The real value of design fairs is in the craft and emotion – not just the after-parties
People crave an experience, in terms of both presentation and products
Let’s be real: the year only really starts in February. Now is the perfect time to set your agenda for 2025 and mine is packed with industry fairs and festivals. People often ask why I go to so many of these design events. Aren’t these just manufactured fun (excuse the pun)? Or brands flogging their newest products? An excuse to party with everyone from the industry? The answer is yes and while I love a jolly, these gatherings are also a vital bellwether of the industry.
Take the year’s first two major design events in Paris: Maison&Objet (16 to 20 January) and Matter and Shape (7 to 10 March). Both put the spotlight on innovative independent practices and a French design scene characterised by small-scale manufacturing. Size, perhaps, isn’t everything – and this network of smaller brands and makers are creating a robust design economy in France. Here a handful of big international brands (Ligne Roset, Roche Bobois, Fermob) are complemented by smaller, more nimble makers who work with high-quality materials and craft traditions.
Moving on to Milan for Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week (7 to 13 April), you’ll find that change is afoot. The fair is no longer dominated by heritage Italian brands that established it in 1961. Fashion brands (Loewe, Hermès, Bottega Veneta) now use their budgets and craft expertise to cross into design, staging showcases akin to enormous immersive art installations. This tells us two things: that people crave “an experience” in terms of both presentation and products (“A well-versed, nuanced audience is looking for a product that will evoke an emotion,” designer Samuel Ross told me at last year’s Milan Design Week). And that fashion brands are often well-equipped to make furniture thanks to their manufacturing expertise.
And at this year’s Venice Biennale’s International Architecture Exhibition (10 May to 23 November), curator Carlo Ratti is going to build on similar themes. Here architects will be invited to collaborate with creatives beyond their profession to explore ways of working that are grounded in practical solutions.
In the year ahead, I expect smaller brands to rise to prominence and more products and experiences designed to elicit emotional responses. Plus, an architecture community that starts to look beyond its own discipline for inspiration. And where will I be? At the afterparty, of course. —
