Milan Review for 2019 Salone del Mobile.

Living Edge brings you a report on what to expect from Salone del Mobile, Milan, one of the design world's most profiled design fairs.

view online version   Salone Del Mobile 2019 Since the 1950s, the Salone has acted as an international weathervane for the future of design in our times. And for 2019, Milan certainly did not disappoint.  With more than 2,000 of the world's leading design brands, spread across more than 210,000 square-metres of the Rho Fiera Milano fairgrounds, the latest and greatest in design was under the spotlight, making the 2019 Salone del Mobile the largest yet in the fair's illustrious history. Truth be told, navigating such an occasion isn't the easiest feat, so yours truly at Living Edge have taken it upon ourselves to share the highlights and awe-inspiring moments straight from Milan. If you didn't get the chance to make it to Milan for 2019 Salone del Mobile, don't fear. Below you will find all the behind-the-scenes know-how and most topical emerging trends to whet your design appetite. And, in the meantime, we hope you have your feet up as you enjoy an afternoon apperitivo. Ciao! Living Edge   BETHAN GRAY - For her 2019 Milan presentation, Gray engaged in a new collaboration with Nature Squared who have been at the cutting-edge of sustainability and social responsibility for over 18 years.  With a shared commitment to natural materials, nurturing artisanal craft and sustainability, Squared and Bethan Gray were both thrilled to showcase their ground-breaking exhibition, featuring their Exploring Eden collection of furniture and accessories to the public for the very first time.   Utilising nature's finest and most beguiling materials, this collaboration brings Bethan Gray's highly innovative and elegant designs to fruition. The collection consists of a capiz shell shelving unit, jade and pheasant feather lounge chairs, pearl shell cylindrical stools, with the hero items including a scallop shell table and a pen shell coffee table.  READ MORE    Stalwart favourites such as Made in Ratio and BassamFellows delighted visitors again this year with displays that exceeded the brands mutual reputations of representing the top-most shelf degrees of craftsmanship and detailing. Meanwhile, the younger brands like Bethan Gray have proven that a new form of heritage is emerging – one that focuses squarely on future-proofing and sustainability.     MADE IN RATIO - At this year's Salone Del Mobile Brodie Neill is presenting new works from his self-produced furniture collection Made in Ratio, which continue his signature ethos of celebrating contemporary craftsmanship and innovation inspired by nature. Returning to Brera Design District for the brand's seventh Fuorisalone, the designer of the internationally acclaimed Cowrie and Alpha chairs, has unveiled an extended collection of his now-iconic Alpha chair. Making its debut, the Theorem screen is the studio's first foray into the new design typology of a room divider. The alternating but complementary materials create a soft interplay of light and warmth, of privacy and visibility, and breathability and rigidity. Completing the new releases is the Re-focus coffee table READ MORE  Visiting Milan this year? We have prepared all you need to know about navigating around the wonderful city of Milan! Including getting to and from the fair, where to stop for a bite and also where to view our brands and info on their new releases. Need a printable or PDF version of our map and this years furniture guide?  DOWNLOAD HERE      BASSAM FELLOWS - The brand's latest collection of work, debuting at Milan Design Week, reflects inspiration from prosaic, elemental and naturally occurring materials. The Elemental collection is about purity of shape and form, with nothing superfluous added. For the Milan presentation BassamFellows has created a tranquil exhibition space within rough concrete gallery walls. A keen eye might notice the simplicity of one particularly powerful graphic informed this latest collection. The cruciform, commonly known as the cross.   One of the most basic, natural and harmonious visual arrangements in the canon of design. Its roots are, of course, in theology and folklore. It is elementary, strong and visually. The simplicity of the cruciform shape lends itself perfectly to the key structural element of a table – in engineering terms, it is almost impossible to better the dynamic. These designs are about stripping things back to basics, paring down things visually to what is fundamental. READ MORE  Made in Ratio's  Brodie Neill   A longstanding champion of using ocean plastic waste to create new materials, Brodie has spoken internationally about his self-created Ocean Terrazzo material, most notably at the European Union Parliament and the United Nations. At this year's Salone Del Mobile Brodie Neill is presenting new works from his self-produced furniture collection Made in Ratio, View our designer guide to find out where you may see your favourite designers, such as Brodie himself! DOWNLOAD HERE  MUUTO -  Scandinavian cult classic Muuto has introduced six new designs on its biggest Salone booth to date. This includes the latest addition to everyone's favourite Oslo seating family. The Oslo Side Chair by Anderssen & Voll, combines modern, geometric lines with a soft seat for a playfully refined design. Also featured inlucdes the Linear wood Series by Thomas Bentzen and new colours of your favourite designs  Furthermore, Muuto has for the first-time ever participated an in-city exhibition for Salone. The exhibition, named A Space for Being, is in collaboration with Google, Reddymade Architecture and Johns Hopkins University, exploring how aesthetic experiences through design, color, forms, sounds, scents and lighting can impact our biology, well-being and how we as individuals feel within a room.  READ MORE    Extremis and Muuto, again, have returned to the city to show that our conceptions of space continue to change at breakneck speeds: with the commercial realm now embracing exterior locales, and the domestic environment transforming into a space where design needs to act by uniting multiple generations.   EXTREMIS - Ever since 1998, Extremis has been bringing its extraordinary furniture collection to the prestigious design week in Milan. For their 2019 presentation Extremis aimed to highlight the stories and hidden qualities behind its designs. Extremis feelsAt the heart of every piece of furniture is a function designed to serve the users. The surprising multifunctionality, intelligent  solutions and key values are hidden behind non-intrusive aesthetics and need to be explained so that visitors can discover their full potential. In order to reveal their secrets, inspire visitors and give them an experience to treasure, Extremis is bringing a few of its iconic pieces to a pop-up museum at the Salone del Mobile. READ MORE    #MILANTRACE2019  For the sixth year running, Living Edge presents our Milantrace talk series - in partnership with Yellowtrace - delivering an unbiased and in-depth look at the inspirational content from the World's premier design event. Once again, Dona Hughes and team Yellowtrace is on the ground in Milan, hitting the city's creative districts to bring you unmissable highlights from the year's most compelling design showcase. This is the Milan Presentation you can not miss. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE. Head to our blog for more Milan updates © Living Edge, All rights reserved. info@livingedge.com.au Want to change how you receive these emails? Update preferences or Unsubscribe.