The Monocle Minute
On Design

Making the most of Milan Design Week required curiosity, caffeine and comfortable walking shoes that don’t shirk on style. We begin our recap high in the Torre Velasca with Italian textile firm Dedar’s collection inspired by Anni Albers’s drawings, then we celebrate Layer’s 10th anniversary and pop into Convey’s much-anticipated showcase. Along the way we find a moment of serenity with Finnish brand Marimekko and discuss a collaboration that brings 17th-century textiles from Japan to contemporary Italian furnishings and bronzes. Leading the way is Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse.

Milan Design Week concluded on Sunday and once again proved that it’s the industry’s definitive global forum. For seven days, the city buzzed with an international crowd of creatives. At our own events with Design Singapore Council (pictured), Italian designers exchanged ideas with Singaporean researchers and polymaths from the US networked with Finnish furniture magnates – just glimpses of Milan Design Week’s unparalleled ability to foster conversation and connection. Here are some of my personal highlights.

Sunday
“Everything is design” was a refrain that was repeated again and again throughout the week. It’s an approach embodied by Elisa Ossino, the designer behind Swiss appliance specialist V-Zug’s installation for Milan Design Week. I sipped a cocktail at a V-Zug event for which the Milan-based architect had not only created a bespoke table and light but also worked on the menu. The shindig was topped off by Dada-inspired dancers weaving their way through the space.

Monday
“Our textiles are the words and the designers are the poets,” said Raffaele Fabrizio, co-CEO of Italian textile firm Dedar. “Our fabrics are to be used.” Fabrizio met me at the brand’s exhibition (see ‘From The Archive’ below) and pointed out that while designers are often the industry’s stars, they can’t create outstanding work without the input of the less glamorous material producers.

Tuesday
Lunch with US brand Knoll at Sandì Ristorante kicked off with a speech from the SVP of design, Jonathan Olivares. “We have always collaborated with architects as designers,” said Olivares. “When they’re working on the table they’re thinking about the room, not just the product.” The approach recognises that furniture design doesn’t exist in isolation. More designers need to consider the context in which their work will be placed.

Wednesday
Monocle Radio had a pop-up studio inside Design Singapore Council’s Future Impact 3: Design Nation exhibition. Appropriately, on-air discussion turned to the question of what lies ahead for design. “We are surrounded by technology so we need more real things in our home,” said art director and product designer Federica Biasi. “My work aims to put people in touch with the environment through natural materials and handicraft.”

Thursday
Nursing a slight hangover after our party with Design Singapore Council, I fished Yves Béhar’s business card out of my pocket. I had asked the prolific designer what advice he would give to new talent. “In order for something great to come out, you actually have to put in the time, energy, sweat and tears,” he said. “We have all of these tools of convenience today but how are you going to learn to be a great designer if you take short cuts?”

Friday
I spent the day bouncing around the city with our associate editor, Grace Charlton. Our mission? To spot new talent at group showcases by emerging designers. We stopped at Capsule Plaza, Deoron, Artemest and Convey (see ‘The Exhibition’ below). A passer-by remarked on the significance of these spaces. “Convey is where the serious brands go to play,” he said to a friend. “That’s why these showcases matter – it’s where the real creativity is.”

Saturday
Every morning starts with caffeine. A favourite coffee hit from the week was found at Objects Are By. The Milan-based brand presented a series of coffee cups made from specially developed bone-free china. What makes the project special is the presentation of bespoke cup designs by Grant Levy-Lucero alongside more commercial options, highlighting the potential for brands to translate emotive pieces into accessible design.

Monisse is Monocle’s design editor. For more from Milan Design Week, pick up a copy of our dedicated ‘Salone del Mobile Special’ newspaper.

Nostalgia can be pleasurable but wallowing in it for too long can bring down your mood. Italian textile specialist Dedar’s latest collaboration avoids the emotion’s negative aspects by delicately interweaving past and present. For Milan Design Week, the brand welcomed visitors into the newly renovated Torre Velasca – a boxy building from 1958 that resembles a medieval watchtower – to show off a new collection inspired by German 20th-century artist Anni Albers.

Working with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, Dedar launched five textile interpretations of drawings that had existed only on paper. “It’s about bringing out a beautiful design legacy and making it available in the present,” says Raffaele Fabrizio, co-CEO of Dedar. “It gives people the opportunity to know the work.” The project translates Albers’ abstract, geometric patterns onto materials for upholstery, curtains, panels and interior-textile elements. The result is a collection that makes thrilling connections between art and function.
dedar.com; albersfoundation.org

There are few better ways to toast your brand’s 10th anniversary than at Milan Design Week. London-based design studio Layer, spearheaded by Benjamin Hubert, celebrated a decade of groundbreaking work with its 101010 exhibition at boutique-cum-gallery and bookshop 10 Corso Como. “The space reflected our multidisciplinary spirit and aligns with the diversity of our portfolio,” says Hubert.

Alongside more familiar designs, the exhibition unveiled an ambitious collection of prototypes developed in collaboration with powerhouses such as UK fashion designer Christopher Raeburn, Spanish furniture firm Andreu World, Swedish glassware specialists Orrefors and Danish textile experts Kvadrat. The variety on display points to the future of design studios, in which a diversity of perspectives will be essential. “The next 10 years for Layer will be about continuing to expand our holistic approach of bringing together product, digital and brand to create meaningful and long-lasting experiences,” adds Hubert. “Just as importantly, it’s about deepening our commitment to the world around us. Design is a powerful tool for change and we’ll keep using it to make the world a happier, healthier place.”
layerdesign.com

Among the most beautiful and unusual collaborations at this year’s Milan Design Week was between Hosoo, a Japanese family-owned textile company dating back to 1688, and Milan design gurus Dimorestudio. Together they took historic patterns and turned them into new fabrics as part of the Hemispheres showcase at the studio of bronze artisan Osanna Visconti. Alongside Hosoo’s upholstery on new and vintage furniture pieces, Visconti provided nature-inspired pieces from her Magnolia Collection. We sat down with Hosoo’s president and CEO, Masataka Hosoo, and Osanna Visconti in Milan.

How did this fascinating collaboration happen?
Masataka Hosoo: We have a heritage archive of 20,000 kimonos. Last year, Dimorestudio came to Kyoto to dive into our patterns and picked out 33 collections. Our subsequent installation at Osanna’s beautiful atelier combines East and West. Our textiles were previously used solely for making kimonos. But in 2010 we developed an original loom machine to reach the overseas market and our focus shifted to upholstery for furniture, curtains and wall coverings. This is our new challenge.

Osanna, how did you come to be involved in this project? Can you talk us through the juxtaposition of these fabrics and your bronze work?
Osanna Visconti: Emiliano [Salci] from Dimorestudio said that he was starting a collaboration with Hosoo and asked whether I wanted to be part of it. When I saw the fabrics I accepted. I was amazed by Hosoo’s craftsmanship and history. I was honoured to work with the company and inspired by its patterns. I tried to create pieces that engaged in a dialogue with the fabrics and the designs of Emiliano and Britt [Moran] of Dimorestudio.

Tell us about the fabrics and the process behind them.
MH: It starts with hand drawing and that’s very important. Dimorestudio added colour and then we made the textiles. The patterns are perhaps more than 100 years old but the colour is European and sophisticated – a Dimorestudio tone.
OV: Normally, I begin with a sketch and then go to the foundry to model the wax. Sometimes the resulting piece is completely different from the sketch that I started with. The creative process encompasses the whole production of the piece. When it’s fused I might add some branches and buds or remove some leaves.

What do you hope will come from this?
MH: This collaboration allows us to connect with our heritage while looking to the future. It brings us to the next level.

For more from the industry’s leading creatives, tune in to ‘Monocle on Design’

The annual group showcase to see at Milan Design Week is Convey. This year its third edition brought together both established brands and emerging designers. This mix encouraged playful exploration and placed newer companies such as Heilig Objects beside the likes of Acerbis, a brand dating to 1870. “Convey was created to foster connections between design brands in a contemporary and intentional way,” says Riccardo Crenna of Simple Flair, the Milan-based studio behind the showcase. “It’s a platform for exchange.” With that in mind, here’s our pick of the bunch.

1. Parachilna (pictured above left)
Barcelona-based Parachilna’s Oïphorique collection, by Swiss studio Atelier Oï, features steel-structured lights framed by textiles that move when switched on.

2. Dante Goods And Bads (pictured above right)
This German brand is challenging convention by rethinking furniture forms. A case in point is its Serpentine couch, which has back and leg supports that mimic the shapes of a classic seat, a pouf and a chaise longue.

3. Omniaworks (pictured above left)
Parisian multidisciplinary designer Payam Askari worked with Vicenza-based Omniaworks to create a collection of objects that transforms discarded marble waste into usable furniture.

4. Spotti Edizioni Milano (pictured above right)
This Milan-based design brand was born as a spin-off from renowned showroom Spotti. Its Arche Dining Chair by Studio Paolo Ferrari is made from solid wood, finished by hand and available in a range of stained, matte and high-gloss lacquer finishes.
conveyproject.com

Japanese firm Karimoku has several distinct lines of furniture. Its Karimoku Case collection was presented at Salone del Mobile and included chairs, tables and sofas designed by architects in response to architectural projects. Appropriately, its dark-toned booth at the trade hall was designed by Copenhagen-based Norm Architects and Tokyo architect Keiji Ashizawa.

At Karimoku’s event stall, the architects presented two new side tables developed for the Nagoya Sakae Café, a Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Japan’s Aichi prefecture. Also on show was the brand’s newest release: a dining chair designed by Ashizawa for Logy restaurant in Taipei City. This showcase of fine furniture also served as a case study in enhancing an architectural experience.
karimoku-case.com

This year’s Milan Design Week was a feast for the senses, with presentations and exhibition openings taking place in almost every corner of the city. Amid the bustle, Finnish label Marimekko made an impression by offering a moment of serenity. To showcase a collection of bedsheets and sleepwear, created in collaboration with artist Laila Gohar, the label transformed the halls of the historic Teatro Litta into an inviting bedroom, encouraging visitors to get into bed, test the product and switch off. Cosy beds were neatly lined up next to each other, all covered in the new line of striped bedsheets. People were given the opportunity to tailor their experience to suit their tastes: they could read one of the books on offer, pick up a copy of Monocle’s design special or dedicated Salone del Mobile newspaper – or even sit in silence.

“We wanted to offer a refuge,” says Gohar. By being creative with the presentation’s format, Gohar and Rebekka Bay, Marimekko’s creative director, allowed their guests to experience their new designs at first hand, feel the quality of the cotton sheets and get a taste of the label’s playful, optimistic world. One evening, Gohar, known for her surrealist gastronomy, created a larger-than-life cake resembling the beds on display – a reminder to keep things light-hearted and spend more time in bed.

To hear Gohar and Bay discussing the collaboration, tune in to Monocle on Fashion.