Reflecting on an exciting Milan Design Week, the Camron team has released their Power of Design report, sharing insights on the fair and ultimately on the design industry as a whole. Get a preview below, and check out the full report here.
With roughly half a million people descending on Milan’s historic streets and over 3000 brands exhibiting their designs, innovations and creativity, Milan Design Week continues to be one of the world’s most influential and culture-shaping events. This year saw MDW return to pre-pandemic heights with many comparing its influence and brand-power to that of fashion weeks.
With this edition of Power of Design, the team at Camron has explored this progression of Milan, looking specifically at the insights, intelligence and inspiration that will help brands and business leaders enhance their output.
Weeks of research, countless conversations with creatives and design experts and analysis of the brands and industries who performed best at this year’s festival, has culminated in this report. Whether you’re planning your next brand activation, exploring the latest design and brand trends, or simply looking to discover what you missed at this year’s Milan Design Week, we hope you find it insightful. - Valentina Giani, Head of Camron Milan
The Power of Design on Display at Milan
Beyond the Surface by SolidNature, Photography Marco Cappelletti
At the closing of the Salone del Mobile, over 370,000 had visited the Rho fairgrounds.
Exhibitors, buyers and journalists from almost all corners of the globe descended on Milan and in many ways, the 2023 Salone del Mobile felt like it was back in form — a relief after three years of uncertainty and scaled-down on events. In the city centre, taxi drivers griped to anyone who would listen about the gridlocked traffic and streets closed for events. Not to mention the hordes of sbagliato-swigging night owls clogging the roundabout in front of Bar Basso, the week’s unofficial barometer of success. However, the disruption of the past three years and subsequent cultural shift produced some subtle but significant changes to the event, which became the topic of conversations and debates amongst attendees.
One of the major shifts we’ve seen in recent years is Salone’s evolution from a trade fair to a cultural event. While the Fuorisalone has been operating for over 30 years, each edition casts a wider net, incorporating peripheral industries like fashion, cosmetics, technology and automotive. And with them, a broader audience of people who are keen to engage. Witnessing the lines of people snaking out of Fuorisalone exhibitions, it’s clear that there is strong interest amongst the general public. This means that the stakes for brands of all sectors are not only raising, but at the same time, the week’s role as a design industry event is becoming less clear
The Fair vs The Fuorisalone
This year, the trade fair floor was reported to be around 30% smaller year-on-year. This shakeup in numbers reflects a growing trend in Milan for certain brands to forgo the fair entirely and instead redirect efforts towards permanent showrooms, which number in the hundreds within the city centre. It’s a strategic move that not only saves a brand money, but it allows them to accommodate buyers and journalists in a more personal way, which can otherwise prove difficult within the hectic confines of the fairground. That being said, many have also skipped recent years to invest in more regional fairs, including HAY, Fritz Hansen, Fredericia and Carl Hansen & Son, who also, according to Dezeen, opted to shift their focus on 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen. However, despite the seeming exodus, reports from on the ground seem to point to the enduring value the Salone del Mobile provides. Speaking to exhibitors, the general consensus was that the fair remains the most important sales opportunity of the year.
Less and less people are seeing the actual fair as a “must-see”, so is it worth the expense? - Power of Design Contributor
Many brands have adopted an alternative strategy - a hybrid approach. This entailed them staging cultural activations at the Fuorisalone while focusing business efforts at the Fair, simultaneously populating Instagram and signing deals with clients at Rho. A good example of this is carpet brand cc-tapis, who installed their collaborative project with the Charlotte Perriand archive in a deconsecrated church and launched collaborations with buzzy young designers in their city centre showroom, all while promoting their B2B contract division at the fair. In short, the fair remains the place for business, while the Fuorisalone is all about pleasure — a place to find inspiration and connect in a deeper way with the community at large.
“I went to the fair for business, but I get more inspiration from going around the smaller events that are very special but you need both”. - Joseph Schwarzkopf, General Manager at Uribe Schwarzkopf
Clearly, there’s no outright winner or loser, nor one way to turn up in Milan. Instead, it comes down to objectives. Why are you appearing at Milan? What do you hope to achieve from the week and what sort of audience are you wishing to attract? If the answer is to ‘shape culture’ then look no further than the city centre, but if you’re hoping to drive leads, business and connections then the fair is still unrivalled.
“You need to have a critical mass place. You have to have sort of an anchor point, it’s relationship-building. - Grela Orihuela, VP of Fairs at Design Miami
