What We Loved About Salone Del Mobile 2018

The fashion capital of the world just wrapped up another successful round of Salone Del Mobile, the biggest furniture fair in the world, and the place to be for those looking for the those looking for the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world. And of course, Love That Design was there to cover it all yet again!

From six days and nearly 50 hours of journeying through so many the amazing products and exhibits on display, these are our best picks from Salone Del Mobile 2018!

Designed by Berlin-based Studio 7.5, Herman Miller’s new seating line, COSM, debuted this year. At the launch event ‘For you Everyone’, we took a first look at the COSM which departs from the standard, stationary furniture showroom. Visitors were invited into a veritable high-design automobile show where they could test drive COSM’s Auto-Harmonic Tilt™. The mechanism instantly provides balanced support and movement corresponding to the user’s body, posture, and seated position. COSM is made for the contemporary workplace, instantaneously and comfortably adjusting to whoever is sitting in it. The holistic approach to design is taken into COSM’s aesthetics, where a monochrome “dipped-in-color” option presents the chair in a single hue from top to bottom, available in three colors—Canyon, Glacier, and Nightfall.

The equipment at Technogym looks so cool it’s hard to imagine someone actually working out on it. Most of the time, we find ourselves staring at their products in sheer amazement. Not surprising though, considering they’re the world’s leading producer of design and technology-driven fitness equipment and solutions. 

This year, Technogym previewed the SKILLBIKE, created thanks to their expertise acquired as the official supplier to the latest 7 editions of the Olympic Games. Designed for enthusiasts who wish to train like top athletes, it doesn’t compromise on design or style. A digital and fully-interactive product, the SKILLBIKE allows users to access personalized programs and challenge their performance limits. Thanks to its dynamic-behaviour technology, it can detect each user’s pedalling style and posture to perfectly simulate and replicate the experience of outdoor routes in the comfort of one’s home.

Also present at the Technogym booth was PERSONAL LINE, the award-winning line of interior design equipment, made using refined materials and top-level craftsmanship. Taking inspiration from nature and science, Personal Line’s stylish designs are the result of the collaboration between Technogym, with its three-decades of research experience in developing fitness and wellness products, and world-renowned furniture designer and architect Antonio Citterio.

La Pelota, Milan’s former sports arena, was host to Vitra’s “Typecasting: An Assembly of Iconic, Forgotten and New Vitra Characters” in conjunction with Milan Design Week 2018.

Curated by Austrian Designer, Robert Stadler, on display were close to 200 products from Vitra’s archive – some icons and some thought to be forgotten. Current products with classics, prototypes, special-editions and future-visions were placed side by side, to focus on the social function of furniture in society. In the spacious Pelota arena, the panoramic display of objects portrayed the past, present and future of ‘Project Vitra’.

As always, Walter Knoll made was seemed like a dominant yet effortless presence at Salone Del Mobile. Among the luxurious living collection was the Onsa chair by Mauro Lipparini and the all new Bundle sofa by EOOS.

Reclining into the Onsa is a unique experience. When the seat back is leaned in to the bucket seats and armrests open up in an organic movement inspired by a flower that opens ups its petals wide in the morning to stretch toward the sun. Coupled with the height adjustable foot stool the Onsa is a true work of art!

Named after the popular children’s game in the UK the Bundle’s soft upholstery is inspired by the simplicity and warmth of a large folded blanket. Without a doubt, extremely comfortable to sink into after journeying across the Salone’s various pavilions.

And let’s not forget the series of rugs based on African landscapes, designed by Helmut Scheufele. Consistently one of our favorite spaces at the show it is amazing to see how well the various collections work together to silently scream luxury!

Czech glass manufacturer, Lasvit, took over the decadent 19th-century puppet theatre Teatro Gerolamo to showcase 18 glass monsters, created by designers from all over the world. Among the many items featured were a mirror covered in eyeballs, creatures from outer space, a one-eyed dog and a pair of Japanese warriors, presented alongside glamorous burlesque dance performances.

The Lasvit Monster Collection was developed by well-recognized designers such as Alessandro Mendini, Campana Brothers, Daniel Libeskind, Fabio Novembre, Maarten Baas, Maurizio Galante, Nendo, Rene Roubicek and Maxim Velcovsky among others. The collection showcases the artists’ different points of view of what really a monster means – a broad range of inspiration beginning with devils, ghosts and spooky things besides animals, supernatural creatures, weird objects, to personal fears, phobias, unacceptable behaviours and even some humans.

This uber-stylish and contemporary Italian manufacturer’s stand of nearly 900 square meters, allowed their visitors to discover new designs, previews and a selection of Arper’s iconic products; through an immersive experience that fully expressed the brand’s identity. The theme this year was “Together” – a keyword that places relationships at the center of the design system and summarizes Arper’s six values: Balance, Intuition, Family, Colour, Lightness and Play, which took form in each room through a dialogue between the collections and the setting. 

Arper also previewed their Kiik collection, designed by the Iwasaki Design Studio. A modular collection of seating, tables, ottomans and consoles that create moments of working, gathering or relaxing in graphic forms with myriad configurations.

For us, the Joy Stool and UseMe were definitely the stand-outs at Sitland. The UseMe is a system of multi-functional tables with a unique and cutting-edge design. Minimalist and understated lines shape a strategic small furniture item for the optimisation of space and comfort when using contemporary devices. The top, with possible slant of 30°, has a support system which ensures optimal visualisation of a screen in an ergonomic position. The ball and socket joint connecting the base to the work top combines well with the beautiful copper finish.

The deceptively light Joy pouf on the other hand, embodies original geometric linearity, played out on slim proportions and measured slants, enhanced by a pleasing colour contrast. An item of furniture with multiple intended uses, functional and decorative. It is both attractive and comfortable to use.

The manufacturer, of the iconic Barcelona Chair, celebrated its 80th anniversary at Salone Del Mobile 2018 by presenting new collections and iconic designs. And it just reaffirmed the creative vision that has made the brand famous, worldwide.

At their pavilion designed by OMA, Knoll introduced the Newson Aluminum Chair, designed by Marc Newson. Honouring the cantilevered chairs of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Newson’s design is a forward-looking expression that synthesizes simplicity, material and precision in the Modernist tradition. The radical design reflects Newson’s fanaticism for the space age, as well as his belief that, “design is about improving things and about looking to the future, pushing technology forward.”

And of course, no trip to Knoll is complete without a look at its iconic Butterfly chair. In honour of their 80th anniversary, Knoll created a special version of the chair for Salone Del Mobile 2018. Also on display was Knoll’s Avio Sofa System, expanding on its collection of upholstered furniture.

DVO proudly inaugurated it’s Learning + Innovation Center during the Milan Design Week in Via Maroncelli 5. Not just an exhibition showroom, it’s a space designed to organize courses, workshops and exhibitions, as its name states. During the Milan Design Week 2018, DVO presented some of its recent bestsellers, such as the DV526-Lima bookcase and the DV300-Colibrì sound-absorbing items collection, and the latest news: the Milo system of modular storage units, the Noto tables designed by Enzo Berti, as well as the Porto table collection designed by FROM INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (Cesare Bizzotto, Tobias Nitsche).

The Fuorisalone 2018 was also the moment to experiment the dynamic vocation of the DVO space that hosts the exhibition “The Future Office”, the result of the workshop organized by the company in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture of Venice IUAV. We also took a sneak peak at their range that is going to be launched at Orgatec this year including and amazing stone table reinforced with glass base – more to come at Orgatec 2018!

Kristalia had some really cool stuff on display at this year’s Salone Del Milan. Starting with the Font Coffee Table: a mobile table designed for both indoor and outdoor use, featuring a unique graphic style. Font was born out of the new partnership with Swedish Design Studio Claesson Koivisto Rune – designed and developed using many materials and experimenting with them to achieve a unique shape and it has a USB power socket to boot!

The Tenso sofa designed by Luca Nichetto, was also in the spotlight. Its name is derived from tensile structures, which have inspired the dynamic, light and “tensioned” shapes of the sofa. Its special feature is the inner tension between its components, which keeps them firmly suspended and open, just like a welcoming embrace. Its modular tubular frame adapts to various seat dimensions, whereas the backrest provides extra comfort with the addition of a headrest and adjustable tilting.

And let’s not forget Constellations, also designed by Luca Nichetto as a tribute to Joan Miró and Alexander Calder. The coffee table features the juxtaposition of shapes and materials; squares, semi-ellipses and circles can be freely combined to create compositions of surfaces in various thicknesses and textures.

The awesome #Pedraligoodideas setting designed by the Milanese architectural studio Calvi Brambilla was definitely a hit at this year’s Salone Del Milan. Drawing inspiration from an object as charged with meaning as the light bulb, Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla studio pays tribute to the Italian company’s “latest good ideas” with an installation that is both a museum display and a product dramatisation.

The architectural space was dominated by the colour blue, as a tribute to the works of the artist Félix González-Torres. This light colour is also a clear reference to the company’s two-year advertising campaign. In Pedrali Good Ideas, product dramatisation is made even more interactive by subtle references to the world of peep-shows, where visitors can look at real life dance performances staged around some of the brand’s most iconic products through peepholes.

We loved the new take on the ten year old Snow where the Odo Fioravanti teamed up with Pedrali again to introduce four concepts based on iconic music tracks – especially the We are Family and the Born to be Wild!

Also launched was the Remind chair by Eugeni Quitllet was. We were delighted to see that this deceptively metallic chair was actually an injection molded polypropylene beauty complete with soft curves and stylish arches – and it was light as a feather to boot. A complete indoor and outdoor chair with a hard to beat price-tag too!

French Luxury brand, Hermès, has made it a point to create a buzz each year at Salone Del Mobile, since they first participated in 2011. This year, we spotted graffiti artists commissioned by Hermès to activate the urban landscape with ephemeral graffiti. Each morning at 10 am, an artists’ collective took to the streets to reinterpret Hermès new wallpaper patterns. They chalked them on the ground in some of the Milan Furniture Fair’s most iconic locations – from the chic Via Della Spiga to the Triennale museum and passing through the streets of the hip neighbourhood Brera.

But that’s not all. There’ so much to see at Salone Del Mobile every year, we could go on for days telling you about. Have a look at some of the other cool stuff we spotted in Milan while we gear up for 2019!