Milan Design Week 2022

I’ve just returned from Milan Design Week 2022, the 60th anniversary and first big show since the pandemic. Though there was a lot of hype for this anniversary, and some great new presentations, I felt overall that there were not as many new features as I was hoping for. That being said, I did find some pieces and brands I fell in love with.

Milan Design Week 2022 Edra:

Edra is always an amazing showcase, partially because of their location in Palazzo Durini, but also their collaborations with other designers. This piece, a circular sofa, is called Tatlin, and is modeled after the Tatlin Tower, built in 1919 as a sign of Revolution. It is a beautiful piece, designed by Mario Cananzi and Roberto Semprini.

Kerakoll:

This brand was new to me, and it really excited me. They produce resins and paints, woods too, that make surfaces extremely durable for both interiors and exteriors. There aren’t any other products like it on the market, that I know of, which makes the explanation of the concept a bit more complex. Basically, the surfaces look like a plastered/ stucco wall to me, and offers extreme durability, allowing you to wash your walls.

As a mother of two boys, I am always looking for a product that offers more durability than drywall, more washable than glossy paint, but in an aesthetic I could appreciate. Stucco/ plaster is having a comeback, and has an artisan and historical quality to it. Wallpaper can sometimes achieve some of these characteristics, but not to the extent of Kerakoll. Here’s how they describe it:

Kerakoll offers a collection of materials for floors and coverings ranging from resins to cements, from woods to paints with multiple effects and finishes, for indoors and outdoors.

The one limitation for them is they are serving a limited market, mostly just Europe. But they are growing so keep a look out.

Delvis Unlimited:

This is also a new to me brand. They had three pieces that really struck me as beautiful and unusual, which I saw in the new showroom in Milan, located in the Brera Design district. Their showroom is small and curated, but each piece is amazing in craftsmanship and unlike other pieces on the market.

Not in Milan, but an amazing family run business who employ local artisans, Porte Italia Venezia... We stumbled upon their shop in Venice, though they also have a showroom in Roma. Drop dead gorgeous hand-painted furnishings and Margherita, daughter to the founder and in the showroom, is the sweetest. Here are my favorites:

This last image is a trompe l’oeil stretched canvas that is a work of art, hand painted by local Venetian artisans. Part of the mission of Porte Italia Venezia is to continue supporting these ancient traditions so they are not lost to history. I hope to own one of these pieces in my not too distant future.

Fantini Mosaici:

Lots of learning went on this week! Another new to me brand, Fantini Mosaici. They’ve collaborated with a former New York fashion designer, Justin Teodoro. I met him at the Fantini showroom as he was seeing his drawings come to life for the first time. First of all, he is just about one of the kindest humans you could meet, but also, for someone who has been in fashion and designed for Hugo Boss, he is super grounded and down to earth. Check out his work:

Choosing art for your home can be incredibly complicated. And I think most people error on the safe, borderline boring or socially acceptable and in the same materials… oil and canvas, gold or black frame, blah blah blah. Why not have a mosaic? It bounces light around, is super durable, and way more inspiring to see something that is less expected. Plus like all amazing art forms, the best ones have been around for centuries. Think mosaic floors in ancient Greek homes (see photo below). Now you can have a piece of your own.

Armani Casa:

Armani Casa is always an incredibly edited and tailored take on furnishings, just as you’d expect from the clothing line. In general, his furnishings seem more masculine in style to me, but this salone offered a little bit of a softer touch.

This table and chairs in particular caught my interest, and the screen. I’ve been into screens lately. They can stand in for art and are a great way to soften a room, besides dividing the space… the caning on the table legs, the warmth of the marble and curve of the chairs are elegant touches. It spoke to me in a way his launch from September salone did not.

Mark Wood Lighting (UK):

Lighting fixtures and lighting design are becoming more and more important in the interior world, particularly with the advances in LED technology, giving designers a lot more control over size of bulbs, and transformers, brightness, and materials. Mark Wood has done a fabulous job of maximizing this technological progress by creating lighting that is functional art.

When we popped by his installation at Rossana Orlandi, I asked him to turn off the fixtures so we could see how they looked unilluminated as well. The beauty of sculptural lighting is that it can be designed to look interesting both when illuminated and unilluminated, something many lighting fixtures do not offer. Mark Wood has created lighting pieces that look like beautiful art installations hanging from your ceiling.

Sergio Roger:

I first came across the work of Sergio Roger last September in Milan and was immediately taken by his pieces. I love the fresh take on Grecian classics and his artisanry is amazing. Between the antique linens and silks he selects for each piece, to the hand-sewn finished “sculptures,” I can’t get enough of it.

I would kill to own one (or two), or four. As I mentioned before, you really can’t go wrong with the classics that have been around for thousands of years, especially when reproduced in a unique and artisan way.