-minded, including an Art Deco-inspired inlay dressing table impeccably produced in a limited series of 11, and presented under the vaulted ceiling of an octagonal room whose boiserie emitted gasps from our group.
The presentation also included Armani / Casa’s first foray into outdoor furniture, with stately teak pieces arranged within the Palazzo’s courtyards and wicker versions presented inside (set on mirrored risers to display every side of the meticulously woven pieces). The stately palazzo pecale a de facto nightclub on Thursday evening, when teems of guests filled its corridors for Armani’s much-anticipated party.
Ralph Lauren Via Spiga
Ralph Lauren turned the facade of its Via Spiga store into a giant canvas, covering the exterior stone with a patchwork of pattern that nods to the brand’s Americana heritage. Throughout Design Week, the store was bustling with activity, welcoming guests for a variety of parties—including an AD fête held in the covered terrace, dotted with patterned lanterns—and to grab a bit in The Bar, where DLN Members enjoyed a lengthy breakfast one rainy morning.
Pierre Frey at Villa del Cedro
The outdoor setting at Pierre Frey, designed by set designer Elizabeth Lerich
To inject a jolt of contemporary conceptuality into its heritage fabrics, Pierre Frey tapped 11 designers from around the world to contribute designs for indoor and outdoor furniture to be swathed in the brand’s latest fabrics. Constance Guisset conceived an inventive bar stool and folding chair, while Conçalo Campos, Guillaume Delvigne, Sebastian Bergne, Christophe Delcourt, and Christian Haas designed armchairs and sofas, Zanellato / Bortotto coffee tables, and Fabien Petoir, Note Design Studio, and Djo-Bourgeois an array of outdoor furniture. Members joined the Freys for a celebratory cocktail amidst the shapely new pieces.
Elle Decor Italia Art of Light with Lutron
The House of Light.
As the professional design community well knows, light has an indelible effect on interiors. In a mind-bending installation curated by Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva, the historic Palazzo Bovara was translated to an experiential showhouse where adjustments in light change perception. In one room, mock blinds open to reveal an automated sunrise; in another, changes in light color seem to transform a sofa from gray to blue. DLN Partner Lutron worked with Metis lighting design studio to achieve the optical magic.
The installation included a small-scale restaurant concept from Alessandro Cozzolino, Executive Chef of Belmond’s Villa San Michele. After touring the installation, Members enjoyed a decadent lunch of inventive takes on traditional Italian cuisine within interiors by dell’Uva meant to channel the Milanese home of Piero Portaluppi.
100 Years of Herman Miller
To celebrate its centennial in Milan, Herman Miller dug deep into its archives, coming up with 100 years worth of graphic design depicting the company’s ever-iconic silhouettes. On display in a museum/gallery format, pages of framed advertisements, design mock-ups, and conceptual drawings trace the legacy of the company from the hiring of its first design director, Gilbert Rohde, in 1930, to today.
Poltrona Frau Pleasure Collection
The Poltrona Frau Pleasure Collection.
To inform its latest collection, Poltrona Frau looked to several “pleasures” of life: the pleasure of welcoming, the pleasure of rediscovering, the pleasure of comfortable living, the pleasure of taking a break, and the pleasure of writing. Bringing these “pleasures” to life are collaborations across themes of dining, entertaining, working, and relaxing with Roberto Lazzeroni and Ceccotti Collezioni, as well as a re-issue of Gio Ponti’s iconic Dezza armchair, shown above.
Giorgetti Spiga
In honor of its 125th anniversary, Giorgetti opened the doors of a new showroom on the iconic Via Spiga, where its furniture spreads across five floors. For Salone, the brand debuted a line of sculptural furniture in stone, leather, and walnut, whose intricate shapes highlight the mastery of the brand’s craftsmanship. At the brand’s celebration, Members tucked into spaces on each floor to take on sensory experiences including custom scents and a violin performance.
Phillip Jeffries at Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
A Milanese house museum served as the perfect backdrop for Phillip Jeffries’s textural wallcoverings in Milan. Owned by two globe-trotting, collecting brothers at the end of the 19th-century, Museo Bagatti Valsecchi is a life-sized cabinet of curiosities. The Museo’s dining room, which, with its Persian tapestries, Renaissance mosaic floors, and collected porcelain, is already an homage to global craftsmanship, housed Phillip Jeffries’s latest introductions.
Perennials & Sutherland at Via Ciovasso
The Monaco chair by Eugeni Quitllet.
In a pop-up space in the Brera Design District, Perennials & Sutherland created an al fresco respite space spotlighting the Monaco chair by new creative director Eugeni Quitllet. The seat, shown above, marries traditional wood slatting with a modern frame. Set within one of the city’s most bustling locations during Design Week, it provided a welcome resting spot for busy design-hunters with tired feet.
Salvatori x Raffaele Salvoldi
A stone installation at Salvatori, designed by artist Raffaele Salvoldi.
Italian stone and fixture manufacturer Salvatori tapped artist Raffaele Salvoldi—known best for his work in wood—to create installations in each of its Milan locations using hundreds of pieces of natural stone, all made from discards of Salvatori’s production. In the Via Solferino showroom, each piece of faceted marble takes on a kaleidoscopic effect against the reflective backdrop of the showroom’s “room of mirrors.”