Let’s begin with what did not make the Milan Design Week 2025 highlights list: arriving to the international furniture fair’s host city blanketed under puffy clouds. There was a chill in the air, both literally (attendees donned their late-winter looks and showed off their facility for the grand European tradition of scarf-knotting) and metaphorically, as all anyone seemed to want to talk about over four-hour dinners and one-more’s at Bar Basso were tariffs and the geopolitical trade war.

By week’s end, the sun returned, if not exactly a sunny global outlook on manufacturing and shipping. But the industry persisted, with discussions around the potential impacts and proposing ways to lessen them through innovation or a return to older traditions, plus compelling product debuts and enticing installations that offered glimmers of light. So goes the weather patterns of the design world. Here, home in on the rays of light with our official roundup of Milan Design Week 2025 highlights.

Alcova

Both Alcova sites, as usual for the immersive showcase, were packed with crowds. And beautiful products and projects: Tucked into Osvaldo Borsani’s 1945 modernist Villa Borsani, rooms overflowed with the tasteful, including Faye Toogood’s floral tableware for Noritake; the tasty, like Soft Witness’s baby alpaca lounge chair shaped like a camel-colored Romanesco cauliflower; and those delightfully edging toward bad taste, like Inderjeet Sandhu’s Pervert vases-cum-meditations on gay sexuality.

Inside Alcova’s second location, the frescoed 19th-century Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a furry monolith of a chair loomed over a goth-spiked group show by the great Room-File, while the Shakti Design Residency argued convincingly that Indian collectible design has never been more vibrant. Outside, the nearby Pasino Glasshouses were fertile ground for David Aliperti’s tangled, spiny ceramics, and for Objects of Common Interest’s collaboration with Greek Marble, in which a sun-shaped speaker broadcast the sounds of a marble quarry as guests sat on a grid of stunning stones that was less a conversation pit than a conversation platform.

On the Record

Chat, after all, is a main fuel of Milan Design Week. Prada and Formafantasma held its In Transit symposium at Milan Central Station, where packed audiences explored the tensions between design and the natural environment while examining Gio Ponti and Giulio Minolett’s green and groovy 1950 Padiglione Reale and Arlecchino Train. David Rockwell Studio and Cork Collective seemingly wrung out every possible potential of cork, from lacy wall covering and lampshade to sculptural tree to chair to miniature models of chairs for its Casa Cork in Brera, the city’s design district, where Tiffany Jow moderated talks on the material’s circular economics with Suchi Reddy, Yves Béhar, and others. And discussions lent personal touches to Salone’s endless showroom rows, with Jaime Hayon joining Nani Marquina in her booth to talk over their charming partnerships, and theater legend Robert Wilson holding a masterclass with solar designer Marjan van Aubel and plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso within Sou Fujimoto’s the Forest of Space Arena at Euroluce.

New and Notable

At Salone, Kartell reintroduced Joe Colombo’s 1964 KD28 Lamp, which has never looked fresher; more of the designer’s legacy can be explored at a concurrent retrospective at the Kartell Museum, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Flos worked with Formafantasma on site-specific installations of modular lamps and new collections from Michael Anastassiades, Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, and Piero Lissoni. In a pavilion of repurposed and recycled materials designed by Office, Knoll debuted collections by Johnston Marklee, Willo Perron, and cleverly stacked sculptural offerings from Jonathan Muecke. And Poliform floated ideas for modular seating like a nautical Lagoon Sofa with rope backrest and organic Reef outdoor tables, both by Emmanuel Gallina.

Ready for Bed

It’s a reaction that seemed fitting for the state of affairs: Many brands were taking to bed. This was a trend one couldn’t help but notice this season. Champalimaud Design impressed at L’Appartamento by Artemest with a modernist bed tucked into a grove of hand-painted citrus tree wall covering. Convey had a rumbled bed and crisp sets of percale sheets by Under. Delvis (Un)Limited put Somnia Banquet’s bed built for four in the front of its Brera gallery; each night, a designer slept there before a journalist woke them up for an interview. Marimekko and Laila Gohar went even further, transforming the entire floor of the Art Deco Teatro Litta into one large bed, dressed in Maija Isola archive stripes, into which visitors could drink coffee and eat pastries ordered by waiters in crisp Marimekko pajamas. It was just the place to contemplate dreams of the future—or, if like me, recuperate after staying out way too late the night before, raving to Björk and Vegyn, who DJ’ed on top of the Triennale di Milano.

Group Show Standouts

Designheads without the Salone bandwidth, though, were still spoiled for choices. The Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts previewed the coming Solar Biennale at Milan’s House of Switzerland, showcasing handwoven bio-textile by Mari Koppanen and Estelle Bourdet, and Livia Lauber’s UMSO light, featuring a washi paper shade and frame by USM Modular Furniture—who also collaborated with Pharrell’s Humanrace at Capsule Plaza on an eye-catching immersive bathroom installation, where its signature green Haller system expanded its potential into showers, tubs, vanities, even bath products, complemented by Laufen fixtures. This year, Capsule Plaza itself was also growing, expanding from its industrial Spazio Maiocchi home into the former gym and pool next door, and one-time garage and retail space in Porta Venezia, the latter of which hosted a grid of mirrors, mohair carpet, and tangles of 3D-printed tables by Misha Kahn for Friedman Benda.

At 10 Corso Como, Benjamin Hubert also looked back at 10 years of his Layer firm, and to the future, with innovative ideas for water collection, plant fermentation, and other ecological survival techniques. This determination in the face of anxiety over the state of the world was very welcome. And at designer showcase Convey, now in its third year and also in Porta Venezia, had Milan Design Week attendees buzzing with its careful edit: Bona fide classics like Gaetano Pesce’s 2007 Nubola armchair, brought back to life by Meritalia, rub shoulders with striking newcomers like the Oïphorique P Gr floor lamp by Atelier Oï, whose textile diffusers expand and contract like lungs, offered by Parachilna. Convey’s coffee and panettone bar was also a great place to pause and take a breath before heading to the city’s long list of showroom installations.

Installations of Note

Louis Vuitton launched its Signature collection, including Patrick Jouin’s zippered armchair secured with a golden padlock and new furnishings from Patricia Urquiola and Estúdio Campana. Nilufar time-traveled, carefully assembling a mix of ancient art from the East, Italian midcentury modern, and new textiles by Taher Asad-Bakhtiari; its Depot location, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a Fosbury Architecture installation incorporating metallic works from the 1970s by Walter Moretti and 21st-century creations by Supaform and Studioutte. Artemest also celebrated its 10th anniversary, and the third edition of its L’Appartamento by Artemest, at the exquisite 19th-century Palazzo Donizetti, with six designers, creating six new ways to live in splendor, including a grand and golden dining room by AD100 talent Brigette Romanek.

But for me, the highlights of Milan Design Week offered ways out of the moment’s (appropriate) pessimism. Dimoremilano transformed the Cortile della Seta courtyard of Loro Piana’s HQ into a dark and stormy night in a home of fine furniture and bad vibes. The lights go off and one comes a soundtrack of thunderstorms, shoes clunking above you, dishes crashing, people shouting…and then the lights come back on. It’s chilling, yet brief. This storm will pass. And we can find in the past the strength to make a brighter future. As an example, look to “Transposition,” Samuel Ross’s project with the Balvenie at a historic bell foundry in the Isola district. Ross riffed on traditional coppersmith techniques to fashion a trio of massive copper frames that become home to circulating showers of glittering mist, then larger raindrops which act as glinting sequins and also percussive elements for the ambient soundtrack. The word that came to mind, while sinking into the minimalist spectacle, was intoxication. But Ross had a few better ones. “When it comes to what’s missing from design culture, it’s okay to undo the top button and allow theatre to come into play,” he said. “Whether it’s writers, thinkers, academics, or practitioners, we’re all free radicals. I don’t want us to lose that spirit of freedom.” MDW was as good a moment as any to drink that all in, whatever the weather. —Jesse Dorris

AD Editor Field Notes

Arrivederci Milano! We came, we saw, we Bar Basso–ed. For more fair standouts, glimpse the field notes of AD market director Madeline O’Malley and senior design editor Hannah Martin, from what may be the softest blanket on the market to the lava stone resource designers should know.

“Speak, Memory” by Casa Cabana

For the lifestyle brand’s first Milan Design Week exhibition, Deborah Needleman tasked seven creatives with designing an original piece inspired by Cabana founder Martina Mondadori’s Renzo Mongiardino–designed childhood home. I especially loved ceramicist Peter Schlesinger’s commanding vessels in the entrance hall, as well as James Cherry’s mobile-like lighting crafted from discarded tights and Bode x Green River Project’s debris-printed seating.—Hannah Martin

Hemispheres by Dimorestudio x Hosoo

AD100 talent Dimorestudio collaborated with Kyoto-based textiles brand Hosoo for a collection of fabrics derived from thousands of heirloom obi patterns—windblown bamboo fronds, delicate peach blossoms, and sketched chrysòs among them. The fabrics were presented in Osanna Visconti’s impeccable Via Santa Marta apartment, upholstering her signature bronze furniture pieces.—Madeline O’Malley

“Repertorio” by Nilufar Depot

This year marks 10 years of the Depot, and the gallery is celebrating with a labyrinthian show of silver furniture from past and present. The metal has a major presence all around Milan again this year—and this show really crystallizes that, showing pieces by newcomers like Studioutte alongside icons like Maria Pergay. New crocheted bronze furniture by Allegra Hicks and an incredible vintage selection by Gabriella Crespi were also on view.—HM

Canyon Road by Ralph Lauren Home

Ralph Lauren Home’s Canyon Road collection hits close to home for me—a born-and-raised Arizonan—with its heavy American West influence. Saddle leather, rustic oak, and pewter details complete the vibe. The brand collaborated with seventh-generation Navajo weavers Tyler and Naiomi Glasses for the textiles and decorative accessories in the collection, giving designers plenty of layering options.—MO

Loewe’s expressive teapots

Loewe is always a stand out among the fashion brands for me. We previewed the Spanish luxury brand’s artisan-reimagined teacups in the April issue, but it was so special to see them all completed and IRL at Palazzo Citterio. I’ll be interested to see how Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez continue this conversation around craft when they take the helm.—HM

Welcome home, The Row

The Row debuted their first-ever home pieces in a collection of blankets and bedding. No surprise: They’re incredibly chic—and the softest things I’ve ever touched. (The fibers come from Kashmir Valley goats that live atop the hills.) Presented in the Row’s Milan offices at Palazzo Belgioios, the cashmere layers were draped over gracile clothing racks by Julian Schnabel in the monastic setting. —MO

Material discovery at Alcova

This immersive showcase is always my favorite place for scouting new talents, and this year, they expanded the location to include a dilapidated factory in the area. Raneiri was the standout for me. The lava stone resource grants designers an impressive creative range, with options to apply the natural material to walls, counters, and furnishings. And I’m not alone: When catching up with designer Mario Milana this week, he shared he recently collaborated with them on tabletop surfaces.—HM

Pivot d’Hermès side tables by Tomás Alonso x Hermes

With their colored Italian glass bases and Japanese cedar pivoting box tops, these tables were total functioning art. The series marks the third time Hermès has collaborated with the Spanish designer.—MO

Philippe Malouin x Lehni at Salon 94

Lehni is the company that produced all of Donald Judd’s metal furniture, and this season’s Bent Aluminium collection marks the company’s first designer collab since Judd. Malouin’s pieces are super industrial and beautiful in highlighter hues. The designer calls it “manufacturing porn,” highlighting the meticulous craft behind industrial design.—HM

Wallpaper by San Patrignano x Arjumand’s World

San Patrignano, the artisan collective that employs a community of people affected by addiction, collaborated with Arjumand’s World for a collection of wallpapers profuse in color, pattern, and technique. Very Mongiardino evocative, the patterns are inspired by far east Asia and the Middle East, from a stamped leather damask to brightly colored tile patterns.—MO