Milan Part 1

Whew! The largest trade fair of our year is just over. Over 370,000 professionals from 188 countries attended the Massimiliano Fuksas-designed fairgrounds at Rho to see 1962 exhibitors. And the Fuorisalone (offsite) was also huge and very well attended. It was my 30th fair (I missed 1994 when my youngest daughter was a baby), so I've seen my share.

What I loved seeing was manufacturers working on refining and improving their offerings. They were mixing older and archival pieces with new designs and constantly improving their existing ones. As opposed to making new for the sake of new. "The chief distinction of Italian craftsmanship lies in the conscious preservation of its heritage."

Here is part one of our highlights from our trip to Milan:

Cassina showed a fabulous and rich mix of new and master products in a "real mix" way. Patricia Urquiola leads the design team; there are brave colour choices and combinations that are inspiring. We live with older and newer pieces in our homes, and mixing them tells our personal stories in our environments.

Karakter, part of the Cassina group, offers some of our favourite products, and the new/archival Scarpa lounge and dining chairs are so comfortable and beautiful. They show off Cassina's wood craftsmanship amazingly well.

B&B Italia displayed its full array of designs in a very complementary way. The new black Louis Poulsen lights showed beautifully with the finishes selected for the designs. Dambo, a new Piero Lissoni sofa, is comfortable and easy to live with. The Quiet Lines pieces, a desk, side tables, bench and screen by Gabriel Tan, are so wonderful, we cannot wait to show them to you at Inform.

Bensen, yes, we are related, but now with the addition of the multicultural design and display teams, they showed their beautiful, older and newer products with true style. It was our first time seeing the new Collar dining chair and the swivel tilt on the Circa high-back armchair. We loved the subtle colours and archival photos, including one of Niels in 1963 in the first Park Royal store as seen above.

Flexform is as solidly exquisite as ever. So amazingly comfy and beautiful. The quality and comfort that they always manufacture are to the highest standard. We loved the new items, especially the new outdoor items.

Tecta showed their archival Walter Gropius chair edited by German artist Katrin Greiling. The colour combinations were fabulous, joyous and happy; I wanted to purchase all 5 iterations but only ordered 3. There was also a new version of the M4R Trolley in stealth black, which Kyle loved.

The Bocci apartment, located in an upscale neighbourhood close to the Triennale, is a showstopper. The effusive decor showed the newest Bocci light, the 118, and all their previous designs. They hosted nightly apertivos with the best breadsticks ever! If you are visiting Milano, the apartment will be available for a reserved visit.

Rimadesio manufactures some of the most beautiful and environmentally-sound manufactured products. The new cabinet series called Rialto is gorgeous. And the new passage door system Air is a game-changer, with entirely hidden hardware which is much easier to install.

De Padova always stuns with its quietly restrained elegant designs. The expansion of the Antibes shelving system into a vast wall unit is exquisite. This year a new sofa system Erei Zone enchanted us with its comfort.

The material company Solid Nature has over 600 stones in their collection. They showed the most inspiring creative ways to use stone, including a show-stopping table setting by Laila Gohar. It is experiences like this that leave us full of ideas to bring home and share.

I hope you have enjoyed this first look at our highlights from Milan. Stay tuned for part two, coming soon.

Warmly, Nancy