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25 best designs from Milan Design Week 2018

May 02, 2018

If you have ever visited Milan Design Week you know what an exhausting but rewarding task it is to search for great design across the city. With rugs and textiles in mind, COVER Editor Lucy Upward travelled across the city to find highlights from Furoisalone.

If you have ever visited Milan Design Week you know what an exhausting but rewarding task it is to search for great design across the city. With rugs and textiles in mind, COVER Editor Lucy Upward travelled across the city to find highlights from Furoisalone.

1. FLATTER-rug_design-MaartenBaas_for-NODUS 2

  1. The Nodus display was once again at the San Simpliciano cloisters, and this year featured a fun cartoon-like design entitled Flatter by Maarten Baas and two intriguing rugs by Faberhama, one which had elements made of leather. Nodus excel at fun rug designs that challenge our view of what a rug should look like.

 

2. Mindcraft

  1. The Mindcraft18 exhibition at the San Simpliciano courtyard was a stunning space to walk into, with soft cushions surrounding the central display, so you were able to sit back, relax and observe the work by Danish designers. The show featured several designers working with textiles. I particularly liked Iben Høj’s Aurora Borealis knit sculpture, that moved beautifully in the gentle breeze.

 

3. cctapisBLW

  1. Bethan Laura Wood’s four striking Super Fake rugs for cc-tapis dominated the cc showroom and were also displayed on the brand’s Salone stand. The rugs are woven with silk, linen and wool so their surface texture reflects the dynamic nature of the designs. Patricia Urquiola’s Slinkie Runner was also a highlight. Furthermore cc-tapis won a prestigious Salone del Mobile award for their stand design.

 

4. Moroso_BethanLauraWood_MilanShowroom_5

  1. Multidisciplinary designer Bethan Laura Wood had also developed an exciting new collection with Moroso, whose Brera showroom was dedicated to her Mono Mania Mexico fabrics, tapestries and rugs, which will feature in COVER 51. The collection is heavily inspired by the New Basilica of the Lady of Guadalupe, a 1970s building in Mexico City.

 

5. Golran

  1. Both at Salone and in the brand’s Brera showroom, Golran showed the new 100% wool hand-knotted collection Garden of Eden by India Mahdavi, which is inspired by Persian gardens. The dramatic designs have a great energy and movement in them and come in various colourways.

 

6. Matteo_Thun_Atelier_Loloey

  1. At Salone, Italian brand Loloey’s display included a new collection of hand-tufted rugs based on paintings by Matteo Thun plus a live demonstration of hand-tufting. The stand also featured many of the watercolour paintings by Thun which inspired the rugs.

 

7. Sirecom

  1. Architects Dainellistudio have designed another eye-catching hand-knotted collection for Sirecom. The new geometric Monoscopio collection, which showed at Salone del Mobile, are made of 100% bamboo silk.

 

8. Ricardo Cavolo copy

  1. This year high end Spanish brand Barcelona Rugs debuted at Milan Design Week. The company showed some great rugs by Spanish designers Gerard Puxhe and Javier Masical at Superstudio in Zona Tortona. My favourite is the striking I Love Barcelona rug designed by Ricardo Cavolo.

 

9. Pearla Pigao

  1. Also in Zona Tortona, the Norwegian Presence show explored ‘the making of modern Norway’ and featured beautiful textiles by Pearla Pigao, which she describes as ‘sound pictures’. The woven surface, featuring copper wires, is a musical instrument that can generate sound in response to touch.

 

10. Elena Tkachenko

  1. Russian designer Elena Tkachenko showed work at the Circus clothing store on Via Medici. The Tundra Tapestry show comprised a series of textile works based on tundra landscapes in different seasons.

 

11. Jan KathLitta

  1. As part of Damn Magazine’s 4th Salone show, at the beautifully ornate Palazzo Litta, Jan Kath had a great space to show a number of rug designs from the new Polonaise collection and additions from Erased Heritage and Artwork.

 

12. Nasser Nishaburi

  1. Nasser Nishaburi’s recent Silence collection, which featured in COVER 50, formed part of David Rockwell’s The Diner show, located at the Ventura Centrale exhibition area. A hammock made of a zilu weaving was a fun addition to the display.

 

13. Skonne_Oz-Terra-164x203cm-1 copy

  1. Founded in 2017, Dutch brand Skonne showed design in the 5Vie district of Milan. The company has a novel way of producing customised rugs, based on an app that helps people select a design from a wider pattern. The designs are then printed onto polyamide.

 

14. Hanna Kaisa Korolainen

  1. Featured in COVER 49, Hanna-Kaisa Korolainen’s rugs have a fascinating aesthetic, unlike most rugs I have seen before. She combs out the mohair wool so it is very fluffy and the rug design becomes a soft pattern. New rugs, displayed as wall art, seating and flooring were shown as part of the Ventura Futura show in the Loreto district.

 

15. Knit Divisions

  1. Next to Korolainen’s work was the project ‘Knit Divisions’ by architect Juha Kivistö and textile and fashion designer Anna–Mari Leppisaari. The duo had joined forces to make an interesting series of panels comprising knitted fabrics pulled across wooden frames. Due to the complex weaves created at the TextielLab in Tilburg, each looked very different when viewed from different angles. Textiles are becoming increasingly important in interior spaces.

 

16. GoogleEdelkoortvan eijk 

  1. Google debuted at MDW this year in an installation curated by Li Edelkoort’s entitled ‘Softwear’, which featured textiles by Kiki van Eijk. The focus was on how we will live with technology in the future, expressed through elements such as textiles.

 

17. Tapis Rouge

  1. Interior designer Angelina Askeri has created a new impressive rug collection for Russian brand Tapis Rouge, which was on show at the ever-inspiring Rossana Orlandi space. The collection comprises 11 rugs with soft pastels shades and designs inspired by the abstract, cubist and geometric shapes of Modernist art.

 

18 KinnasandGreiling

  1. Katrin Greiling’s fantastic textile display for Kinnasand won a great deal of attention for its innovative look at how we use rugs within an interior setting. The Structures furniture pieces, made of steel tubes, elevated the knotted and woven wool rugs off the floor.

 

19. Fevrier

  1. French brand Atelier Fevrier showed eye-catching new designs in a fantastically located space on Via Brera in the busy hub of Brera.

 

20. MIlla Novo

  1. ‘Masterly: The Dutch in Milano’ at Palazzo Francesco Turati featured work by young designer Milla Novo, who makes large macramé wall hangings. With one in black and one in gold, her display saw macramé taking on an altogether different look, slick and glitzy. See COVER 51, out in June, for more about her work.

 

21. Loewe

  1. The first ‘project’ presented by fashion brand Loewe was at Salone del Mobile 2015. This year the company’s display on Montenapoleone focused on textiles—blankets, tapestries and tote bags—madeacross the globe in locations such as Nepal, Japan, Togo and Ecudaor. COVER 51 will feature more about the project.

 

22. Studiopepe

  1. The Club Unseen project by Studiopepe formed an exclusive refuge from the stresses of the Milan design hunt. The curated interior spaces included wall-hangings by Studiopepe (made by cc-tapis) and a fascinating bar serving cocktails., where the service was all part of the show.

 

23. MarcoFerreri-ForteFibra_I-MESH

  1. Alberto Fiorenzi’s contemporary tapestry show featured different designers working with I-Mesh, an innovative architectural material used for solar protection.

 

24. Mae Engelgeer-Wallpaper

  1. Mae Engelgeer’s innovative Hugging Column made with Savoir Beds for the Wallpaper Handmade ‘Wellness and Wonder’ show featured a soft inner space and an exterior upholstered in a bespoke Kvadrat fabric. Inspired by classical columns, it forms a perfect relaxation space.

 

25. Ilo Rugs

  1. cc-tapis had a rug rave at their showroom, Gufram held a disco featuring seating and rugs at the Wallpaper Handmade show and Indian brand Ilo showed their rugs off in a sound and lighting installation in the 5Vie district. Four rooms featured an immersive experience and rugs based on the titles ‘TNT’, ‘Radioactive’, ‘Hide & See’ and ‘LSD’. It was interesting to see how rugs were presented this year!

 

 

 

 

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