Milan Design Week’s Two Moods

At Salone del Mobile and across Milan Design Week, two very different mindsets came into focus.

On one side: geometry, discipline, hard lines, architectural rigor. A kind of neo-geo brutalism defined by trapezoids, exposed structures, and precise proportions, with furniture that leans toward the future.

On the other: curves, softness, tweed upholstery, fur and carpets. A more nostalgic language, where pieces are sensual, tactile and grounded in comfort.

The energy this year comes from the friction between these approaches. Some brands leaned clearly in one direction, others held both at once, placing strict geometry alongside soft, enveloping forms. Minimalism and maximalism sat side by side. Masculine and feminine codes overlapped.

The most frequent table conversation this week in Milan was about the new direction that Piero Gandini, the Executive Chairman of the Flos B&B Italia Group, is bringing in the industry, which is putting the focus back on single industrial design projects, as seen at B&B in the new striking advertising campaign presenting legacy products by Richard Sapper and Gaetano Pesce, and in the minimalistic presentation at the fair of new products by Jasper Morrison and Vincent van Duysen.

This is the opposite of the dominant trend in the industry which is to present design immersed in lifestyle environments and offering total living solutions from sofas to bed, from kitchen to bathroom, from dining tables to wall bookshelves, as seen at Boffi|DePadova with an elegant Milanese installation reconstructing the apartment of the founder Maddalena DePadova and at Minotti with sensual living rooms and killer lounges with a retrofuture feeling by Gianpiero Tagliarerri. Molteni, Flexform and Poliform brought the idea of a complete lifestyle even further, from the interiors to the exteriors, showing new outdoor collections in beautiful gardens and open-air installations.

With so much to discover, here are our highlights from the week, reflecting a broader moment, one which is unresolved, pulling in both directions, moving forward while looking back, yet finding beauty in the tension.

 

Molteni&C

 

Molteni&C brought the architectural side of the trend into the natural world. For Milan Design Week, the brand presents its 2026 Outdoor Collection, curated by Vincent Van Duysen, through Responsive Nature, a site-specific installation by Elisa Ossino Studio at Via Senato 14.

The installation unfolds as six botanical worlds, each with its own spatial identity, from the Garden of Eden to the Third Landscape, Aquatic Garden, Hortus Botanicus and Lunar Garden. Van Duysen’s Soleva collection, Gio Ponti’s D.150.5 armchair and other outdoor pieces were placed in a setting where nature, architecture and furniture answered one another.

Molteni&C’s installation concludes with a more immersive, digital environment, where projections and mirrored surfaces extend the idea of nature into a responsive system, shifting with movement and light.

 

Poliform

For Milan Design Week, Poliform presented its 2026 collection at Palazzo Clerici, the 18th-century palazzo known for its frescoed ceilings and grand salons, staging a series of interiors that include living, dining, kitchen and outdoor. Titled Multitude, the installation transformed the space into a kind of abstract landscape, where the collection was set against a forest of vertical structures, giving the rooms a more scenographic, almost urban dimension.

The Harp kitchen was one of the central elements of the presentation, part of the new collection developed with designers including Jean-Marie Massaud, Emmanuel Gallina, and Yabu Pushelberg, who define much of Poliform’s current direction. Harp is built on a clear geometric structure, with a strong emphasis on proportion and continuity. At the same time, the design softens that structure. The edges are rounded, the surfaces flow, and the volumes feel more continuous than segmented.

 

Edra

 

Edra’s world has always belonged to the emotional side of design, but this year the brand gave that softness an architectural setting. At Salone del Mobile, Edra focused on the new Anywhere sofa by Francesco Binfaré and the Dilly lamp by Jacopo Foggini.

At the same time, its Palazzo Durini presentation extended through the frescoed piano nobile, the ground-floor gallery and the courtyard, placing contemporary pieces inside the historical beauty of the Milanese palazzo. It was softness with scale. Sofas such as On the Rocks, Standard and Sherazade appeared outdoors alongside A’Mare, Veronica, as well as the Brasilia tables and the Flowers Collection. In Edra’s hands, comfort becomes theatrical, almost cinematic.

 

Boffi | De Padova

For Milan Design Week, Boffi | De Padova presented a project at its Santa Cecilia showroom marking 70 years of De Padova, built around the idea of “Milanese elegance.”

Conceived by Creative Director Chiara Tombari in collaboration with architect Giovanni Battista Gianola, the installation draws on the domestic vision of founder Maddalena De Padova, framing the showroom as a complete interior rather than a series of individual pieces.

The space is kept deliberately light and restrained, with a focus on proportion, material and continuity. The presentation brings together different influences such as Scandinavian, American and Japanese, within a cohesive, controlled setting.

 

Moroso

 

At its Milan flagship, Moroso presented Me Time, an installation centered on the sleeping area. The space is built around the idea of slowing down and focuses on atmosphere, with the bedroom becoming the core of the presentation.

The Sedona Edge bed by Patricia Urquiola reflects this approach, balancing structure and softness. The frame is precise, but the surfaces are tactile, with the form opening into something more comfortable.

Alongside it, Diesel Living’s Baggy Bed introduces a different approach. Softer, more immediate, less structured, it shifts the idea of the bed toward something more informal and relaxed.

 

B&B Italia

 

B&B Italia may have offered one of the clearest examples of both sides of the conversation. Returning to Milan Design Week with a broad presentation of new products, collaborations and archival pieces, the brand placed intelligent minimalism and emotional symbolism side by side.

On the hard, precise side was Richard Sapper’s Nena folding armchair from 1984, a piece of almost invisible cleverness. Light, mobile and exact, it can be folded and hung on a wall or stored away, making it also feel like a compact piece of mechanical thought. In that sense, it represents design distilled to movement, structure and intuition.

But B&B Italia also brought in the opposite sensibility through Gaetano Pesce’s UP5_6 armchair from 1969. Bold, upholstered and impossible to ignore, the chair remains a statement as much as a seat. Its rounded body is welcoming and unsettling at once, carrying Pesce’s reflection on the condition of women and proving that furniture can hold meaning well beyond function.

 

Janus et Cie

 

At its Milan showroom on Via Fatebenefratelli, Janus et Cie presented its 2026 introductions, focusing on new outdoor collections developed with a group of designers, including Sebastian Herkner.

The Besso seating collection is one of the key pieces. Built in teak, it draws on Japanese architectural references, with a clear, linear structure and low, horizontal proportions. The silhouettes are controlled and precise, with a strong emphasis on framing and rhythm across the dining and lounge pieces. Alongside it, the Bollaro dining table by Herkner introduces a different presence. More rounded and inviting, it softens the overall presentation, bringing a sense of ease to the space.

The presentation brings these pieces together as a complete outdoor suite, where dining and lounge elements are designed to work as a unified system rather than as standalone objects.

 

Poltrona Frau

 

At its flagship on Via Manzoni, Poltrona Frau presented the True Over Time 2026 collection, reworking the space around a mix of new pieces and updated systems.

The Blisscape seating system by Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba is central. Expanded for 2026, it becomes deeper and more flexible, with new modular elements and adjustable armrests that shape the structure around the body. The Blisscape low tables extend this, combining marble and Pelle Frau® leather in clean, balanced forms.

The DomusCove Day system by Dante Bonuccelli introduces a more architectural layer, with modular shelving and storage, while pieces like Infinitamente 2.0 by Roberto Lazzeroni and the Zabriskie system bring in marble, leather and metal through more structured, horizontal compositions.

 

Minotti

 

Minotti built one of the week’s most complete environments. The Minotti Pavilion 2026, developed by Minotti Studio with Giampiero Tagliaferri, presented the new collection through the work of six design voices: Marcio Kogan / Studio MK27, Nendo, GamFratesi, Inoda+Sveje, Hannes Peer and Tagliaferri himself.

From the outside, the pavilion leaned hard: exposed concrete, dark Palissandro cladding, brutalist suggestions and strong architectural framing. Inside, however, the mood became layered and atmospheric, with double-height rooms, brass details, fireplaces, carpets, rosewood, green areas and water features. The presentation drew on both the 1970s and the 1990s, shifting between expressive interiors and precise modernity.

The brand’s softer side came through in pieces such as the Coupé seating system by Tagliaferri, with its overlapping rounded volumes and 1960s and 1970s influence. Wallpaper also highlighted Hannes Peer’s Blaine table for Minotti, a piece that combined sculptural expression with precise engineering, showing how the brand is working both ends of the spectrum: softness and structure, nostalgia and control.

 

Cassina

 

At the Cassina Store Milano, the 2026 presentation is built around the idea of material intelligence, with the space itself used to draw a connection between architectural details and the finishes of the collection.

The Ardys seating system by Patricia Urquiola set the tone. Its soft, enveloping forms are echoed in the window display through wall reliefs that emphasize its modular structure, while surrounding surfaces reflect the new lacquer finishes introduced this year. Running through the store, the Ghost-Wall system by Mikal Harrsen defined the layout, moving across living, dining and bedroom settings, showing a fully customizable wall system that can integrate into the space or disappear entirely, especially when combined with Urquiola’s wallpaper applied directly to the panels.

Cassina also collaborated with Linde Freya Tangelder on Fluid Re-Collection at 10 Corso Como, an exhibition that brings together craftsmanship and industry, ancient and contemporary techniques, serial production and limited-edition pieces. The overall presentation focuses mainly on fluidity as a way of thinking: material, process, memory and contemporary production moving together.

 

Flexform

For Milan Design Week, Flexform presented The Private Lives of Objects as a two-part project, with an outdoor installation at Chiostro Sant’Angelo and an indoor presentation at its Milan flagship. The focus is on how furniture sits within the home over time, rather than on individual statements. The pieces are shown in settings that feel lived-in, with an emphasis on continuity between objects and space.

The 2026 collection brings together work by Antonio Citterio, Patrick Norguet, Fumie Shibata and Sebastian Herkner. Seating, storage and accessories are developed as part of a consistent language, with controlled proportions and a focus on material.

 

Visionnaire

 

At Milan Design Week 2026, Visionnaire presented Rare Matter at Salone del Mobile, a collection developed under the creative direction of Eleonore Cavalli.

The presentation unfolds through a sequence of connected environments, where concrete and ceramic surfaces establish a continuous material dialogue. Warm tones and reflective elements introduce depth, while the space is structured with a clear architectural logic.

“Each piece is conceived as a singular project, where material and structure act as one. Forms are sharp and architectural; volumes define space with clarity and precision.”

Alongside this, Visionnaire presented a capsule collection designed by the NM3 collective through a pop-up at 10 Corso Como, introducing a more radical and structural language, closer to architecture and sculpture.