Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

You might have noticed that we talk about Salone del Mobile, Milan’s Design Week furniture fair, quite a lot. We make a dedicated Salone newspaper, we deliver coverage every day on Monocle Radio and we discuss its merits and its big reveals in our newsletters. And look, here I am about to hit the theme again. It’s because Salone is an amazing week when designers, architects and industrial titans come to the city to do business – and not just from the furniture or interiors world but also from the automotive trade, fashion, beauty, coffee and publishing sectors. Anyone who sees design as integral to their trade books a ticket to Milan – and rightly so. I spent a nice chunk of the past week with our team – Nic and Grace on design; Natalie on her fashion beat; Linard and Rebecca from our commercial team; Dave on radio – and here are some takeaways (I’ll leave the serious design dissecting to my editors).

1.
This is a trade event with some powerful brands at its heart but it’s also a festival. While there are some velvet-rope moments, many companies use Salone as an opportunity to court the public too. And the blocks-long queues of young Milanese leaves you confident about Italy Inc’s design future.

2.
During Salone the packed streets and closed roads transform the city into a vast venue for walking. Sometimes the subway calls, occasionally a taxi – but two feet are the best mobility fix. I did manoeuvre between some venues on an e-bike but the challenge of crossing tram tracks was a bit daunting, plus the numerous cobbled streets left you feeling a little jangled in the derrière. The event, therefore, brings out your inner flâneur.

3.
Milan was once regarded as a city that you visited just for business, perhaps a one-night stop on a salesman or woman’s Italian-client tour. The Expo 2015 changed that – the city stepped up its game and visitors left enchanted. Now hoteliers are expecting to get another jolt from the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, with events such as ice hockey and skating to be held in the city. Milan embraces and adjusts to these moments (locals are unlikely to go all Parisian and flee the city before the Games).

4.
In 2009 we published the Monocle Mexico Survey and we needed a knowledgeable fact-checker. Via a contact at the country’s embassy in London we got in touch with a young man studying in the city and, as with many of the people who pass through Monocle, ties have somehow remained intact. So on Thursday I had coffee in the grounds of Villa Necchi Campiglio with Bernardo and got an update on the design and branding agency in Mexico City where he’s now the executive director. I heard about the hotel that he’s developing, the studio’s bookshop and the chocolate brand. The people we meet along the way.

5
Italian men. Specifically, Milanese men during Salone. So many painstakingly put-together nonchalant looks. The tousled hair, the blazer, the good loafer. As they approach the entrance to a party, there’s a final check that all’s in place via their reflection in a shop’s window or a parked car’s wing mirror. We went to the Ralph Lauren cocktail party and it was like a fashion shoot come to life.

6.
The location scouts in this city are geniuses. Hidden palazzos are revealed and normally off-limits courtyards transformed into party venues. Need to use the never-completed changing rooms of a disused fascist-era swimming pool? Not a problem (cue 6:AM Glassworks’ exhibition in the basement of Piscina Cozzi).

7.
It just takes some vision. Paula Gerbase is the new creative director at Danish silverware company Georg Jensen and she wants to get the company’s wares out of the display case and into daily use. For Salone, the brand opened a gelateria where paper cups and plastic spoons were replaced with silver ones. A delight.

8.
Cassina, Lora Piana with Dimorestudio, Aesop – not only did brands find incredible spaces for their products, they also showed theatrical ambition with actors, specially commissioned dance choreography and tricks of sound and light. Storytelling just gets bigger (and in these cases better).

9.
I don’t think all of these companies will be moving their factories to the US. Or the lighting companies ditching their Chinese suppliers. Let’s see how people navigate the next year. But brands seemed sanguine.

10.
We partnered with the Design Singapore Council for an event that included a party, nice wine, a stunning church and the end-of-day golden-hour light with Monocle Patrons, readers and Salone friends. But, really, Milan has been the star all week. A city that mixes industry and pleasure with aplomb.

This week in its flagship store on Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia, Spanish label Massimo Dutti unveiled its limited-edition spring/summer collection with a confident and considered runway show (writes Mitch Parker). Framed by the carved wood interiors of the Casa Ramón Casas, a Catalan modernist gem that nods to the brand’s roots, the show struck a deft balance between timelessness and modernity.

Its newest collection continues to court an audience of discerning dressers. The womenswear featured linen, suede and satin pieces rendered in fluid silhouettes, tailored for long Mediterranean afternoons. Meanwhile, its menswear stood out as relaxed tailoring was paired with fisherman sandals, ready for both the boulevards of Paris and the terraces of Palma.

The colour palette was mostly monochrome and fabrics leaned on leathers to elevate the high-street proposition. Though part of retail titan Inditex, Massimo Dutti is steadily carving its own lane, particularly with this upper-tier line.
massimodutti.com

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels’ global architecture firm seeks to reshape our spaces in sustainable and innovative ways. At this year’s Fuorisalone, a set of events running parallel to Salone del Mobile, Bjarke Ingels Group presents “A Beat of Water” for Roca Connect, a Spanish firm specialising in bathroom design. The installation invites visitors to rethink the ways in which we design our spaces. Here, Ingels tells us about his disruptive approach to architecture.

Tell us about your installation ‘A Beat of Water’.
I would call it a tubular cave of water pipes. It sits in the beautiful courtyard of the Università degli Studi di Milano. The pipes create the feeling of sitting underneath an overhang while it’s raining in the summer. Though Roca has beautiful porcelain products, what really determines environmental performance is the plumbing. We’re interested in moving the focus away from the surface of products to what happens behind the façade.

Why is it important to expose the workings of a building to the public?
We need to move beyond this dichotomy between the front and back of a house. We design beautifully what’s exposed to the public, forgetting that there’s a whole other component of the building. This mindset that if you make the chimney tall enough, the smoke will go away, is a root cause of global warming. We need to render our buildings more honestly – for example, exposing our energy and water-consumption systems.

How do you encourage people to rethink their perception of what is beautiful?
CopenHill in Copenhagen is a great example. It’s both a power plant and a recreational centre, two things that we rarely see combined. Power plants aren’t typically considered beautiful but CopenHill’s unusual structure is captivating; people are drawn to it not just for its function but for its form. Similarly, “A Beat of Water” challenges the way that we perceive elements such as water pipes. These projects aren’t necessarily designed to be “beautiful” in a traditional sense but they reflect a long list of thoughtful, careful concerns – accumulating into something with a presence and expression of its own.

Design crowds are less prone to following the latest fashion trend (writes Natalie Theodosi). Mirroring their approach to interiors, design enthusiasts tend to favour artisanal quality and classic silhouettes, hence why there were a lot of sharp suits, silk Hermès scarves and intricate leather items (most often by Loewe) at this week’s Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Still, after a week of people-watching and gallery hopping around Brera, a dominant look emerged: the suede jacket, typically worn in different shades of brown with tailored trousers or denim. Some opted for vintage styles with broader shoulders and embroidered patterns, while others sported box-fresh styles in more minimalist cuts by the likes of Miu Miu, Swedish favourite Toteme or The Row.

The spring weather in Milan, requiring nothing but a light layer, offers a practical explanation for the rise in popularity of all things suede. But there’s also the trickle-down effect from Miuccia Prada’s influential runways – for spring, she returned to prep with roomy suede jackets, pencil skirts and Polo shirts. Shoppers have also become increasingly fascinated with items that have a vintage, lived-in feel: suede softens over time and develops a unique patina, reflecting the life the item lived and the memories it holds. The trend is an antidote, perhaps, to the fashion industry’s obsession with novelty. The only downside? Having to be extra careful not to spill your negroni sbagliato amid the lively crowds at Bar Basso.

When was the last time you visited a library that bustled with all and sundry, not just the bookish? (asks Rory Jones) On a recent trip to The Hague I stopped by the city’s Vredespaleis (Peace Palace) – home to the International Court of Justice – on a morning walk. Having committed no crime, I strolled on freely through the city until I happened upon the central library: Bibliotheek Den Haag. On the steps of the white-panelled building, locals lapped up the sun in the North Sea equivalent of a Roman piazza. By the entrance, a newsstand offered a generous selection of the day’s international press; inside, the foyer was clean and bright with a well-staffed cafe and a gentle bustle of visitors. Though each floor was busy, there was no shortage of spots at which to stop, perch and find a moment’s respite. Noticeably, silence wasn’t enforced with an iron fist; there was an unspoken agreement about the appropriate volume – and the fact that it was unspoken no doubt helped.

The “third space” – a location where we can spend our time that isn’t our home or workplace – has long been a popular socio-political metric for urban liveability. And yet libraries too often lean into their austere heritage as old, stringently studious places. Inevitably, councils then slash library funding when too few people show up. But done well, libraries can be exactly that third space and they needn’t overhaul the classic books-and-shush system: get the basics right by being welcoming and well-kept; somewhere to pause and reflect. That way, every city can have its own Peace Palace.

London-based cosmetics brand To My Ships is launching its second collection, Stand Up Bravely, in one of the city’s historic luxury department stores, Liberty. Starting from 15 April, the Tudor-revival building’s central atrium will host an installation showcasing marjoram-infused body wash and deodorants, as well as a crisp, fresh and earthy eau de parfum.

Products will sit among columns and busts as if unearthed on an ancient Greek architectural site. “The design speaks to the resonance between the shop and our brand, inviting visitors to look at the columns and the historic building that envelops them,” says To My Ships founder Daniel Bense. Over the past 150 years, Liberty has always favoured brands that push the boat out. Make sure to stop by.
tomyships.com

If you’re in Milan this weekend and want a break from perusing handsome furniture, lamps and more, here are three art exhibitions to visit.

‘Body of Evidence’, Shirin Neshat, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea
Iranian artist Neshat is known for beautiful, political work that often focuses on the oppression of women in Iran. This show brings together photographs and video installations, including those from her photography series Women of Allah. It’s a chance to see the best-known works by a legendary artist.
‘Body of Evidence’ runs until 8 June

‘Mother’, Robert Wilson, Castello Sforzesco
Wilson reinterprets Michaelangelo’s “Rondanini Pietà” through an immersive installation that features light, images and music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. These elements make for a contemplative, reverential break from a busy fair. Try to reserve tickets for one of a limited number of live musical performances.
‘Mother’ runs until 18 May

‘Typologien: Photography in 20th-Century Germany’, Fondazione Prada
The work of Wolfgang Tillmans, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Andreas Gursky has been brought together with that of lesser-known artists to make up this comprehensive sweep of German photography. More than 600 works are on show and have been organised by curator Susanne Pfeffer by typology rather than chronology.
‘Typologien: Photography in 20th-Century Germany’ runs until 14 July

For more insights from the worlds of culture, fashion and design, pick up a copy of our dedicated Salone del Mobile newspaper or the April issue of Monocle. Have a super Saturday.