At Milan Design Week, tension grows between the understated and the spectacular | Canada Voices

It feels as if Milan Design Week is at something of a tipping point. What began in 1961 as a furniture fair at the city’s Campionaria Fairgrounds has, over the years, expanded into a city-wide platform for brands across all industries, from cars and fashion to beauty and technology. Much of the conversation around this year’s edition – which saw thousands of design-hungry visitors descend on the city at the end of April – centred on what constitutes “design,” who gets to be part of the conversation, at what point a “design week” evolves into something else entirely, and whether that even matters. Amid the noise and pretension, the most interesting moments were often found in smaller, more considered settings, suggesting a growing tension between the understated and the spectacular.

L’appartement by Antoine Billore for L’Artisan Parfumeur

This year, the apartment show reigned supreme, offering visitors the chance to encounter work within intimate, domestic settings that are ordinarily out of bounds. A standout was French antique dealer Antoine Billore’s debut presentation staged in partnership with L’Artisan Parfumeur. The setting was a garden apartment in Milan’s Loreto neighbourhood, which Billore furnished with antiques – all for sale – alongside his own small collection of wooden marquetry pieces. The result was an interior that felt lived in rather than staged. “I always feel better when I visit a show and it feels like a home,” said Billore “Some people prefer a white cube gallery space, but for me, I need context and emotions.”

The Paper Log: Shell & Core, by Issey Miyake

Fashion brands continue to draw criticism for participating in Milan without a clear sense of purpose. Issey Miyake’s presentation stood apart for its focus on process and problem-solving rather than image-making. Developed in collaboration with Spanish architecture firm Ensamble Studio, the exhibition explored how wastepaper generated during the brand’s production process could be transformed into structural forms, from seating to lighting. Rather than a display of objects, this was a material investigation. “This project is about exploring different possibilities to reappropriate the Paper Log, which is the byproduct of our pleated garments,” said Satoshi Kondo, artistic director and head designer at Issey Miyake. “Through this project, we hope to find new values of what was considered secondary or peripheral.”

Alcova 2026

Alcova’s ability to transform overlooked architecture into one of the week’s most compelling destinations has cemented its place on the Milan itinerary since its debut in 2018. This year, staged across a forgotten former military hospital from the 1930s and a Franco Albini-designed residence from 1938, objects blended atmospherically with their surroundings – from Jane Wright’s subversive lace installed in a nunnery dormitory at the hospital (pictured here) to cutlery by Worn Studio displayed in the kitchen of Albini’s Villa Pestarini. A pleasure to explore, the scale alone makes a case for Alcova to exist as a standalone event, rather than something to be hurried through alongside the rest of the week’s already demanding schedule.

Traces by Range Rover

Car and tech brands have long been present during the week, often bringing polished showcases that can feel light on substance. Range Rover’s installation took a more considered approach. Working with London-based spatial designers Studio Storey, filmmaker Felipe Sanguinetti and Scottish gallery Bard, the brand used the platform to highlight its in-house bespoke team, Studio 5. Within a carefully sequenced environment at Galleria Meravigli, commissioned illustrations by Hvass & Hannibal, Lisa Rampilli, Petra Börner and Jules Julien were translated into intricate embroideries. Intended for bespoke car interiors, the motifs show how craft can imbue even highly engineered spaces with an emotional, almost talismanic quality.

La Casa Magica at Nilufar Gallery

It is not surprising that the rise of mindfulness and wellness has led us to question how the design of domestic spaces affects us physically and psychologically. For curator Valentina Ciuffi, La Casa Magica was a meditation on belief and ritual, something she feels is missing from modern interiors. Bringing together furniture, lighting, textiles and sculptural objects by designers from different cultures, each piece carries meaning as well as fulfilling a function. “Functionalism and minimalism have purged the home of elements that give it meaning,” Ciuffi said. “Symbolism is something we need – the ability to believe in a shared ritual, in a collective gesture, is both precious and quietly essential to everyday life.”