There was almost too much to Milan this year. We spent five nights and six days soaking design in through our very pores and we are still leaving feeling that we scratched the surface. It felt even busier than usual – the queues were an unwelcome hurdle in the city as well as in the Fair – but the sense of optimism and enthusiasm balanced it out. We probably need a little more time to digest everything we saw, but here are the stand out design trends, moments and designs we relished.
Riva1920 reaffirmed its philosophy of furniture built for time – solid wood pieces designed to age and last for decades. The Suiseki tables and Heiko chair, in collaboration with Staffan Tollgård and Filippo Castellani, continue this enduring approach.
Van Rossum showed their latest Bracci armchair alongside new soft goods and a mirror – each piece a statement about proportion and craft.
Ceccotti unveiled two exceptional new chairs – Eugene and Scapula – alongside the 604 desk, each piece a refined expression of the craftsmanship, material sensitivity and quiet precision that define the brand.
Cimento approached Salone as a dialogue across the city. A refreshed showroom anchored the fairgrounds, while at the Convey Building, creative director Patricia Urquiola curated a more intimate Fuorisalone installation.
What stood out most was the restraint. Nothing felt overstated, instead a confidence in material research allowed the pieces to sit with a certain calm authority – design that doesn’t demand attention, but holds it.
Agapecasa revealed new colourways across their ceramics range, work that suggested there’s still plenty of room for subtle variation in the white-goods corner.
Molteni showed three new armchairs and several fresh fabric weaves – a reminder that the sofa and chair market, however crowded, still rewards restraint.
Linteloo presented a beautiful new sofa alongside their Gentle Barstool, the entire display felt considered and calm.
Piet Boon also unveiled a sofa that seemed to ask little of its viewer and offered much in return.
LEMA’s Graffetta and Masami armchairs, paired with their Vega coffee tables, created small rooms within the fair – places where you wanted to sit, think and take a break.
De Castelli’s Couture collection, alongside the Doric sideboard in richly patinated metal, expressed a material language that deepens over time – where surface, texture and finish evolve, gaining character with age.
Exteta showed a large canopied outdoor bed with folding chairs and new outdoor fabrics. It was scaled generously, almost absurdly so, the kind of furniture that makes you reconsider what a terrace or garden might become. Patrizia Urquiola’s involvement suggested serious intent, and the textiles were beautiful.
Linteloo’s pendant lights, geometric, unhurried, were easy to miss but worth finding and Jeroen’s lighting collection arrived with a carpenter’s sensitivity to wood and shadow.
Toilets shouldn’t be boring. Trone’s Paris studio proved just that at Salone with Altesse – a smart, self-cleaning beauty that treats bathroom hardware like furniture, not a problem to hide. That said, it’s their iconic designs (pictured) that still make us smile – playful, bold, and impossible to ignore.
Bieke Casteleyn, known for her tactile, materially driven approach to furniture and interiors – showed her clover collection: handmade in Belgium, each piece unique in its cement-based finish, mirrors and tables and occasional pieces arranged in a conversation with patterned rugs.
Meridiani’s thirtieth year deserves note. The house showed the new Rene bed and Omar bedside table, pieces that feel like natural extensions of a thirty-year conversation about living well, and a limited edition of an iconic piece in exclusive stone. To mark the milestone felt less about sales and more about gratitude for work sustained over time.
Milan continues to shape the way we think – the materials we specify, the forms we choose, and the balance we strike between comfort and restraint.
Some ideas only reveal their value once a project is underway. That’s the real gift of going.
