Ciao, Milano! Following the undeniable high of a show-stopping fashion week earlier last month comes the buzzy arrival of Milan Design Week. Now in its 63rd iteration, the exhibition attracts over half a million attendees worldwide, cementing the Italian city’s status as a bustling hub for design and innovation. Once a year, Milan transforms from the fashion capital of the world to a global design powerhouse. It’s no surprise, then, that art connoisseurs, design savants, and interior insiders alike flood the picturesque city to view a host of activations celebrating craftsmanship. Anchored by the Salone del Mobile, a one-of-a-kind trade show held in the suburbs of Rho and spread all across the city through the Fuorisalone. Historic palazzos, beautiful galleries, and urban boutiques become immersive spaces, each offering a different take on modern design.
But wait, there’s more. Heavyweights of the fashion world are also taking centre stage, showcasing their design prowess through debut collaborations, new creations, and striking installations. Salone regulars such as Hermès, Ralph Lauren, Dior, and Gucci all debuted their latest collections across the city, experimenting with interiors and furniture. Gucci, for one, immortalised creative director Demna in its tapestry-inspired exhibition, ‘Gucci Memoria’, while Dior presented a collection of lamps inspired by the Maison’s iconic New Look.
Below, Vogue Singapore rounds up the biggest highlights at this year’s Milan Design Week.
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Dior
In a new collaboration with designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, Dior presented a collection of lamps inspired by Monsieur Dior’s revolutionary 1947 New Look. Staged at the historic setting of Palazzo Landriani, in the heart of the Brera district, the artist reinterprets the silhouette of the ‘Corolle’ skirt. On entering, guests are welcomed into a magnificent raffia space, designed by Thai artists Korakot Aromdee and Vasana Saima, evoking the wonder of the gardens of Villa Les Rhumbs in Granville, a place dear to Christian Dior, at once his home and childhood paradise.
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Balenciaga
For Balenciaga’s first major outing at Salone del Mobile under creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, the Paris-based house unveiled an ongoing series, Artean, featuring a collection of seven works by the renowned Basque artist Eduardo Chillida. Presented at the Maison’s flagship store in Milan, some of the artworks pay direct homage to the founder of the house, Cristóbal Balenciaga.
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Bottega Veneta
After several successful collaborations, Bottega Veneta teams up with Korean artist Kwangho Lee for the third time to create a spectacular light installation in the house’s Via Sant’Andrea store. Titled ‘Lightful’, the installation combines a suspended woven form characteristic of Lee’s practice with new light sculptures woven from the Italian house’s leather fettucce. Suspended over a water fountain in various shapes, the formations filtered soft light through the boutique, creating a beautiful interplay of shadow and light.
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Tods
In a display of whimsy and a smorgasbord of colours, Tod’s unveiled ‘Icons by Icons’, a truly special project paying tribute to 20th-century Italian design through a fun spin on the house’s iconic Gommino loafer, a testimony to Italian lifestyle and craftsmanship. Displayed at Via Savona 56, in the heart of Milan’s design district, the exhibition reimagines Tod’s signature shoe through the renowned works of four Italian design maestros, namely, the Elda armchair by Joe Colombo, the Crosby chair by Gaetano Pesce, the Kristall table designed by Michele De Lucchi, and Brionvega RR226 Radiofonografo by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.
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Gucci
Across the sprawling courtyards and lush gardens of the 16th-century Chiostri di San Simpliciano, Gucci presented ‘Gucci Memoria’, an immersive exhibition curated by creative director Demna. Described as a symbolic retelling of the brand’s 105-year-old legacy, the exhibition unfolds in three parts: a series of installations spanning tapestries, a botanical environment inspired by the flora motif, and a custom-built vending machine. The highlight just might be a cycle of 12 tapestries which showcases the house’s journey to becoming a global powerhouse of Italian fashion.
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Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren brought its cinematic vision of living into a historic Milanese palazzo, staging an immersive home experience that felt both intimate and transportive. The exhibition unfolded across two distinct worlds: Saddlebrook, with its warm, heritage-driven interiors, and Sterling Square, a study in refined, Art Deco elegance. Moving between the two, guests get to experience exceptional craftsmanship, rich textures and layered materials.
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Hermès
At the 63rd Milan Design Week, Hermès introduced its latest home collection through an immersive installation by architect and artistic director Charlotte Macaux Perelman alongside Alexis Fabry. Staged within a maze-like setup of wood-clad columns, the exhibition encouraged a slower, more deliberate way of looking, with each turn revealing new furniture, textiles, and decorative objects.
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Miu Miu
When Mrs Prada says reading is fashionable, you best believe it is. Back for its fourth iteration, the Miu Miu Literary Club serves as a space for dialogue, critical thinking, and cultural exchange, using literature as a tool for exploring women‘s lives, identities, and societal roles across generations. This year’s theme was Politics of Desire, bringing together Nobel prize-winning French author Annie Ernaux and renowned African literary icon Ama Ata Aidoo for a discussion on sexuality, desire, and consent.
