Italian furniture is about blending old with new

Milan may be best-known for its fashion but that’s only one part of its huge offering. A mecca for culture, art and some of Italy’s best food, the city also has another claim to fame that you may not have heard about – furniture.

Yep, that’s right, Milan’s furniture is huge. No, not huge in an Alice in Wonderland sense with couches you need a ladder to climb into. Huge as in popular, chic, ‘in’. In case you didn’t already know, corner sofas are the new ‘It’ handbag.  

Anyone know where the taps section is?

Following the departure of the international fashion crowd after Milan Fashion Week, Milan had only a short time to prepare for April’s big event - Saloni Internazionale del Mobile which will take place from April 12 to April 17 in the new Milan Fairgrounds.

This event is to interior design what Milan Fashion Week is to clothes. Known in English as the International Furniture Fair of Milan, Milan Furniture Week or Milan Design Week, the fair is now in its 50th year and is the largest decoration trade fair in the world. In 2010 the event attracted 297,460 visitors and 2,500 exhibitors and is only set to be bigger this year with key designers from Britain and Japan expected.

Even Disney has put together a collection in honour of the key Milan furniture event, enlisting Studio Ito Design, LagoStudio and AquiliAlberg to create a range inspired by this year’s hit film Tron: Legacy. The collection features a bathroom with a tube mirror, a home theatre based on the one in the film and a bedroom with a free-standing tree.

Designs from the Salone Satellite are often the most exciting

Although it is referred to as Saloni Internazionale del Mobile the event is more of a “joined-up project” since it will also host the International Lighting Exhibition, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, the International Workspace Exhibition and the following week, the International Bathroom Exhibition. Exhibitions in the fair will vary hugely from the traditional to the ultra-modern.

Italian furniture has always been a cornerstone of the international interior design industry. Italian marble, Italian tiles, Italian leather – Italy has become a byword for quality but the key to the industry’s continued success in the field has been down to its willingness to embrace change, mixing a little bit of old with a lot of new. A great example of this is a secondary exhibit of the Milan Design Week that often overshadows the main event. The Salone Satellite displays the work of 700 up-and-coming international designers.

For anyone knocking about Milan on Sunday April 17th (note: this is the only day the exhibition is open to the public) with an interest in design it’s well worth dropping by for a few hours. Be warned though, amongst all these feather-soft couches and to-die-for beds, it’s pretty easy to lose an entire day.