Milan’s Salone del Mobile has long ceased to be a trade fair exclusively for furniture manufacturers. Into this space, fashion brands have steadily inserted themselves, not as mere exhibitors but as active participants in the conversation around domestic life, material culture, and the objects that populate private spaces. What these houses bring is not simply a licensed extension of their brand codes into sofas and lamps, but rather a set of distinct methodologies drawn from couture, textile innovation, and conceptual inquiry. Across the 2026 edition, six fashion houses presented work that ranged from a critical symposium on image-making to the re-edition of a radical 1970s chair, from twenty-four hand-finished plaids to mouth-blown glass lamps informed by skirt silhouettes, from an evolving exhibition of iconic furniture to a meditation on the designer’s own home as a blueprint for living, and from a wandering journey through plaster and beechwood columns to throws hand-woven in Nepal and vases in hammered palladium-finish metal. What follows is an account of each presentation.
Prada Frames
Now in its fifth edition, Prada Frames is the annual symposium, curated by design and research studio Formafantasma, that runs parallel to Milan’s Salone del Mobile. Following the belief that intellectual inquiry and cross-disciplinary dialogue can act as vessels of progress, and focusing on ideas rather than product, the initiative sits at the intersection of design, culture, and society. It explores contemporary issues through a multiplicity of perspectives to convey and enhance complexities rather than taming them. Critical reflection comes forward; definitive solutions are skewed.
Under the title In Sight, the new Prada Frames installment focuses on image-making – a defining aspect of the immateriality of contemporary culture, and its preference for representation over facts – approaching the image as a cultural, political, and material force. Images, today, embed a net of entanglements, challenges and contradictions. No longer a reliable depiction of truth, they embody a tension between the real and the represented, with distinctions between human-authored and machine-generated increasingly blurred. As a result, reference points crumble, complicating the ability to discern reliable information from fabrication. On top of this, the production of images, far from being immaterial, has a deep material impact. It relies on an infrastructure that encompasses the extraction of resources, energy consumption, data storage, and often invisible forms of labor.
By foregrounding these conditions, the symposium unfolds through a series of lectures and conversations on the historical frameworks shaping ways of seeing, the environmental and social costs of digital imagery, the political uses of images, and the economies of attention that govern their circulation. It creates space to reconsider how images influence views of the world, but also the way it is understood, negotiated, and inhabited. Prada Frames *In Sight* will be hosted within the complex of Santa Maria delle Grazie, an historical site located in the center of Milan. Lectures will take place in the Sacrestia, a Renaissance space traditionally attributed to Bramante, featuring inlaid cabinets with early sixteenth-century biblical scenes by Domenico and Francesco Morone. Guided visits will be offered to small groups, allowing participants to engage directly with both the architectural setting and the thematic framework of the symposium. Moving beyond theoretical reflection, finally, a special evening will present a curated selection of key ideas and discussions developed over the three days in combination with a music performance, opening In Sight to a wider public.
Loro Piana
Elsewhere in Milan, a different kind of study was placed on display. Loro Piana introduced Studies, Chapter I: On the Plaid at the Cortile della Seta, the house’s Milan headquarters, open to the public from April 21 to 26. The first chapter was devoted entirely to the plaid as a central element of interior vocabulary. It was explained that, since the mid-1980s, the plaid – alongside scarves – had been among the house’s first finished products, and from the beginning, it served as a field of experimentation where materials and weaving techniques could be explored with creative freedom and precision. The Studies approach was described as treating interior design through focused case studies, each examining a specific object, function, or use, and reflecting the ethos of the house through the study of its processes. Conceived as an evolving framework, the project unfolds over time through distinct chapters and new fields of exploration.
For this first chapter, the scenography was structured as a passage. Visitors encountered a series of twenty-four plaids, each presented as an individual study. These unique pieces were differentiated by techniques, constructions, patterns, and finishes, and together they formed an index, mapping a range of approaches within a single object. The display adopted a curatorial language, focusing on the finished pieces while revealing the raw material from which they originate: fibre and yarn. Central to Loro Piana’s identity, these elements were shown alongside the processes that transform them. The plaid appeared not only as a completed form but as the result of a precise practice. Selected materials met refined constructions, and fibres entered a dialogue with a spectrum of techniques – embroidery, applique, handloom weaving, needle punching, patchwork, screen printing – each carrying its own gestures, rhythms and connotations, and all interpreted through Loro Piana’s vision.
The plaids were crafted from the maison’s excellences – Vicuña, Baby Cashmere, Cashmere, The Gift of Kings, Loro Piana Royal Lightness – alongside linen and innovative fabrics such as Wish wool and Pecora Nera wool. Historic symbols and graphic elements sourced from the house archives reappeared throughout the selection, translated into contemporary compositions. Variations in colour, pattern, texture and construction revealed the breadth of Loro Piana’s savoir-faire through singular forms. Approached like couture, each piece was crafted exclusively upon request and introduced a dimension of measure and individuality. The plaid became a synthesis of materials, techniques and territories, making visible a culture of excellence rooted in fibre, craft and nature.
Dior Maison
At the same fair, a new creative dialogue was presented between Dior Maison and Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance. On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile 2026, the French designer created new Corolle lamps. It was noted that light projections were considered as important as the work on the material that gives rise to them; they develop into a formal language of their own, and their immateriality becomes something tangible. Through these reflections, light itself turns into matter. For Dior Maison, the designer has produced lighting fixtures that fuse ingenuity, excellence and audacity – values dear to the house. At the convergence of couture and art de vivre, these singular pieces echo the emblematic spirit of Christian Dior’s New Look. Their curves reinterpret the signature lines of the Corolle skirt with freshness and elegance. A veritable tribute to haute couture silhouettes, the lamps exalt both their simplicity and virtuosity.
Crafted from mouth-blown glass in the Murano tradition of Venice, they unveil exceptional savoir-faire. Within each creation, the glass bell is distinguished by its exquisite craftsmanship, where inventiveness meets artisanal mastery. Inspired by the movement of fabric – from pleats to drapes – the structure of the lamps takes on a supple and airy appearance. The light sublimates the nuances, revealing a subtle interplay of transparencies, reflections and materials. Available in several sizes – table lamps or portable versions – each model is decorated with one of the founding couturier’s three emblematic colours: grey, pink and white. Refined details, from the handle to the buttons engraved with the CD initials, are crafted with great meticulousness. In homage to Christian Dior’s passion for the beauty of nature, Duchaufour-Lawrance also designed other light fixtures celebrating the craft of basketry, the ancestral art of weaving plant fibres.
The madake bamboo fiber is first cut, then refined into regular strips before being woven with precision to form a bell shape with motifs evoking cannage, a timeless Dior code. This unique artisanship is carried out entirely in Japan. It was stated that all aspects of savoir-faire are unique because they are linked to gestures; from one craftsman to another, from one atelier to another, the gesture differs. Patiently crafted for Dior, in a timeframe similar to that of the Ateliers at 30 Montaigne, these creations rise to the rank of works of art and express the very essence of the house, reinvented in the light of the present.
Chloé
On the occasion of Milan Design Week, Chloé, under the creative direction of Chemena Kamali, unveiled an exclusive re-edition of the Tomato chair, originally designed in 1970 by French designer Christian Adam, in collaboration with Italian manufacturer Poltronova, a historic voice of Italy’s Radical design movement. Created during a moment of cultural and creative liberation, the Tomato chair proposed a new relationship between body and object; soft, generous and instinctive. Its sculptural, organic silhouette moved away from rigidity, embracing comfort, sensuality and freedom of form. As part of the maison’s engagement with creation, extending Chloé’s universe beyond fashion, the chair expresses a way of living where design and emotion naturally meet.
Through the vision of Creative Director Chemena Kamali, the Tomato chair found an immediate resonance within Chloé. Drawn to its organic, rounded and tactile form, it revealed a natural affinity with the maison’s sensibility today, affirming a language of softness, fluidity and ease. Produced only in a limited number during the 1970s, the original editions have become highly sought-after collectors’ pieces. The Tomato chair is reissued in exclusive editions on a made-to-order basis, with respect to its original design, translated through manufacturing techniques of today. Crafted in soft, naturally tanned leather in four curated colors – cream, cognac, sand and black – the re-edition brings renewed clarity to the chair’s sculptural form through material and colour. The presentation will be held from April 22nd to 26th, 2026 at Via della Spiga 30, Milan.
Armani/Casa
At the iconic Milanese flagship store on Corso Venezia 14, a symbolic location that embodies the spirit and origins of interior design and the Armani way of living, the Armani/Casa 2026 collection was presented under the title Origins. The new exhibition project was conceived as a fluid narrative that, starting from the designer’s iconic pieces, expands to evoke the style of his homes, whose atmospheres define a series of furnished environments. The icon was described as the purest expression of the Armani vision, condensed into recognizable and timeless objects that, while evolving, retain their intrinsic value. The street-facing windows symbolically frame eight pieces – the BALOON armchair, SEINE console, RIESLING bar cabinet, DUSTIN director’s chair, TOKYO armchair, WINCHESTER screen, LOGO lamp, and DANZICA coffee table – placing the original alongside its newest version. The display plays on contrasts: on one side, the object in its initial form; on the other, its evolution, perceived from the outside only as a silhouette filtered through frosted glass, fully revealed only within the store. On the ground floor, large black fabric drapes cover the walls and, like theatrical curtains, make the golden display cases shine.
On the second floor, the space invites exploration and was conceived as a silent compass guiding the visitor through three areas entirely dedicated to the living room – the heart of domestic life – intended for hospitality and social interaction, revealing the personality of those who inhabit it. Here, each area is defined by a large, delicate hand-painted watercolour evoking distinctive details of Giorgio Armani’s residences. The painting representing the gallery wall of the Milan home – where the designer’s timeless design language emerges – forms the backdrop for the new BORGONUOVO game table, the CLASSIC upholstered chairs in the delicate BRIGHTON jacquard fabric featuring a motif inspired by Armani/Fiori compositions, and the LOGO lamp in its new floor version. The softness of the colours contrasts with the black-and-white checkerboard floor, in dialogue with the design of the game table. A reference to the staircase and the sculpted black panthers, one of the most iconic corners of Giorgio Armani’s Milan home, characterizes the presentation of the sofa upholstered in the precious BILBAO linen fabric with a stonewashed chenille texture, the ALBERT armchairs covered in BERLIN floral jacquard fabric with a crackle-effect background, the BRERA coffee and side tables in black-stained ash with gold-coloured metal edges and small contrasting pull-out trays, and the LOGO lamps. Colours, shapes and textures harmonize in an expression of perfect balance.
The painted wall with the fireplace and large window defines an intimate and introspective space – a welcoming retreat that invites meditation and relaxation. The furnishings include the new PLAY sofa series in BRETAGNE fabric, soft combed and brushed wool, the BYRON armchairs, low tables, side tables, and the PLAY system bookcase combining natural leather with Canaletto walnut. The final area is dedicated to shared holiday moments with loved ones. A painted depiction of a serene seascape with light curtains moved by the breeze evokes Pantelleria and forms the backdrop for the large modular BRANDO sofa, consisting of a single sanded light grey oak sheet supporting cushions in BOMBAI shantung silk fabric. Completing the setup are the curved BRANDO low tables and RETTA table lamps. Each scene is completed by a series of new accessories, expressions of Armani/Casa’s art of hospitality, designed to integrate naturally into the environments and define their atmosphere. It was emphasized that Origins conveys the strong sense of continuity of Armani style, combining a taste for simplicity with attention to evolution over time. The Armani signature is strong and timeless precisely because it is in constant motion yet rooted in solid foundations.
– For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram
Images: Supplied & Feature Image: Supplied
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: emirateswoman.com
