Grazie Milano

GRAZIE MILANO

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Milan Design Week

And we are back on the LE BLOG! This time talking about one of the most exciting interior events of the year. It has been almost 9 weeks since we went to our Milano affair and it feels like yesterday. This year, we had our tribe with us and it was the TRIP! Full of inspiration, laughter, amazing food and a dose of interiors heaven.

Before, we start with our interiors bla bla bla, let’s talk about girls TRIP. Recommended 100%. If you feel like a little bit of a break from your routine, little ones and responsibilities, your medicine definitively involves your passport, your girlies, an amazing destination and for us a weekend full of INTERIORS! Don’t get us wrong, we missed our families so much but we came back not only refreshed but feeling much better about everything in life. It was like a mini face lift to our lives.

On these lines, let’s get to business and talk about M I L A N O! It’s obvious that this post will a quick snap shot of our trip but hopefully it will give you a taste of our Italian affair.

Aside from the amazing connection with ourselves, we came back with so much inspiration. On this lines, this post will be a mix and match of trends, interior finds' and our favorite spots in town.

T R E N D I N G

People usually ask whether is actually worth going to Milan Design Week as an interior designer and stylist in Dubai. The typical question is whether we actually source from the fair given that we live in Dubai? Well, the answer is totally worth IT!! We usually go when we have big projects on the pipeline and we call our trip - an eye refreshener. We come empty of ideas and we come back with the whole project in our minds.

With this in mind, we bring you a visual round-up of the best highlights of the design festival. Being this time of the year when one looks in the past for inspiration with the hopes of new one wonders what will the new season bring?

One of the trends that left a strong impression upon the fashion industry and now in interior design is the sparkle of the 70’s night disco club in combination with the luxury, velvet softness and oblong volumes from the ’80s. But besides the nostalgic hint, those artistic impressions carry, what lies ahead? What will the feature bring? How will we (and our home environment) change and evolve?

2020-2021 season will bring greener and more sustainable initiatives, which will guarantee exquisite beauty and style but without the harmful consequences for nature. One of the most exciting prospects and examples for the upcoming 2020 are the innovative experiments of the industry and the designers to create unusual and new materials based on recycling, alternative technologies and a well-balanced approach between nature and technologies.

C O L O R - P A L E T T E S

Milan Design Week was all about subtle colors such as beige, wool white and shades of gray that continued to set the tone for exhibitors – even though we occasionally saw bright colors on couches, such as emerald green, apricot or a midnight blue.

Find below some of the most seen color palettes highlights.

Champagne by Carl Hansen

Lemon Yellow

Pumpkin Red - Terracota

Sky Blue

Nudes and Soft Palettes

S U S T A I N A B L E - M A T E R I A L S

This year, many compelling material experiments emphasized environmental sustainability, including inventive uses for natural materials like feathers and volcanic ash and various new takes on recycled plastic.

Standout neutral colors and structure is in wood - highlight in wood and leather. Wood and treatment of wood was definitively the expression in different shapes within the materials - curves and the reflection of the wood into an oriental influence.

In the design gallery Rossana Orlandi, an eye-catching furniture collection highlights natural materials that would otherwise be destined for landfills. British designer Bethan Gray partnered with sustainable surface company Nature Squared to create “Exploring Eden,” a dazzling 10-piece collection where each piece uses locally sourced natural materials, like scallop shells thrown away by restaurants and goose feathers that are discarded after the soft layer of down is used for bedding.

Over in the Tortona District, the Ventura Future exhibition “Future (H)eart(H): 8 Dutch Design visions for a livable earth” explored the circular design process, which calls for reusing resources like waste materials. Participants presented projects incorporating the latest developments in biotechnology, from leather made of animal fat and bones from slaughterhouse waste to fabrics made of woven ostrich feathers.

N A T U R A L - M A T E R I A L S

While 2018 was all about CANE, this year we saw a greater influence in other natural materials.

Loewe, the remarkable Spanish luxury fashion house, honored the most exquisite weaving techniques in its “Loewe Baskets” exhibition. This was the fifth project they organized in Salone Del Mobile and they described it as their “most ambitious installment” yet. Hand quilting and calligraphy were also remembered.

This amazing showcase was a tribute to fine craftsmanship and basket making and was divided into two sectors: Inspiration and Collection. For Inspiration, Loewe invited 11 international talented artists and craftsmen to create a series of unique and exclusive objets d’art. Together, they brought to life a mesmerizing collection of bags, decorative objects, accessories, and one-of-a-kind pieces using Loewe’s main material, leather, and not the usual bamboo, cane, straw and rattan, with styles and aesthetics from all around the world

W A L L - I N S T A L L A T I O N S

Although, when the wall paper was present there was floral this and animal that. Petals and leaves and woodland creatures—maximalist decor is alive and thriving. Gucci Décor’s pop-up storefront was decorated in dizzying silk wallpapers and rich blue armchairs embroidered with butterfly, owl, and floral motifs.

We must say that materials installed in the wall were definitively more popular than wallpaper.

J A P A N E S E I N F L U E N C E

From installation to brands, we saw very much the asian influence all over the fair. The implementation of low furniture, natural and soft materials was definitively eye catching.

F A V O R I T E - B R A N D S

The annual Salone del Mobile in Milan has evolved into much more than a humble furniture fair. Showcasing the very best highlights from the world of design, the fair welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and presents the works of emerging designers alongside new innovations from household names. At its 58th display this week, the world-renowned show solidified its status as a pioneering creative platform, bringing together over 1,300 creators, design enthusiasts and the latest in ground-breaking projects.

We have round up our favorite brands.

Kartell

Vitra

Alia

Kristalia

Muuto

Arper

Boffi

Bethany Grey

FAVE SPOTS in TOWN

Meanwhile, outside of the fair, exhibitions commissioned by design icons such as Vogue Italia, Louis Vuitton and Issey Miyake as well as unique installations by a variety of international artists take over the city.

The major event of this Design Week it’s the Design Week Event itself that is better known as “Fuorisalone”, a term that’s used to define the events and exhibitions that animate the entire city of Milan during this week. During the Fuorisalone, many of the stunning design places in Milan will feature longer opening hours. It’s expected that the most important brands located in the design districts of Milan will introduce their new collections and host special events with live music and entertainment for a totally unmissable extravaganza.

We share a visual guide of this year’s highlights.

BRERA