Meet the team behind Milan’s Salone de Mobile
The furniture industry’s prestige annual event relies on the hard work and expertise of a dedicated team.
“As a child, I remember the anticipation leading up to the opening day of Salone del Mobile,” says Maria Porro. “I saw the passion of the people in my family company and I understood its great power.” As a fourth-generation director of her family’s namesake firm – one of the brands that founded Salone del Mobile Milano in 1961 – Porro maintains a deep respect for the annual furniture fair. Held every April and widely considered the design industry’s most significant global gathering, it is the anchor event of what is unofficially dubbed Milan Design Week.
Porro’s appreciation of Salone del Mobile is evidenced by the fact that she is now its president, a position she has held since 2021. “I wouldn’t say that it was a childhood dream to take the role, more a crazy decision,” says the Brianza-based Porro with a laugh when monocle meets her and her team outside the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. “I didn’t put myself forward but was elected from the board committee. I said ‘yes’ because Salone has been so important to so many companies.”
That importance lies in the business opportunities that the event creates. In recent years some 370,000 visitors from more than 100 nations have come through the doors of Lombardy’s Rho Fiera trade halls where Salone is held. Some 2,000 brands from over 35 countries show their sofas, chairs, tables, lighting, homeware and household appliances in an area the size of 30 football pitches. Despite the event’s scale, the work is done with a compact team. “It’s a wide-ranging group including a board of directors, operations managers and a technical team responsible for the fair’s layout,” says Porro, adding that every exhibitor’s stand is assessed for technical, functional, sustainable and accessible requirements.
“It’s a busy year-round operation,” she says. “We’re already working on next year’s edition and even planning for 2027. But it has created an ecosystem that fuels jobs, design innovation and international business opportunities – and strengthens Milan’s role as a global design hub.”
salonemilano.it
Maria Porro
President, Salone del Mobile Milano
The first woman and youngest-ever Salone president, Maria Porro represents a sector in which her family has worked for generations. Her team also plays a key role in giving back to the event’s home city, Milan. “Our cultural programme is a long-lasting project,” says Porro. “We host events and special exhibitions, often in collaboration with local institutions.” This year, in line with its cultural ambitions, the Salone del Mobile team commissioned various works including a lighting installation by Robert Wilson at the Pietà Rondanini museum inside Castello Sforzesco (pictured).
1. Barbara Conte
Sales manager
Two decades of working with historic and emerging companies.
2. Patrizia Malfatti
International press office manager
In contact with over 6,000 journalists all year round.
3. Gabriele Fraschini
Chief financial officer
He’s not just about numbers: he plays various instruments.
4. Carolina Sciomer
Relationships & institutional events
Ensures the correct execution of institutional ceremonies.
5. Giulia Halabi
PR events & communications adviser
An attentive and precise prompter.
6. Riccardo Giannì
Head of digital product
Manages services for companies and visitors.
7. Susanna Legrenzi
Press & communications strategy adviser
Co-creator of the first scientific analysis of Salone’s impact
8. Marva Griffin
International relations ambassador & founder/curator of Salone Satellite
The mother of more than 14,000 young designers.
9. Tito Armellini
Commercial manager
Works with furniture companies to make Salone great.
10. Elisabetta Gaiaschi
Technical office manager
Spends time between signs and displays, rules and imagination.
11. Paola Magro
International sales manager
Always seeking new ideas across the world.
12. Gianfranco Marinelli
President of FLA Eventi
Looks to the past to improve the future.
13. Monica Molinari
Head of international business development & events
Develops opportunities, connections and events.
14. Andrea Vaiani
Exhibitions director
Ensures that the fair is meticulously planned.
15. Annalisa Rosso
Editorial director & cultural events adviser
Drives Salone’s talks, texts and events.
16. Marilena Sobacchi
Press office manager
Shapes the way we read about Salone
17. Luca Adornato
Marketing & communications director
Balancing the ‘dos’ and the ‘don’ts’ of communication.
18. Marco Sabetta
General manager
‘We’ll make it’ is his motto.
