05 Jun Salone del Mobile 2023, day 2.
Rested and prepared for the second day, after a delicious Italian coffee, we plunged into the most vibrant district of the city, the Brera. Accepting a kind invitation, we started our morning at the magical world of the always cheerful and astounding Seletti. The company, known for its surrealist design, has once again created an impressive experience in its showroom, where the moment we arrived, we were faced with two huge legs and a few iconic human-sized cats. Walking through the building, we could admire many iconic collaborations, but the real star of the exhibition was the installation created in the inner courtyard. Gianpiero D’Alessandro dreamt up the fun, monster-looking boxes that present the new collections. The main role here was also played by lighting, but we could also discover some mirrors and small furniture. Among our favourites were Mercantonio’s window lights, the archetypal windows were designed with white frames and clouds floating in a blue sky, surrounded by sparrow lights, bringing smiles to our faces. The house-shaped lamps of Dutch designer Tomas Schats fully reflected the style characteristics of the designer, who puts illustrations into 3D, subtly misleading the viewers. In order to enhance the uniqueness, the chimneys of the houses act as on/off switches, thus enabling a functional design.
Walking along the via Solferino the Missoni Home showroom is not to be missed, it presents one of the most colourful and cheerful installations of the exhibition each year with stripes and patterns characteristic of the brand. This year, creative director Alberto Caliri reimagined the sweet world of donuts and panettones under the name “Living Inside-Out” in a space dotted with surrealist and decorative visions. New for this year was the Nastri range, which uses jacquard fabrics available in six 3D hues to upholster poufs and pillows. An adventure in a world of rounded shapes, bright lights, sparkling wallpaper and the unmissable Missoni animals.😊
Londonart’s new Kimonocapsule collection was inspired by Japanese traditions and designed by brand founder Nicola Bottegal. The collection is a new aesthetic experience that looks East to fill our homes with precious glow. A reinterpretation of centuries from cherry blossoms to 19th-century Zen gardens with subtle spring hues, detailed craftsmanship and imaginative creativity. The Marni fashion brand also entered the world of home décor and added subtle shades to the bright colours full of characters familiar from the fashion house to create their first energetic wallpaper series.
It’s always exciting to get to know artists and products that are still unknown to us, which is also an important goal of our visit, and this is how we discovered 3D Surface. The Florentine company creates lively and modular decorative surfaces with strong aesthetic and emotional merit. Thanks to many years of research and development, they have created a ceramic surface that decorates our spaces without the limits of continuity, with naturalistic inspirations such as a reinterpretation of the Boboli Garden to pay tribute to the city of Florence.
We had never known Vicenzo de Cotiis’s work before, so it was a great pleasure for us to discover his gallery this year, which was a huge and unforgettable experience for us. We were able to admire some of the pieces from his new collection, which was called Archaeology of Consciousness. The combination of black onyx and patinated fiberglass created a sense of the time passing on artworks, a perfect demonstration of the surface corrosion and sedimentation that affects ancient objects over time. The artist’s goal is to combine perfection and imperfection in his unique and limited edition works.
And since the last stop of our city tour happened to end at the foot of the wonderful Hotel Bulgari, to take advantage of the sunshine we took some rest on the hotel`s terrace. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the streets for a few minutes before heading onto the evening events.
We started our evening at the famous Villa Necchi, accepting the invitation of Occhio Lighting. In the heart of downtown Milan – thanks to Piero Portaluppi’s designs – there is a wonderful hidden little jewel box with a swimming pool and a dazzling garden which was a worthy venue for the event. Rushing to our next program, we even stopped at the Listone Giordano Arena for a short meeting, and then headed to the Tonin Casa and Black Tie event, which turned out to be a fitting end to our day. In the small courtyard behind the showroom, the company owner welcomed us with delicious snacks and drinks, but unfortunately the rain brought an end to the pleasant evening.
