SALONE DEL MOBILE.MILANO – ROAD TO SALONE 2024

Images courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano

Shanghai, Paris, London, Berlin, Copenhagen, Miami, Dallas, New York, Chicago

The Salone del Mobile.Milano is going full throttle on international positioning with a road trip geared to sharing the first details on the upcoming edition – scheduled for 16th to 21st April 2024 in Milan – and discussing the future of home living along with the entire design community, thus confirming itself as a destination of excellence, 365 days a year, for all those involved in furnishing and architecture.

Maria Porro – Salone del Mobile.Milano

In the wake of Red Night in Shanghai, the Salone will be off to Europe, with Paris (21st November), followed by London (22nd November), Berlin (27th November) and Copenhagen (29th November): all capitals of markets in which the event is intended both to consolidate the attraction it has built up over the years and to strengthen new networking systems, with the Northern European countries in particular. After that, Road to Salone will make landfall in the United States: firstly in Miami, on 5th December, during Art Basel Miami Beach 2023, where two events are scheduled: a meeting with sectoral professionals at the Italian Cultural Institute and an exclusive networking evening set up with PIN-UP. Dallas will be the next stop (23rd January), followed by New York (25th January) and Chicago (22nd February). The North American legs have been planned and coordinated with the support of ICE-ITA, the Italian Trade Agency for the promotion and internationalisation of Italian businesses abroad, and in partnership with the local branches of AIA / American Institute of Architects.

Maria Porro

The roadshow is a unique opportunity to promote all the events and pass on initial information regarding the format and content of the 62nd Milan edition: a reworked layout and exhibition paths – again informed by a wide range of contributions at round tables attended by companies and stakeholders – will put visitors and their needs increasingly at the centre; the biennial EuroCucina and International Bathroom Exhibition will be back, the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of SaloneSatellite will include a great exhibition in the city and a structured programme of installations and talks will be held in the trade fair pavilions, to foster open discussion between business and design culture, in keeping with the formula that ensured the success of Euroluce and The City of Lights, a luminous and illuminated palimpsest of exhibitions and cameos of international breadth.

Marva Griffin

From the European stops onwards, the tour will provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges facing the design world and on what home living will look like in the future, thanks to the involvement of special guests who will discuss and promote design culture as narrated and interpreted by the Salone, highlighting its quality, know-how, practical and aesthetic value and human and emotional component.

Presented by Zipblind

The tour will kick off in the French capital with the designer Patrick Jouin, while the London leg will feature the British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the German designer Konstantin Grcic will appear in Berlin, Luca Nichetto and the young Danish designer Felicia Arvid in Copenhagen.

Patrick Jouin

The key themes will be the importance of the power of vision and innovation in the large events and industrial design world, the need for an increasingly human-centric and inclusive culture, focused on communities and individuals, the need for multidisciplinary dialogue between different cultural and geographical areas and, last but not least, sustainability, a field in which the Salone del Mobile has already notched up a major milestone, ISO 20121 certification for sustainable events management, achieved at the latest edition.

Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby

Again, with a view to broadening the fields of discussion, the meetings will be held in some of the most iconic hospitality venues, unique because of their heritage or contemporary stamp, a decision that underscores just how greatly the trade fair also focuses on the extra- domestic side of living, with tailor-made solutions from the high quality contract sector.

Konstantin Grcic

All this will be relayed internationally via the Salone digital platform, making the roadshow not just a chance to reconfirm the Salone as the physical benchmark furnishing and design event but also as a digital ecosystem with the power to expand the visibility and enhance the business connections of the exhibiting companies and the entire international community that revolves around the design world. There will, therefore, be a great deal of digital content, enabling the tour to be followed online even beyond the physical boundaries of the stopovers, thanks to in- depth analysis, interviews, and backstage moments shared on the Salone website and its social media channels.

Felicia Arvid

Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say: “With the Shanghai evening now behind us, we’re off on the four European legs of the inaugural international roadshow geared to narrating the Salone del Mobile.Milano’s evolutionary path, its results and its new projects for the upcoming 2024 edition. The Salone is an expression of the design industry, a trailblazer for tapping into new markets, a meeting place of choice for the design community, and an incubator of new talents with SaloneSatellite. Thanks to the involvement of the various keynote speakers, these meetings will be an opportunity to keep the dialogue alive and to offer new interpretations of a design world catering to increasingly discerning international visitors.”

Luca Nichetto

The Salone – strongly rooted in the Italian culture of doing business and producing “beautiful design” – is in fact a global catalysing force, with 34% of exhibitors from 37 foreign countries, 550 young designers at SaloneSatellite from 31 different countries and 28 design schools and universities from 18 nations. Plus 65% of buyers and sectoral professionals from 181 different countries. Of the over 5,000 accredited media presences at the last edition, 47% were from abroad. These figures are testament to the centrality of the trade fair’s international role, which it cultivates 365 days a year through initiatives such as this, which constitute very real, direct inroads into the territories of greatest interest.