Salone 25 Round-up

Loro Piana x Dimore

Cinematic narrative, with a 3 minute lightshow and soundtrack an impressive 1970s apartment replete with conversation pit and boudoir was created to showcase furniture made by Dimore Studios in Loro Piana fabrics. With a story of turbulence, decadence and calm after the storm, the installation was impressive for its completeness and totally bonkers for the fact that what feels like a lived in party home would be no longer after 5 days. 

Nick Vinson x Giobagnara

I’d never heard of leather manufacturer Giobagnara before friend Nick Vinson invited me to his curated exhibition. The brand’s Genoese family’s leather-making traditions from 1939 employs both hand-stitching and modern processes to create leather covered goods - ever seen a leather covered coffee machine? Most likely, it’s a giobagnara. In any case, Nick’s curated edit included artworks and sculpture next to the leatherware and furniture and created the chicest of home vignettes

Longchamp x Pierre Reihnart

The first time Longchamp has ever created a furniture piece, and of course, it’s a limited edition rainbow series of one chair with designer Pierre Reihnart that will go on sale, along with a bench which will remain in their Milan store. Leather covered, in joyful colours, it’s exactly what creative director Sophie Delafontaine reflects in her Longchamp collections and feels really authentic.

Hermès

Colour therapy in its most luxurious form - Hermes’ homeware installation was a calm oasis of white, designed by Studio CMP, where rainbow spectrum hues emanated from below each graphic set, creating a sort of glowing pad of joy from which the most exquisitely hand woven rugs, blown glass vases and ceramics were ensconced. Elegant and chic as much of what Hermes puts out.

Gucci Bamboo

Bamboo Encounters, Gucci’s exhibition celebrating their iconic wooden handle and clasp introduced back in 1941 was a lovely (and smart) way of being present while in between creative directors - always fall back on your brand lexicon I say - and I was so happy to see a row of hanging bamboo baskets that Dima Srouji had scoured online for, and commissioned a family of glass blowers in Jaba, Palestine to create little objects she later added to the baskets. She was one of X artists commissioned by Gucci, all of which the resulting objects sat within a bamboo forest transported into Milan. Quite magical.

Completedworks at Alcova

Prompting a second glance, a moment of consideration, Completedworks debuted their inaugural furniture collection during Salone Del mobile at Alcova. Alcova is well known for breaking debuts and innovation in design, and Anna Jewsbury's sensibility was perfectly matched with hardened bronze and clay materials. A coffee table, a console and a footstool are softened with foamy detailing, challenging the usual sharp edges of homeware and instead approaching it with an unusual, gestural movement A long proponent of resistance to traditional design, Artistic Director Anna Jewsbury invites us to “take a second look, try and fully understand what’s going on”, offering engagement that goes beyond face-value. 

Bitossi Home x Suga Lunch

Food and ceramics - DUH. So it was the perfect match to takeover Sugo Milan, a modern trattoria the size of your living room and pair their homestyle cooking with Bitossi Home plates. Imagine a chunk of delicious cheese or the perfect tomatoes sat on these colourful flatware…  an uplifting experience of the products meant for enjoyment.

Loewe Teapots

Like everything Loewe touches, a certain magic takes hold, enabling a shedding of convention and an embrace of whimsy. For their 9th Salone instalment, Loewe commissioned an anthology of teapots, designed by a fleet of 25 artists, makers and architects. Building on the design house’s commitment to craftsmanship and artistry, the singular archetype of the teapot was extrapolated into smithereens, with artists expressing the traditional facets within their own aesthetic vision. Handles, spouts and lids were reconfigured through materials and proportions in a variety of glazes, finishes and textures. Korean ceramacist, Jane Yang-D’Haene draped frayed clay ribbons around her teapot, while British painter Rose Wylie pinched inspiration from British Royal Albert china tea sets, reimagining their traditional visual properties with exaggerated features, including fluted detailing pencil-like decoratio

The Balvenie x SRA Samuel Ross installation

Whisky? At Salone? It makes sense when you pair The Balvenie Whisky with Samuel Ross, fashion designer, artist and industrial designer because the resulting installation open to the public was a metallic monolith recyling 51 thousand litres of recycled water and spewing mist, dampness and all the natural recreations of being in Scotland, The Balvenie’s home turf. It was meditative, soothing and warm, all the things a whisky should be so it was fitting, if at first a question. Answered swiftly by the balance of might and heart.

Georg Jensen

Taking silver service to the next level, Georg Jensen’s Salone foray manifested as Gelateria Danese - a Danish take on the charming Milanese cafes, where scoops of gelato and shots of espresso were served in sterling silver receptacles. Approaching the smaller moments of life with an elevated touch, sugar bowls, coffee cups, coupes and trays were reconfigured in silver. Each piece, a part of The Artisan Series, posits an ode to fleeting moments, offering a considered elegance and durability to objects we take for granted. While it’s tricky to improve on a dollop of lemony gelato, a sterling silver coupe suggests space to enhance.

Chylak

Daisies, lilies and chestnut tree leaves manifested as white lace accessories at Chylak’s Salone offering. In an homage to traditional bobbin-lacemaking from Bobowa, a small town in southern Poland, this heritage collection included decorative collars, cuffs, an apron and a small handbag topped with Bobowa lace. Honouring the fragility of the delicate petals the lace was imitating, the lacemakers meticulously attended to each and every crevice. Crafted in a china-white, Chylak’s heritage Bobowa collection preserves the delicacy of the natural elements in their lace renditions. 

Christofle x Charlotte Chesnais

While Salone offers a chance to explore the grand designs that populate the fair, its most intriguing offerings take the form of everyday objects reimagined with curious intention. Maison Christofle has been a master silversmith since its founding in 1830, and for their Salone collection, created in collaboration with designer Charlotte Chesnais, tableware is revitalised with a contemporary vision, supported by a legacy brand. Combining Christofle’s exquisite craftsmanship with Chesnais’ bold visual identity, the collection features knives, spoons, and forks with an open teardrop base, adding a touch of artistry to the cutlery set for everyday use.