Salone Del Mobile.Milano 2025

After 6 years of making the trip to Milano every September to cover Milan Fashion Week, I finally made my first foray into the city in spring for the Italian design and furnishing extravaganza called Salone Del Mobile.Milano also known as Milan Design Week - and wow, what a week it was! Salone Del Mobile shined a bright light on the art of Italian design and culture while showcasing its excellence, ingenuity and style.

Now in its 63rd year, Milan Design Week is the global benchmark event for the design sector and serves to promote Italian exports of furnishings and accessories. Each April, upwards of 300,000 visitors from across the globe attend and conduct business at Salone, making it a huge revenue generator for the city. 

There were so many wonderful exhibits in the cultural program – too many to list here – and four special projects on the agenda that proved to be very popular: British artist and designer Es Devlin's cylindrical rotating 'Library of Light' installation, hosted over 95,000 visitors; American artist Robert Wilson's Michelangelo homage titled 'Mother' held at the famed Pieta Rondanini museum, completely sold out; Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino's set design installation on the act of waiting which folks happily waited in line to see; and my personal favorite, the lush and colorful exhibit by French interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon.

Rochon's Villa Héritage, a beautiful interior design concept featuring elegant furnishings, tapestries and objets d'art, that paid tribute to Luchino Visconti's Venice and included music by Gustav Mahler, was described as a refuge in the middle of the Salone. The French interior designer stated that he didn't want the rooms to just be observed but something to "experience, breathe and listen to".

Even the entrance to Villa Héritage was a work of timeless art that displayed beautiful contemporary female-formed sculptures, backlit terracotta arches and flowers which served as much more than just a point of entry to the exquisite exhibition within.

And speaking of popular - beloved Italian design brand Seletti collaborated with American artist Tracy Snelling on a unique table lamp design that replicates the facade of a hotel with windows that play short looping videos depicting real life moments. Erected for Euroluce/Milan Design Week and inspired by the lamps design, 'Hotel Voyeur' was an immersive installation that recreated a hotel facade with illuminated windows, wherein visitors experienced artfully staged hotel rooms, vintage furnishings, lighted screens, mirrors and projections. Guests were also able to create customized personal videos which fostered their own unique artistic expression.

Milan Design Week continues to place a huge emphasis on sustainability, encouraging exhibiting companies to follow and carry out many of the Green Guidelines the organization has implemented as an ISO 20121 certified event.

Just like at design and fashion weeks in all parts of the world, there are always exciting and entertaining industry events that happen in addition to the main event, and my experience at Salone certainly did not disappoint. Every night there were assorted soirees, dinners and cocktail parties held in beautiful, historic venues & palazzo's that made every aperitivo even more intoxicating.

I was honestly surprised to learn that among all the beautiful heritage Italian designs on display throughout the city, one of the highlights was in fact American designer Ralph Lauren's Home installation and party.  Similar to the designer's apparel aesthetic, the furniture and accompanying accessories were chic, upscale, & timeless in varying hues of blues, browns and beiges enhanced by pops of color and florals. The crowded event was filled with international fashionistas including Milan's own Tamu McPherson dressed in Lauren's classic lightweight layers that perfectly blended in with the decor. As I learned from a long-time devotee, the Lauren presentation is always one of the most coveted. The designer also held a festive intimate lunch for friends and clients at his popular eatery, Ralph's Bar.

In addition to hosting fun fetes during Salone, Ralph Lauren debuted his 2025 Canyon Road Collection - a gallery filled with furnishings meticulously crafted in Italy that celebrates the designer's love of the American West.  The display showcased a minimalist aesthetic and the natural beauty of the materials used, including rustic oak and hand-burnished saddle leather, evoking a special lived-in quality, designed in inimitable Ralph Lauren style combined with craftsmanship that's made to last. 

Another exciting event was presented by the folks behind the not yet open but highly anticipated Soho House Milan. The swanky cocktail party and dinner provided a taste of what members and guests can expect to experience once the newest Italian outpost opens its doors later this year. INTERLUDE - as the event was aptly named - was a collaboration with Italian home decor brand Zanetto & Tanqueray Gin. Soothing orange-hued lighting and a gorgeous tablescape, combined with delicious food and gimlets, made for an elegant, luxe sanctuary in the midst of the design week frenzy. 

In addition to the exhibitions, designer showrooms, and parties there were myriad talks, round tables and forums. Milan Design Week provided visitors with exactly what they came for - amazingly beautiful and impeccably designed spaces to delight the senses and also provided inspiration, education, and creative vision for the future.

_{Editor’s Note:
April 28, 2025 This article has been updated to correct the location details of Ralph Lauren’s Home installation during Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025. The original text incorrectly referenced Via della Spiga; this reference has been removed for clarity. Additionally, "The Bar at Ralph Lauren" has been updated to its current name, "Ralph’s Bar." We have also added details about Ralph Lauren’s newly debuted Canyon Road Collection.}