October 24, 2024 |
Few things feel like planning a culture-soaked city break, going back to school and training for a marathon all at the same time quite like the lead-up to Milan’s Salone del Mobile.
From left: Parola lamp by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni for FontanaArte, reissued in Ancora red by Gucci; ceramic plate from the Saint Laurent by Rive Droite collaboration with the Gio Ponti Archives and the Fundación Anala y Armando
The furniture design fair has become such an unmissable event on the annual culture crawl that when it arrives each April, with its packed schedule of events by big-name brands, the rule is: fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
The lead-up to this year’s edition, its 62nd, of the globally renowned fair was no exception, but also not my first rodeo. That is to say, my Airbnb was booked nearly a year in advance, avoiding both the share-a-bed fiasco that was 2022 and eye-watering hotel prices. I started double-dosing all the omega oils (for my soon-to-be-aching joints) and vitamin C (for much-needed energy) at T-minus three weeks. I relegated my usual Milano uniform of pencil dresses and knee-high boots in favour of my faithful Joseph wide-leg trousers and Nike Air Rifts. I also spent an inordinate number of hours with the little Google Maps dude plotting my route around town so I could take in as much as possible without needing to retrace my sweaty steps.
The latter move was probably the most prudent, as this year saw the fashion contingency up its presence and partnerships. It’s no secret that our favourite clothing brands have fallen hard for the reputational prestige that rubs off from being associated with the design and architecture greats. A decade ago, their collabs were with Supreme, Nike and Puma; fast forward to Milan 2024 and it’s all about Ettore Sottsass, Le Corbusier and Gio Ponti.
This year, there were no fewer than two dozen fashion week favourites putting themselves at the heartbeat of design. While the programme is on all week and open to everyone, I was only in town for two days so decided to hit the streets of the chic Brera neighbourhood, where all the action happens, ASAP.
From left: leather buckets by Hermès; a Fendi Casa room set
First up, I headed towards the Palazzina Appiani in Parco Sempione to catch Thom Browne watching rehearsals for his performance show, Time to Sleep. The CFDA chairman was in town to launch his bedding collection with Frette, the Italian authority on bedding, which has been weaving since 1860 and is responsible for kitting out the Orient Express. Browne, a regular visitor to Milan but a Salone rookie, may be famed for his shrunken silhouettes and creased shirts, but when it comes to sheets they are snug and immaculately ironed. “The sheets have to be pressed. And they have to be white,” he said with a smile. “Never another colour for me.”
Dreaming of a full-Frette bed, I walked over to Hermès, which has flown the flag for finding the sweet spot between homewares and what we wear from its regular base of La Pelota for years. This time the brand was in reflective mood for its Topography of Material installation, which showcased a curation of its archive and design objects, next to the leather goods they inspired. On display was the original Mangeoire pouch from 1949 next to this year’s Derby leather bucket bags, while the Drag travel bag from the 2010s was presented next to Jasper Morrison’s Equilibre chair for Hermès from 2020.
Onto Gucci next, where Sabato De Sarno presented five pieces of Italian design he had reissued in a new shade of, you guessed it, Ancora red. These were the Le Mura sofa by Mario Bellini for Tacchini from 1972; the Clessidra rug from a design of Piero Portaluppi made by CC-Tapis; the Storet tallboy by Nanda Vigo for Acerbis in 1994; the Opachi vase by Tobia Scarpa for Venini in 1960; and the Parola lamp by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni for FontanaArte in 1980, all of which popped in De Sarno’s signature Gucci hue.
From left: in bed with Thom Browne – the designer unveiled his bedding collaboration with Frette at Salone, Medusa branding on the arm of a Versace sofa
They’re bound to be as desirable as their platform-loafer counterparts when they go on sale. With no time to stop for a proper lunch (usually sacrilege in Italia, but Salone waits for no sandwich), I knocked back a coffee at Bar Jamaica and had a baby pizza from my fave Pattini bakery en route to Loro Piana, where its director of interiors Francesco Pergamo paid tribute to the late Milanese designer and architect Cini Boeri in the year that would have marked her 100th birthday. The legendary designer’s modular Strips system, which won the prestigious Compasso d’Oro in 1979, was joined by the Bobo and Boborelax armchairs that LP covered in its ‘cashfur’ for the occasion.
Next, a hop across town to a completely different type of textile fest, as Faye Toogood presented her rug and sofa collaborations with Tacchini, CC-Tapis and Poltrona Frau in true original style. Inspired by the Francis Bacon works she saw at Tate Modern last year, Toogood started painting shapes inspired by “female energy, the body, sexuality, female power”, which were spotted in her studio by CC-Tapis when it came to visit. A spontaneous suggestion to “do a bunch of rude rugs!” came to fruition, resulting in the Salone collection, called names including the Tiddly Bits rug and the Roly Poly sofa.
From left: Loro Piana’s tribute to the late Milanese designer and architect Cini Boeri, Faye Toogood presented her rug and sofa collaborations with Tacchini, CC-Tapis and Poltrona Frau
By now, it really was time to stop for tiramisu, so I walked to meet my pal Molly Molloy of Colville, who gave me a sneak preview of the brand’s Diadora collection over a glass of franciacorta (which, she assured me, is the new, chicer, prosecco). Few things could coax Nikes off my feet, but these ‘double-dipped’ trainers – all super-high performance and crafted out of deadstock fabric from the Diadora archive – had me signed up to the waiting list like a shot. Refreshed and with a spring in our step, we moved onto Bottega Veneta’s cocktail party at its soon-to-be new headquarters on Palazzo San Fedele to celebrate its On the Rocks installation. On view for one night only, the brand presented its collaboration with Fondation Le Corbusier on the LC14 Tabouret Cabanon stool (the designer was inspired by the whisky boxes that would wash up on the shore by his Cote d’Azur cabin). It’s the same style Matthieu Blazy reissued for the seating at his AW24 fashion show, yet here they came bound in the house’s signature intrecciato leather.
For the final event of day one, it was onto the stunning Chiostri di San Simpliciano, where Anthony Vaccarello presented the plates he had reissued from Gio Ponti’s 1953 collection for Anala and Armando Planchart’s hilltop home in Caracas. Produced by Ginori 1735, they reminded me of a Ponti quote I had read only the week before: “Original ideas are not important: actually, original ideas don’t exist. Ideas are received and re-expressed.”
With 20,000 steps clocked up (and my health app informing me, much to my amusement, “Scarlett, you’ve been more active than usual” – no shit, Siri), I inhaled two boxes of Saint Laurent’s tomato-sauce paccheri pasta and dragged my bones to bed.
I was up early for a special appointment at Armani HQ. Following the success of last year, which saw thousands queuing around the block, the designer opened the doors to his frescoed home again, presenting a new Armani Casa collection alongside all the souvenirs from the global travels that inspired them.
From left: the LC14 Tabouret Cabanon stool gets the Bottega Veneta intrecciato treatment; and a lamp from the Loewe Lights project
In an adjacent room, he shared private holiday snaps, giving a rare and wonderful look into his world. And as if that wasn’t special enough, the maestro himself appeared, extending his greetings to all with a warm handshake (I feel like I semi-curtseyed).
All smiles from the impromptu hello, I met up with a friend and we headed over to Prada Frames. Mrs P has made it her Salone M.O. to present a two-day programme of seminars examining a different theme each year relating to the home, and this time it was Being Home. I opted for a conversation between Isabella Rossellini and Professor Mary Kuhn which examined the relationship between humans and nature in the home, past and present. That introduced me to Rossellini’s little-known 2008 educational video series Green Porno, in which she explored the sex lives of garden insects while dressed as them (Google it immediately; you’re welcome).
Onto another heavyweight, Versace, which staged its Versace Home collection reveal in Palazzo Versace on Via Gesù. Versace die-hards will know it was these hallowed halls where Gianni staged the 1991 runway show that gave birth to the supermodel; apt, then, that Donatella called this collection If These Walls Could Talk. The classic Versace emblems the Medusa, Barocco and Greca were lavished throughout, while an accompanying audio experience, created in collab with the online station Radio Raheem, explained the meaning of everything as we walked around each room. We may or may not have pretended to be Cindy, Linda, Naomi, Christy et al.
After a yummy carb-load of delicious pesto gnocchi at Trattoria del Ciumbia, freshly redesigned by Milan’s favourite interior design duo Dimorestudio, the afternoon held more delights.
Issey Miyake used 60,000 bamboo skewers to create a unique carpet in collaboration with Dutch collective We Make Carpets, which transported it flat from the Netherlands. Zegna released its new Rizzoli book, Born in Oasi Zegna, in celebration of the 60 miles of forested land north of Milan in the Biellese Alps where founder Ermenegildo Zegna initiated a reforestation programme in 1910. And Valextra worked with Studio Temp to build a spa and, in its John Pawson-designed Via Manzoni flagship, a structure symbolising the care we need to give to our belongings (but mainly, of course, our bags).
An Armani Casa room set
The day came to a fab conclusion with Loewe Lights, the latest masterpiece from Jonathan Anderson and his first lighting installation at Salone. Staged at Palazzo Citterio, it comprised one-of-a-kind designs from 24 artists who the brand either worked with or supported and was the first time any of them had worked with light. Ranging from sculpted onyx table lamps and woven horsehair structures to hollowed-out calabash fruits covered in twisted mulberry-tree paper, the originality on show is exactly why it turned out to be the ticket of the week.
Skipping my usual haunt of Bar Basso (the legendary Milanese drinking establishment which created the negroni sbagliato) in favour of a candlelit dinner at another institution, Trattoria Torre di Pisa, the Scarlett Salone show came to a close for this year – I was happily exhausted and educated in equal measure, and ready to reserve my digs for 2025
Photography courtesy of HERMES, GUCCI, SAINT LAURENT, THOM BROWNE/FRETTE ,VILLA PALLADIO, FENDI, VERSACE, LORO PIANA, BOTTEGA VENETA, LOEWE AND GIORGIO ARMANI. Taken from 10 Men Issue 60 – ECCENTRIC, FANTASY, ROMANCE – out now. Order your copy here.
SALONE DEL MOBILE: THE ART OF LIVING
