Milan Design Week 2026 — Your Guide to the Event Setting the Mood for Design the Year Ahead
We've rounded up the best things to do and see during Salone del Mobile and beyond, so you have no excuse to miss out on the season's most anticipated happenings
Every year, as the weather begins to warm, an opinionated crowd of serial design obsessives descends onto Milan, their shiny suitcases in hand, for a seven-day of showcases orbiting around the stellar platform that is leading furniture fair Salone del Mobile. Since its debut in the 1980s, the Milanese institution has practically become synonymous with its host city, making the two inseparable.
Over the decades, Salone del Mobile earned the northern Italian destination the moniker of world’s foremost design capital, and expanded into an even longer, intergenerational calendar of captivating collection launches, artist collaborations, showroom takeovers, public activations, and creative roundtables commonly known as Milan Design Week — or Fuorisalone (from the Italian expression “out of Salone”).
2026 is, of course, no exception, and so this April, too, a new edition of what became a city-wide experience unfolding across multiple coinciding festivals, Milan Design Week 2026, is just around the corner. Returning April 20-26 across hundreds of locations across town, and accompanying Salone del Mobile, one of the most anticipated appointments on the cultural agenda, the upcoming iteration promises to be even richer than usual.
Here's all you simply can't miss during the ultimate design week, whether going for the furniture, the art, and the installations, or the drinks at golden hour.
Milan Design Week 2026 — This Year's Highlights, Picked by Livingetc
1. L'Appartamento by Artemest
The Lounge Room by Artemest at last year's edition of L'Appartamento.
Where & When: Palazzo Donizetti, Via Gaetano Donizetti 48. April 21-26, 10AM-6PM (21-22); 10AM-7PM (23-26)
Transforming the elegant Palazzo Donizetti into a homage to fine Italian design, the fourth edition of L'Appartamento by Artemest sees five studios shape rooms into installations capturing the spirit of an Italian cultural capital, under the theme of 'Italian grandeur'. Among them are March and White Design, creating a homage to Rome; Sasha Adler Design's room evoking Venice; and Charlap Hyman & Herrero, representing Palermo. Each interior is filled exclusively with handcrafted pieces by Artemest's artisans.
2. Osteria Fiori di Marimekko
The lively exterior of Osteria Fiori di Marimekko.
Image credit: Marimekko
This spring, the Finnish brand takes its vibrant forms and design philosophy to Milan...
Image credit: Marimekko
...in an uplifting exploration of taste that has no equal.
Image credit: Marimekko
Where & When: Via Ascanio Sforza 75. April 20-22, 11AM-9PM
Just when you thought Marimekko couldn't get more delicious, it's blending its iconic stylized florals with the edible for Osteria Fiori di Marimekko. Celebrating the flower in all of its forms, joyful textile installations of the brand's newest design, Kukasta kukkaan by Erja Hirvi, are infused with fragrant wisteria and jasmine from the garden, while Finnish-inspired flower-infused drinks and aperitivo bites by Helsinki-based restaurant Maukku embody the silhouettes and shades of Marimekko floral patterns. Buy a limited-edition piece, from a small plate to an espresso cup, featuring details from the print.
3. Isola Design Festival's "TEN: The Evolving Now"
Former wool yarn factory Fabbrica Sassetti, the main location for Isola Design Festival.
When & Where: Via Filippo Sassetti 31. April 20-26
Founded to champion young and independent designers, Isola Design Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this year with TEN: The Evolving Now, which brings back some of its most successful showcase formats, collaborators, and locations, as well as introducing new partnerships with some who joined the programme as up-and-coming talents returning as established names. Spread around venues in Milan's Isola district, ten main shows introduce emerging practices, material research, and new design narratives.
4. Alcova Milano
Based between New York and Paris, Llewellyn Chupin will bring her sensual creations to the latest edition of Alcova Milano.
Image credit: Courtesy of Llewellyn Chupin
A sun-baked look at Franco Albini's architectural masterpiece, Villa Pestarini.
Image credit: Luigi Fiano
When & Where: Baggio Military Hospital, Via Giovanni Labus, 10. April 20-26, 11AM-7PM (last entry 6PM). Villa Pestarini, Via Mogadiscio, 2/4. April 20-26, 10AM-7PM (last entry 6:30PM; access by advance time-slot booking only)
Showcasing over 120 international exhibitors, the latest Milan edition of nomadic design curatorial platform Alcova opens the doors to two incredible spaces: the sprawling, post-WWI era Baggio Military Hospital complex and the stunning, never-before-open-to-the-public Villa Pestarini, designed by rationalist Italian architect Franco Albini. Both sites unveil work by a diverse selection of designers, studios, companies, and institutions, from London's Sister By Studio Ashby and Faye Toogood to Milan-based designer Patricia Urquiola with Cassina, and Parisian architect and designer Sophie Dries with ISSÉ.
5. Nilufar Grand Hotel
A lamp dreamed up by Allegra Hicks for Nilufar Grand Hotel.
Image credit: Courtesy of Nilufar
A sleek vintage design piece by 20th-century architect and designer Paul Lázló.
Image credit: Courtesy of Nilufar
More collectible contributions from Allegra Hicks and Maximilian Marchesani.
Image credit: Courtesy of Nilufar
Where & When: Nilufar, Viale Lancetti 34. April 20-26, 10AM-7PM
Objects take the spotlight at Nina Yashar's pioneering design gallery and Milanese institution Nilufar, as it transforms into Nilufar Grand Hotel, where its curation of pieces becomes interactive and experiential. A series of hospitality-style spaces make up the fictional luxury hotel, inhabited by the finest in collectible contemporary and vintage interior pieces. Bedrooms are designed by david/nicolas, Filippo Carandini, and Allegra Hicks; the penthouse is eclectic with pieces by Bethan Laura Wood; and Andrea Mancuso's outside space evokes a calm holiday spirit.
6. Salone del Mobile's "Aurea, an Architectural Fiction"
A preview sketch of Oscar Lucien Ono's design for Aurea, an Architectural Fiction.
Where & When: Pavilions 13-15, Salone del Mobile, Fiera Milano, Rho. April 21-26
This immersive, dreamlike installation set at the heart of the A Luxury Way pathway was created by interior architect Oscar Lucien Ono's Parisian studio Maison Numéro 20. Journey through (yet another) imaginary hotel with a series of intimate, story-filled spaces as interior design, ethereal architecture, and the theatrical fuse. Enter through the otherworldly Hall of Dreams, then traverse the enveloping Velvet Salon, the Forbidden Oasis (complete with lacquered palm trees), the Thousand Nights suite's Oriental palazzo, and the clandestine Midnight Bar.
7. Tom Dixon at the Mua Mua Hotel
A sneak peek at Tom Dixon's AW26 lighting collection, styled inside an even more memorable setting, awaits you during Milan Design Week 2026.
Where & When: Via Aosta 2. April 21-26, 10AM-7PM
Tom Dixon is taking over the Mua Mua Hotel in the Centrale district during Milan Design Week 2026, before it welcomes guests as a fully operational hotel. The 12-room stay — designed by Chiodi and Gio Ponti in 1929 — has been reimagined by Dixon's interior agency Design Research Studio to be initially occupied by the atelier's AW26 lighting, furniture, and accessory collection.
8. "Today's Masters Meet Tomorrow's Talents" at Casa degli Artisti
Artisan Juan Aresti and fellow Celia Botas Vigo.
Image credit: Courtesy of Homo Faber
A piece stemming from the collaboration between fellow Maëva Louvel and artisan Morgane Baroghel Crucq.
Image credit: Johann Sauty © Michelangelo Foundation. Courtesy of Homo Faber
And more of the intricate, manual process behind such pieces.
Image credit: Courtesy of Homo Faber
"Before the Storm", another creation resulting from the fellowship initiative, co-authored by artisan Kim Jordan Artisan and fellow Sandra Pinto.
Image credit: Courtesy of Homo Faber
Casa degli Artisti, Via Tommaso da Cazzaniga, Corso Garibaldi 89/A. April 21-26, 10AM-8PM. Free entrance upon registration
A cross-cultural creative showcase of the results of the Homo Faber Fellowship 2025/26 — a project that pairs master artisans with up-and-coming craft names from across Europe — Today's Masters Meet Tomorrow's Talents sees 22 duos with skills from glass fusing to chair making take the stage. The theme for 2026 is Beauty and Light: final pieces include a textile sculpture from Portuguese master artisan Maria Pratas and Carolina De la Parra Quintana, and a straw, glass, and aluminium side table by British straw marquetry expert Kim Jordan with Sandra Pinto.
9. "Ai Weiwei: About Silk" at Rubelli Showroom
Groundbreaking Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, known for his large-scale installations and relentless political activism, joins forces with Rubelli on a first-of-its-kind silk and gold thread masterpiece.
Rubelli Showroom, Via Fatebenefratelli, 9. April 16-May 15, Monday-Friday 10AM-6PM, open until 8PM throughout Milan Design Week 2026
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei partners with Rubelli to present his work, for the first time, in silk and gold thread. The complex fabric is decorated with densely woven imagery tracing the artist's history and struggles, and imbued with meaning and political denunciation. Motifs include surveillance cameras, representing the omnipresent eye of power and Weiwei’s years under special surveillance, and the Twitter bird, as an icon of digital communication and freedom of speech. Here, fabric becomes a form of protest and an enveloping, immersive installation.
10. "Barber | Osgerby. Alphabet" at Triennale Milano
Designers of the Year Installation, Maison et Objet, 2013; Planform Array V, Ascent exhibition, 2011; Tip Ton chairs, Vitra, 2011.
Triennale Milano, Viale Alemagna 6, 20121. April 18-September, 10.30AM-8PM
A retrospective of Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby's 30 year career, Alphabet introduces a selection of the duo's work from the mid-1990s to 2022. Household name designs sit alongside the more under-the-radar, with pieces broken down to reveal how they were made alongside prototypes, models, and mock-ups. Compiled by curator Marco Sammicheli and designed by Architects Studiomille, the exhibition delves into the duo's distinctive visual language.
Milan Design Week — Our Editors' Dos and Don'ts
A look inside the Baggio Military Hospital, one of the off-piste locations chosen by Alcova for its Milan Design Week 2026 extravaganza.
Sarah Spiteri is the global brand director and group editor-in-chief of Livingetc, Homes & Gardens, and Ideal Home, overseeing the editorial direction and creative strategy across three of the world's most iconic interiors titles. In her role, Sarah is committed to expanding the reach and relevance of each brand across platforms — elevating print while driving innovation in digital, video, and social. Under her leadership, the titles have grown into dynamic, multi-platform destinations for design inspiration, authoritative advice, and aspirational yet accessible interiors content. With more than 15 years' experience in lifestyle media, Sarah has helped shape the way we engage with design, championing emerging talent, forecasting key trends, and building editorial franchises that speak to how we live today. Her background spans magazines and digital media, with a sharp editorial instinct and a deep understanding of audience, tone, and storytelling. A graduate of Edinburgh University and City University London, Sarah holds a master's degree in English Literature and a master's in Magazine Journalism. Her love of interiors is rooted in real experience: she has renovated three homes of her own and worked on a number of interior design projects, giving her a hands-on understanding of the creative and practical process behind great design. Equally inspired by craftsmanship, color, and cultural influence, Sarah brings a global perspective to her work — drawing ideas from her travels, the worlds of fashion and art, and the timeless principles of good design. Whether in print, online, or in person, her approach celebrates homes that are considered, characterful, and full of life.
• Fly into Malpensa if you're going to the fair, Linate if you're going into town.
• Definitely take the train to Salone del Mobile rather than a taxi — it's quick, easy, and means you won't risk getting stuck in traffic jams.
• Alcova is miles away and unfolds across multiple locations, so leave time and do your research about what exactly is happening, and where, before traveling out there by train.
• Central Milan is very walkable and the traffic is a nightmare, so put your comfy shoes on and walk!
• Finish off your day with a dinner at Bice, a storied Milan institution.
Entering the orbit of Salone del Mobile for the first time during Milan Design Week 2026 is Salone Raritas, the fair's debuting platform for collectible design, curated by Annalisa Rosso with a spatial setup imagined by Formafantasma.
The executive editor of Livingetc, Pip Rich (formerly Pip McCormac) is a lifestyle journalist of almost 20 years' experience working for some of the UK's biggest titles. He regularly attends the world's biggest design fairs and often talks to crowds of up to 200 about his thoughts on design. As well as holding staff positions at Sunday Times Style, Red, and Grazia, he has written for the Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, and ES Magazine. He has been covering interiors trends for so long that he has seen some of them come back around again, which has given him a real understanding of how and why people like to decorate. Through hosting Livingetc's podcast Home Truths, Pip has had long and in-depth conversations with some of the world's leading designers, learning from their expertise firsthand. Pip is a judge on the panel for the Livingetc Style Awards, where he sifts through hundreds of projects with other industry experts to choose the very best in each category. He is interested not just in how something looks, but whether it can improve the life of the user in some way. He has also published three books — his most recent, A New Leaf, was released in December 2021 and is about the homes of architects who have filled their spaces with houseplants. This project gave him access to many of the world's top creative minds and knowledge of how great architecture can improve a space.
• Don't try and do everything. It's impossible! There is so much to see and so many far-flung places to visit that it's literally not doable.
• Focus on where you want to be and what you want to see most — but be prepared to have your eyes caught by exciting moments on the way.
• Always make sure your phone has battery. So many brands now require you to have a QR code to enter their showcase, which you get emailed while waiting in line — not the most popular idea, but one that everyone seems to want to stick to.
• Visit Salone del Mobile ... with a plan. Like the city itself, it's vast and potentially overwhelming. But if you know what you're doing, it's magical and inspiring.
• To ensure you do, target the brands you want to see and make a beeline for them.
Where to Stay, Eat, and Drink During Milan Design Week 2026
The essentially iconic interiors of SUNNEI's in-house coffee shop, which launched last year.
Image credit: SUNNEI. Design: 2050+
The vibrant, exclusive dining room of the new Langosteria Private Restaurant on Via Savona, one of this year's hottest openings yet.
Image credit: Langosteria. Design: Giuseppe Porcelli
Meanwhile, at Section80Bar, chromemania takes on brand-new heights, going full sci-fi.
Image credit: Section80Bar. Design: Section80 and Studio Wok
We said it before, and we say it again: Milan Design Week is as much of a celebration of design as it is an excuse to come together and enjoy spring the Milanese way (read: aperitivo at 6PM?).
To help you save precious time while on the ground in Milan, we have gathered all you need to know to savor the city's finest, literally. Find your cheatsheet to the Italian design capital's hottest hotspots below, and make good use of it throughout Milan Design Week 2026:
• The best Milan cafés, for Italian-style breakfasts, the top-rated baked goods in town, and your daily caffeine fix, all served within just as energizing, inspiring interiors.
• The best Milan bars, because Milan isn't Milan without a glass of Campari Spritz, Milano-Torino, or a Negroni Sbagliato, and each of these addresses puts a stylish spin on after-hours entertainment.
• The best Milan restaurants, where the city's culinary tradition meets the beauty of its design and architectural heritage, reinterpreted for the contemporary gourmand.
• The best Milan hotels, for stays that capture the best of the Italian design capital's past, and dare to bring its tradition of hospitality forward through award-winning dining, curated installations, and bespoke experiences.
Milan Design Week 2026 — FAQs
What Else Is There to See During Milan Design Week 2026?
Start from the affluent via Durini, Corso Monforte, Corso Venezia, and Quadrilatero della Moda to get a full immersion into the finest Italian design brands (yes, showroom-stopping is part of the Milan Design Week fun) like Edra and Cassina.
At Milan Design Week 2026, British maximalist Luke Edward Hall will unveil a nostalgic serveware collection designed for Italian house Buccellati.
Work your way through QoT – Qualia of Things, the innovative program of 5VIE, which this year looks at "objects as carriers of emotion, memory, and meaning — not just function". Headquartered in one of the most historical and characteristic districts of Milan, this cultural incubator will include 94 exhibitors and 10 productions straddling lighting, ceramics, fine art, serveware, and more (Cavallerizze, via Olona 4; Cesare Correnti 14; SIAM, via Santa Marta 18).
Art-led visitors will likely find in Brera, the Milanese answer to Paris' Montmartre, their place to be, with more award-winning design flagships, intimate eateries, cafés, and bars, and burgeoning galleries all minutes away on foot. It is an area that brims with young creative talent, especially thanks to the presence of institutions like the Brera Academy of Arts. This is also where the annual Milan Design Week presentation of ECAL graduates and students takes place, more precisely at Spazio Orso (via dell'Orso 16).
Searching for more, and even more expansive, showcases? Take to Milan's world-class art institutions, from the hypnotic, David Chipperfield-designed Mudec and the former locomotive manufacturer-turned-contemporary creative expression haven Pirelli HangarBicocca (home to Anselm Kiefer's towering The Seven Heavenly Palaces) to Triennale Milano, the Adi Design Museum, Armani/Silos, ICA Milano, and Fondazione Prada for more inspiration.
How to Get to Salone del Mobile 2026?
• From Milano Malpensa — As Livingetc's Global Brand Director Sarah Spiteri pointed out, flying to Milano Malpensa is your most convenient option if you plan on attending Salone del Mobile during Milan Design Week 2025. From there, BusForFun will take you for free to Rho Fiera, where the event takes place — all you need to do is register by entering the code SALONEMILANO2025. Alternatively, the Malpensa Shuttle, Malpensa Bus Express, and Malpensa Express connections will also be available.
• From Milano Linate — Salone del Mobile 2025 can be easily reached from Milano Linate via the Metro M4 Linea Blu and the Linate Shuttle connection.
• From Orio al Serio Airport (Bergamo) — Although located further out of town, Orio al Serio Airport will allow you to reach both Salone del Mobile and the other creative locations of Milan Design Week 2025 via the Orio Express and Orio Shuttle services.
• From central Milan — Traveling by public transport will save you precious time to make the most of Milan Design Week 2025 while also reducing the environmental impact of your visit. To get to Salone del Mobile, simply board a M1 (Linea Rossa) train to Rho-Fieramilano, which links the industrial venue to most key locations across the city. The commute is less than half an hour, and the buzzy viavai of people will put you in the mood for great design.
The Salone del Mobile Design Kiosk will return for the fair's latest edition, making the ultimate stop for printed matter lovers.
Where to Buy Tickets for Salone del Mobile 2026?
Designers, architects, and press can apply for accreditation directly on Salone del Mobile's website, while the wider public can purchase their tickets (Trade Visitors; General Public; Students; Travel Agencies and Groups).
Salone del Mobile's Access and Opening Hours
Hosted within the sprawling, aerial web that is the Massimiliano Fuksas-designed Rho fairground, the Salone del Mobile pavilions will span a nearly 210,000-square-meter surface. This means there isn't just a lot to see, but it also takes a good amount of movement to do so. Despite its vastity, the great news is that the fiera was conceived to be fully accessible.
Running April 21-26, Salone del Mobile will be open 9.30AM-6.30PM for visitors, 8.30-6.30PM for members of the press, and 8.30-AM-7PM for exhibitors. Trade guests are welcome throughout the fair's entire duration, suppliers and manufacturers of the furnishing sector can visit, like students, April 24-26, while the general public will enjoy the event April 25-26.
The Livingetc Milan Design Week 2026 Map
Keen to attend most of the above events but scared you'll struggle remembering where everything is at? Get the Livingetc Milan Design Week 2026 Map — your cheatsheet to all things MDF 2026, from happenings, galleries, and museums to trendy hangouts.
Can't wait for a new edition of Salone del Mobile and the start of Milan Design Week 2026? Revisit our Milan Design Week 2025 Trends report to refresh your memory of the latest style sensations, and get ready to spot new emerging ones. Plus, check back in a few weeks for more hot takes by Livingetc.
