Livingetc reveals the coolest trends heading to British shores from Milan’s Salone del Mobile, the biggest event on the design calendar.
1. LINE ’EM UP!
While 2017 saw modern oriental make its mark as one of the fair’s key trends, this year, the look crystallised into a trend for straight, slatted lines, giving a hint of eastern elegance to beautiful new designs.
Gallotti&Radice used corrugated, hand-turned, lacquered wood to add soft pleats to its Nori coffee table...
... While its east-meets-west Ki screen featured vertical and horizontal lines fused with satin brass panels.
Styling on the stands followed suit, with Gandia Blasco creating a supersized pergola, while Giorgetti and Fiam paid tribute with repeating strips in canaletto walnut and glass.
2.SPACE ODYSSEY
Designers looked to outer space for cosmic-inspired escapism at this year’s show, with furniture transitioning from minimal to galaxy-esque.
Leading the force, designs in Paola Navone’s Moon collection for Gervasoni featured circular aluminium-cast tabletops and blue ceramic bases that recalled the shape and surfaceof the cratered orb.
Lee Broom offered celestial-inspired lighting with designs that can be hung horizontally or vertically to form bespoke constellations.
Lema and Arketipo offered up dining and side tables with finishes reminiscent of the night sky.
And Bohinc Studio wowed crowds with a chair line modelled on planets in orbit.
Read More: TRENDING: THE COSMOS
3. IN THE WOODS
Canaletto walnut has long been the timber of choice for Milan’s big furniture names. But when leading devotee Porada shifts its attention, you know it’s time to make room for the new woods on the, er, block.
Its 2018 collection debuted ash in Stained Moka and Caffè finishes for a fresh and different feel.
Flexform followed suit, but stained its ash in a darker finish.
Over at Poliform, Charcoal oak rubbed shoulders with Hickory walnut and Black elm. Get ready to go against the grain…
4. GROWN-UP GREEN
Move over forest green – the softer, slightly greyer and, dare we say,more sophisticated tones of sageand eucalyptus are having a moment.
Italian firm Alivar aimed for pure elegance, pairing the hue with clean-cut shapes and soft leather...
...Shanghai-based duo Neri&Hu worked the colour on to statement lighting for Poltrona Frau...
... While Calligaris and Muuto splashed the shade on matt surfaces.
Not sure how to nail the tone? Grab your nearest Farrow & Ball colour card and aim for Card Room Green or Lichen.
5.BLACKOUT
Two tribes battled it out in Milan: those looking to experiment with colour, and those favouring the enduring chic of all-black design.
So-dark-you-almost-couldn’t-see-them stands provided much-needed shade from the Italian heat and presented everything from black furniture to flooring.
Known for its edgy, masculine aesthetic, Diesel Living’s ongoing partnership with Iris Ceramica saw Rebel Black become the go-to colourway for concrete-clad interiors.
At Republic of Fritz Hansen and Cattelan Italia, classic marble pieces got a reboot in shades of Charcoal and Ardesia.
And Saba Italia opted for matt-black woven rope in its lounge furniture.
Think it all feels too serious? Lema’s Bulè table comes with an optional lazy Susan, proving black needn’t mean boring.
6. RETRO HEDONISM
The hottest tickets in Milan this year? Retro-feel hangouts harking back to bygone eras.
Flooding Instagram feeds, design agency Studiopepe transformed a late-19th-century warehouse into a secret members-only venue, capturing the essence of Seventies nightclubs with vintage furniture and a yesteryear palette of muted pinks and greens.
US designer David Rockwell decked out a railway arch with candy-coloured booths in an ode to the all-American Fifties diner that was every bit as photogenic.
Check out Bontempi Casa’s mid-century-style drinks trolley...
... The Martini tables by Sé...
... And Gufram’s disco-era collection.
7. CUTTING SHAPES
Square corners? So passé. This year, it was all about obtuse angles jutting out from table edges, armrests and bedheads.
Make like Ethimo and opt for exaggerated forms anywhere between 90˚ and 180˚.
Meanwhile, sharp anglesbring highdrama to theKenobi bed byMauroLipparini forBonaldo.
Plus, the glass top onMauro Lipparini’ssidetable can be rotated toform jaggedshapes.
