Milan’s annual Salone del Mobile is a sumptuous feast for the design-hungry. Pouring out into the streets of Brera and beyond, shops, factories and even architects’ homes are abuzz with the best and most beautiful the industry has to offer – and those who want to see it. While the visual delights are too many to name – we tried to here – our mental shopping baskets were easy to fill, not least thanks to a generous helping of fashion-led homewares which are already looking cosy in our imaginary homes. Here are six objects of desire over which to drool…
1. Recline in style with Roberto Cavalli (above)
The Tahiti chaise longue from Roberto Cavalli offers quite the recline. Upholstered in the house’s signature animal print – this time zebra on citron velvet – this piece offers the Italian label’s renowned blend of high-gloss luxury and fierce sensuousness. The black Marquina marble top provides the perfect perch for your mid-afternoon Negroni too.
2. Haute eating at Hermès
Staged in Museo della Permanente was an Hermès Maison takeover. With artistic direction by Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry, the space was filled with handmade Morroccan Zelige tiled salons – each warmed by the label’s evocative colour palette. The same can be said of the brand new dinner service, christened in the pop-up cafe: bright orange branches, Prussian blue grasses, buttercup yellow twigs and leaf green stamens speckle artist Nigel Peake’s new line of porcelain, pleasingly dubbed A Walk in the Garden.
3. Tantalising textiles at Loewe
This was Loewe’s fourth offering for Salone del Mobile – and with it came an array of tempting textiles so luscious that we’re considering the covetability of the luxury blanket anew. Exploring and marrying techniques from around the globe, creative director Jonathan Anderson worked with more than 100 ateliers across four continents to create this landmark collection. Numerous artisanal methods have been employed and entwined for this season, from traditional silk-dyeing and boro techniques from Japan to French jacquard weaves and Senegalese patchworks – and yet the character of each technique remains entirely distinct. This needle-punched Spanish mohair in delicious gradient pastels is the ultimate fabrication for our wishlist.
4. Luxury lighting at Louis Vuitton
At the Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades installation, it was the Bell lamp that won our affection. British architects Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby designed the solar-powered, cordless light that comes complete with a Nomade leather strap made under the French fashion house. Said strap enables a dramatic silhouette when carrying around the ranch at night.
5. Everyday objects from Tiffany & Co
For new chief artistic officer Reed Krakoff, Tiffany Home and Accessories marks the designer’s first outing for the brand. From bone china paper-look cups to sterling silver rulers, he’s determined to upgrade your everyday essentials. And though a sterling silver paper clip is an obvious must-have, it’s the silver take-away cup and rose gold vermeil crazy straw that are going in the basket.
6. Festival furniture at Marni
Marni’s Salone del Mobile presentation celebrated the handcrafts of Colombia. Woven willow stem baskets from the ancient city of Ibagué came by way of Milan, wrought with the traditional agave branches as well as brightly coloured plastic threads. These poolside-perfect chairs make for a backyard brightener with a difference: part of the profits are donated to Milan-based adoption and foster-family charity Piccolo Principe S.C.S Onlus.