From Louis Vuitton to Missoni, Diesel, Elie Saab, Jil Sander, Gucci, Fendi, Hermès, Ralph Lauren and Loewe, the spotlight of the 63rd edition of Salone del Mobile Milano is on design but there is participation from luxury fashion brands, to launch new products, collaborations and activations.
Milan Design Week. Image: Louis Vuitton
Running from 8–13 April 2025 at Fiera Milano Rho, Salone del Mobile Milano has over 2,100 exhibitors from over 150 countries. Besides the Salone del Mobile Milano fashion stalwarts — Hermès, Ralph Lauren, and Loewe — there are buzz-worthy newcomers like Sabato De Sarno who unveiled his first furniture collection for Gucci and Thom Browne who diversified into homeware with his first linen collection with Frette. Let’s take a look at the significant fashion presence at Milan Design Week 2025.
Luxury fashion brands at Milan Design Week 2025
For Milan Design Week 2025, Hermès is installing its new staging at La Pelota, designed by Charlotte Macaux Perelman, architect and artistic director of Hermès collections for the home, in collaboration with Alexis Fabry. The new creations can be seen in suspended boxes, projecting halos of bright colours onto the floor. Whether graphic or geometric, the patterns on the new throws and blankets for the home are sleek, in light or dense cashmere, sometimes sprinkled with gold.
Jil Sander celebrates its commitment to form and craftsmanship with an installation in its Milan flagship. A maximalist window display features two oversized replicas of the Olfactory Series 1 fragrance bottles, with their glossy finish and unique bell shape, conceived with renowned design studio Formafantasma. The store features a pop-up sensory experience, where a fluted plexiglass box with arched portals welcomes the customer to a reign of design and scent. A glossy block stand displays the six fragrances — Leaf, Miel, Black Tea, Earth, Coffea and Smoke — created by mâitres perfumers such as Julie Massé and Paul Guerlain.
Luxury footwear brand Jimmy Choo collaborated with Harry Nuriev, founder and creative director of architecture and design firm Crosby Studio, to reinvent its Milan flagship. A striking glass structure serves as a display for archival shoe designs and some 3D printed replicas. “The concept plays with the idea of timelessness … a study that underscores the art form of our creations over the years to be spotlighted,” Sandra Choi, creative director of Jimmy Choo, told WWD.
A striking glass structure at Jimmy Choo serves as a display for archival shoe designs and some 3D printed replicas.
After three years of restoration, Louis Vuitton reopens its Milan flagship during Design Week, where culture, heritage, and modernity converge. Set within the Palazzo Taverna, the flagship has immersive spaces, contemporary art, an entire floor dedicated to the Louis Vuitton Home Collections, and, for the first time in Italy, two exclusive dining destinations: Da Vittorio Café Louis Vuitton and DaV by Da Vittorio Louis Vuitton Restaurant, in collaboration with the Da Vittorio restaurant group.
Fendi Casa showcases the highest craftsmanship in interior design: elegant and light, classic yet innovative. The new joint venture between the Roman maison and Flos B&B Italia Group represents a turning point in the evolution of Fendi Casa. The new collection amplifies the distinctive codes of the Maison: the arches of Fendi HQ Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, the FF and Karligraphy logos, Pequin stripes and meticulous tailoring. Silvia Venturini Fendi has sought out some of the most visionary talents to reinterpret the essence of the maison, transforming it into highly innovative furnishings. Every creation contains traces of a heritage that has always fused fashion, architecture, craftsmanship and design.
“Gucci | Bamboo Encounters” highlights the enduring cultural and creative significance of bamboo through bold reinterpretations by global artists and designers. Designed by 2050+ and its founder Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, the exhibit is set in Milan’s Cloisters of San Simpliciano in the Brera district. The exhibition presents contributions by contemporary designers and artists who were invited to reimagine bamboo in unexpected ways, experimenting with new techniques.
Diesel Living returns to Milan Design Week with immersive, conceptual experiences at multiple locations. In partnership with Lodes and Moroso, the Diesel Milan San Babila pop up space is transformed through surface treatments. Mirrors and Devoré Denim is the new expression of Diesel Living’s nonconformist vision for the home. Consumers can see a comprehensive application of silver and denim design motifs, its walls, floor and ceiling covered in indigo denim scraps. The textural treatment provides a unique backdrop to the new designs anchoring the room: the Diesel Living with Moroso D-Scape Sofa System and the Diesel Living with Lodes D-Burned lamp, designed under the creative direction of Glenn Martens in collaboration with Controvento.
Diesel Living returns to Milan Design Week
The home decor at Florentine leather-goods brand Il Bisonte is hinged on the use of its vegetable-tanned leather. The lineup includes a cubic pouf, Casentino wool blanket with leather trims and cushions, as well as a wabi sabi-inspired reversible placemat made of raffia and striped cotton canvas. Teasing an upcoming home-leaning collaboration, the brand is celebrating the launch with an in-store cocktail cohosted by Fernando Aciar, the New York-based designer and chef behind the Fefostudio multidisciplinary firm.
In addition to presenting a collection of ten furniture pieces named ‘Sculpted Dreams’, Elie Saab unveiled a 4,843-square-foot showroom dedicated to the home category, on Via Pietro Mascagni. Other products on display include those in collaboration with Milan-based Sahrai for rugs, Italian company SCIC Italia for kitchen and wardrobe solutions, and Zambaiti for wallpaper. The entire space is scented with “Golden,” the brand’s first home fragrance made in collaboration with Culti Milano.
For Milan Design Week, Missoni’s signature colours and patterns take over the city, shaping installations and immersive experiences. The week will witness the opening of the first boutique dedicated to the Missoni Home collection, in Via Solferino 9. The boutique showcases the Home 2025 collection, featuring furniture, accessories, and textiles that celebrate Missoni’s craftsmanship and colours. Outside, a lounge welcomes guests, for a moment of rest and immersion in the Missoni world.
Milan Design Week. Image: Missoni.
Italian footwear company Scarosso has teamed with Toilet Paper, the cult art magazine and creative studio founded by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari. The unisex line reinterprets the penny loafer with a playful touch. These include golden trumpets and multicoloured snakes as motifs on black leather loafers, as well as a red-lipped mouth and an eye wrapped in rose petals adorning bi-colored versions. A contrasting lining, an electric blue shoe box and pink dust-bag printed with Toilet Paper’s imagery of fingers and lipsticks add to the bold capsule collection, which retails between $505 and $555.
North Sails is partnering with artist Marco Oggian for a capsule collection named “Born to sail, forced to dock.” The collection comprises menswear, including the brand’s signature sailor jacket, a T-shirt and a baseball cap. To mark the collaboration, a large-scale installation recalling a paper boat will be staged in Milan’s City Life neighbourhood. Stretching eight meters in height and 10 meters in length, it will be entirely made of recycled nylon, the material from which the spinnaker, large and triangular sails are made.
Parisian couturier Marc-Antoine Barrois will debut his new fragrance Aldebaran with a large-scale installation conceived in collaboration with French multidisciplinary artist, designer and architect Antoine Bouillot. Named “Mission Aldebaran,” the immersive installation at Milan’s Salone dei Tessuti features Aldebaran-infused paper-crafted tuberose flowers — in a nod to the fragrance’s main note — as well as Barrois and Bouillot’s first furniture collaboration. The limited-edition collection will feature wooden stools and benches crowned with sculptural stones inspired by pebbles.
10 lesser-known facts about Milan Design Week
Hidden Events in Showrooms: Many of the most exhibitions aren’t held in conventional venues, but in private showrooms and hidden spaces around Milan. Some of these locations are tucked away in courtyards or behind unmarked doors, requiring attendees to explore beyond the main event halls.
Beyond Furniture: While it’s primarily known for furniture design, Milan Design Week also highlights cutting-edge advancements in lighting, textiles, technology, and even automotive design, making it a diverse celebration of all things design-related.
Fuorisalone: Alongside Salone del Mobile, Fuorisalone is a citywide event that takes place in parallel. It features independent design events, installations, and exhibitions across the city in districts like Brera, Lambrate, and Tortona, offering a more experimental and avant-garde design experience.
Design is Everywhere: During Milan Design Week, even the streets are transformed. Buildings, shop windows, and public spaces are transformed into design showcases. Temporary design installations pop up on street corners, bridges, and piazzas, making it an immersive city-wide experience.
A Platform for Young Designers: Milan Design Week is a key launchpad for emerging designers. Many of the world’s most famous design brands discover and nurture new talent here, often through curated exhibitions or collaborations with design schools.
Sustainability is Key: Sustainability and eco-conscious design have increasingly become central themes in Milan Design Week. Many exhibitions and installations focus on circular design, upcycling materials, and innovative eco-friendly solutions in response to the growing environmental concerns in design.
Interactive Experiences: Some exhibitions at Milan Design Week aren’t just about looking at objects, but about engaging with them. Interactive installations allow visitors to shape or alter the design in real-time, providing an immersive and participatory experience.
Celebrity Designers and Architects: Milan Design Week regularly attracts global superstars from the design world, including famous architects, interior designers, and fashion icons. These influential figures often present exclusive collections or installations that redefine contemporary design trends.
Design Talks and Workshops: Beyond the exhibitions, Milan Design Week also offers a rich schedule of talks, conferences, and workshops where design experts, business leaders, and innovators discuss trends, challenges, and the future of design.
Global Influence: Though it’s held in Italy, Milan Design Week is a truly global event, with designers, brands, and visitors from all over the world. This international participation shapes global design trends, influencing everything from architecture to product development and interior design.
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
