Our Trip to Milan

Last week Dodds & Shute set their out of offices and headed to Italy for Milan Design week. This is our first blog which covers the Salone del Mobile a vast never-ending landscape of furniture. Before visiting the fair it is impossible to comprehend the scale of this event or realise that this many manufacturers even exist. With 2,106 exhibitors over 201,700 square metres of exhibition space this truly is the global benchmark for design fairs.

Since 1961 it has grown into a diverse international event with manufacturers exhibiting from all corners of the world. It has become an integral industry tool for the 311,781 architects, interior designers, buyers, agents, dealers and retailers that made the design pilgrimage last year.

As these figures show there isn't really anything else in the industry that is comparable and it is a fantastic opportunity for us to meet with many of our important suppliers and see what plans they have been busy hatching over the past year. Whilst a lot of brands do their best to liven up what is a corporate and sterile location no matter how creative they get with their space its very difficult to make a stand appear lived in or to have any emotional connection with the design. The number of brands jostling for your attention means that by the end of the day a sort of furniture blindness transcends and it is difficult to pay attention to the individual message suppliers are trying to communicate.

It is in the city where you get the opportunity to completely immerse yourself in Milan’s history, culture and passion for design. Many a beautiful shop window or courtyard offers itself up as a location for fantastic products as the city comes together to celebrate & promote the industry in a way that seems inconceivable in comparison to London Design Week. Wherever you look you see famous designers soaking up the sun and atmosphere and in the space of a day we saw Nendo, Tom Dixon, Phillip Malouin, Michael Anastassiades, Nani Marquina, Rossana Orlandi, Lee Broom, Russell Pinch, Sean Dare & Sebastian Cox. Almost on every corner you stumble upon a blend of design mixing up some of the most recognised names in the industry with some of the young pretenders grabbing their chance in the spotlight. Like the fair unfortunately it really is impossible to see everything but we gave it our best shot and the next few posts showcase a selection of the favourite things we saw and places we visited.

A fantastical installation based around the concept of the future of urban mobility. The idea was to present an installation that conjures up visions of tomorrow’s journey in the form of an imaginary world. The focus was a MINI scooter and Jaime Hayon used this to create a fantastical landscape even designing appropriate accessories for the journey including a suitable jacket, goggles and helmet. The exhibition combines high-grade materials to reflect elegance and refinement, with playful aspects.

Prolific Japanese studio Nendo exhibited over 100 products designed over the past year for 19 brands as part of a solo exhibition in Milan. This included previously unseen pieces for Glas Italia and as well as furniture and lighting the exhibition was varied enough to include cutlery, bottles that replicate the patterns of rain drops and some revolutionary doors. The clean minimal presentation of all their great ideas was one of the most interesting exhibitions in Milan, that so much could be made by one practice in the space of a year made it all the more impressive.

Moooi have once again reinvented the monumental 1.700 m2 exhibition space at via Savona 56. Showcasing a completely new collection of original designs, some remarkable collaborations and cutting edge innovations. One of the more intriguing launches was Moooi Carpets which offers a collection of outstanding quality and beauty, there will be a wide range of standard designs but also countless customization possibilities in photo realistic resolution.

Tom Dixon acknowledged at a Breakfast talk that the fair isn’t the right environment for them to promote themselves and that they would prefer to have total creative control over their own unique space. He certainly wasn't wrong, they exhibited in an abandoned theatre called the Cinema chosen because of its seedy past and unusual history. They also ensured that their visitors were entertained by putting on a VIP show with his newly formed band Rough’s debut gig. The night was a resounding success just like their exhibition and the products they have launched which included a new series of wingback chairs and hallucinogenic globular lamps.

Opened in 2002 in a former tie factory in the Magenta Neighbourhood Rossana Orlandi is a space that winds around a beautiful green courtyard where you can find contemporary and vintage furniture and art. Orlandi was once a fashion designer and is now famous for championing the careers of designers on the rise and the aim is to forecast and promote young and upcoming designers, discovered all around the world. Here we got to see new pieces by Luca Nichetto a designer for De La Espada who creates products with personality, premium materials and superior craft. Interestingly the colour palettes play a huge role in his work, often inspired by nature they are applied to the selection of fabrics, materials, and combinations he then uses throughout the range.We also saw the Stellarworks stand which was a breath of fresh air, instead of showcasing their new product range the design directors Neri & Hu chose instead to launch a conceptual display called The Cabinet of Curiosity. This explored the basic human condition as the pivotal theme and subject matter, we were asked to divulge a shameful secret rooted in one of seven sins, write it down and then drink a unique cocktail of ingredients that would expunge us of the shame and purify our soul.

Situated in the luscious botanical garden that was established in 1774 and restored in 1998 it proved to be a wonderful backdrop for the concept A Journey through Scents. This was an installation for some of the leading names in design to breathe new interpretive life into the ancient art of a perfumery house that no longer exists. There were installations by the likes of Campana Brothers, Piero Lissoni, Jaime Hayon, Front, Tord Boontje, Jean-Marie Massaud and Nendo. In total there were eight brands assigned to eight designers who acted as Art Directors in order to reinterpret the brands' history and features to show that design is a key enabler for commercial life and meeting the challenges of the contemporary global market.

BDDW was a company that we were very excited to meet on our visit to Milan. Having admired their work from afar for some time, this was our first opportunity to see the products in person and it didn't disappoint. The American furniture designers who launched a Milan showroom in 2014 are dedicated to the creation of well-crafted, timeless designs and are renowned for their heirloom quality and traditionally made pieces. They have created dozens of classics and are constantly producing distinctly recognisable and innovative new pieces all designed and made by founder Tyler Hays. Tyler, with his background in painting, sculpting and engineering pays an incredible amount of attention to the materials he uses. Our favourite pieces are the sideboards and record players. Their showroom also had beautiful lighting by prominent American designers David Weeks, Bec Brittain & Lindsey Adelman

Apparatus Studio was another manufacturer that we were incredibly excited to meet out in Milan.The New York based studio share a lot in common with BDDW as both Manhattan based companies are pioneers of a new generation of American design with a common palette, attention to detail and emphasis on material. They know each other well and BDDW offered some showroom space to Apparatus Studio so that they had the opportunity to exhibit next door to each other here in Milan. The Apparatus range of lighting is born from playful experimentation with vintage lighting components. Material plays a key role and aged brass, etched glass, leather, horse hair and porcelain are combined to create fixtures that fuse sculptural form with hand worn materials. The rawness of materials assembled by hand create a “perfect imperfect” finish, the result of which is both timeworn, thoroughly modern and always beautiful.