Salone del Mobile: This is what brands are presenting at the famous design week

Currently, the international design world is turning all its attention to Milan. At the 61st Salone del Mobile, the world's largest and most renowned furniture fair which comes as part of Milan Design Week, not only the latest designs for furniture, lighting, home textiles and ceramics are presented. More and more fashion houses are taking advantage of the design-savvy audience in the city to demonstrate their own creativity with collaborations and objects. Design is, after all, a cross-genre discipline.

Ferragamo: balance and design

On the occasion of the design week, the shops of luxury cobbler Ferragamo in Via Montenapoleone will show special window displays from 15 April to 5 May, combining products from the current SS23 collection with architectural elements to highlight the themes of balance and design. Salvatore Ferragamo has studied in depth the anatomy of the foot and its contribution to the overall balance of the body. His aim was to combine the aesthetics of materials and embellishments with a comfortable fit and an elegant gait.

Design and balance also define the designs of today, created by creative director Maximilian Davis. In the showcases, elastic ropes draw lines held by hands carved in dark stone, each clasping the iconic bags and shoes of the Ferragamo collection.

Bottega Veneta & Gaetano Pesce: Come and See

Bottega Veneta presents the installation "Vieni a Vedere" ("Come and see") in its shop in Via Montenapoleone in cooperation with the Italian artist Gaetano Pesce. Pesce had already created a space for the Bottega Veneta SS23 fashion show that was conceived as a temporary, site-specific artwork, which he refers to again here.

The immersive installation, which spans the entire shop, uses resin and fabric to create a unique experience through which visitors move. It frames an edition of handbags that Bottega Veneta made for the artist based on his designs.

"The space where we present the bags is 'a grotto'. It's narrow and you walk through it one at a time, whether underground or above ground, you find a way through. What you actually walk through is the outline of a figure shooting at a basket," said Gaetano Pesce. The point is to open up new avenues for design.

The installation can be visited for a week, from 15 to 22 April.

##Dior Maison and Philippe Starck

The interior division of the fashion house Dior, Dior Maison, presents a new creation from its collaboration with the French star designer Philippe Starck. The "Monsieur Dior" armchair is a tribute to the founder Christian Dior. "After the Miss Dior armchair presented in 2022, inspired by the iconic medallion, it was only natural to extend the family with Monsieur Dior, this new armchair," Philippe Starck commented on his idea.

These extraordinary pieces of furniture are presented in different materials and colours: in polished or lacquered aluminium, bouclé fabric in ecru and Toile de Jouy in pink, black and fluorescent orange. They complement the house's furniture collection, which, according to Dior Maison, is the "most extensive" ever presented.

The collection will be on display at the heart of Palazzo Citterio in Milan from 18 to 23 April.

Timberland & Suzanne Oude Hengel

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of "The Original Timberland Boot" will also take place during the event. Timberland will present the Timberland × Suzanne Oude Hengel Future73 project at the Triennale Milano art and design museum through an immersive artificial intelligence installation powered by creative studio Ouchhh.

The installation refers to a shoe developed by knitting expert, shoe innovator and designer Suzanne Oude Hengel together with Timberland. She is one of six renowned designers from all over the world who were invited by Timberland to reinterpret the brand's cult boot. The AI installation brings Oude Hengel's knitwear innovation to life.

In keeping with Oude Hengel's passion for pushing textile machines to their limits to create seemingly impossible shoe designs, the AI installation similarly harnesses the potential of technology to communicate her ideas alongside the Timberland story.

Suzanne Oude Hengel said: "Having the opportunity to put Timberland's heritage into a new context and take it beyond what people expect has been a highlight of my career. And now to see the ideas I explored for the Future73 capsule being shaped by AI, to see my brand's DNA and Timberland's DNA merging through an immersive experience, bringing our universes to a new audience, is really exciting."

The Timberland × Suzanne Oude Hengel Future73 installation will be on display at the Triennale Milan museum from 17 to 23 April. The collection will then be available worldwide from May.

Louis Vuitton: 11 new ‘Objets Nomades’

During Milan Design Week, the fashion house Louis Vuitton presents eleven new "Objets Nomades" developed by the designers and creative studios Atelier Oï, Raw Edges, Atelier Biagetti, Marcel Wanders, Zanellato/Bortotto, Studio Louis Vuitton and Campana. The Objets Nomades collection, which was first launched in 2012, has thus grown to over 60 pieces with its original and functional furniture and designs. The eleven new objects are exhibited in a specially designed room in the historic Palazzo Serbelloni.

The house will also present Marc Newson's Cabinet of Curiosities, an elegant reworking of the classic Louis Vuitton trunk by the Australian industrial designer. Following the Pégase and Horizon luggage lines, this is the latest collaboration between the house and Newson. The new custom-designed suitcase has a monogrammed exterior and is fitted with 19 leather-covered metal cubes, eight of which have doors and secret compartments for valuables.

All the new projects will be on show at Palazzo Serbelloni from 19 to 23 April.

G-Star Raw: The art of (denim) wastage

Dutch denim brand G-Star Raw has teamed up with artist Maarten Baas to transform denim waste into design and art objects during Design Week. The exhibition "More or Less" shows the endless possibilities of denim and the tension between the desire for more and the need for less. Three wardrobes modelled on the shape of a pair of jeans and a 15-metre-long private jet - all made from recycled G-Star jeans - will be presented for the first time during Milan Design Week.

Maarten Baas is considered one of the most important designers of the 21st century, known for his surprising, rebellious work. The presentation will showcase new, creative ways of recycling and will encourage visitors to think about the duality of wanting more in today's world.

The 16th century church of San Paolo Converso is the unexpected backdrop for the More or Less exhibition during Design Week. The exhibition can be seen from 18 to 23 April.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. Translation and edit by: Rachel Douglass.