Rounding up the week with trends, products and highlights of this year’s show!
Designers, architects, magazine editors and students headed over to Milan last week to send their fit bits into overdrive walking round everything there was on offer at this year’s show!
Introducing the highlights of Milan 2019:
This outdoor furniture trend is taking over interiors! Taysha Murtaugh, Senior Lifestyle Editor
Rattan, also known as manila, manau, or malacca, is no longer a feature from the 70s. This natural material has made its way back into the spotlight but this time it is popping up everywhere INSIDE instead of refined to outdoor furniture.
Yes, we know we have already dedicated a whole blog post to this colour, but that is because it is going to be big for the next year or two! Neo-mint was popping up on feature walls to sofas and outdoor chairs! Having been described as the new alternative to grey, this colour can be easily applied to many products and spaces.
Biophilia has been a rich topic over the past few years. As more and more people from the general public are starting to take an interest in how plants can benefit you, suppliers are meeting this demand. Some stands felt like you were walking into a jungle! With water sprays going off every few minutes to keep the jungle plants happy and even warm, tropical, humid air on some stands, this trend is only continuing to grow (pun intended)!
Everyone is searching for it – this hashtag gets you quite a few hits on your Instagram post! The term “hygge” is from Scandinavia and creates a cosy, warm and inviting lifestyle which gives you a feeling of comfort and well-being. Again, natural materials, earthy-tones, simple design and raw finishes make this trend what it is.
Everyone’s talking about Brexit. It’s unavoidable. As much as you tried to divert the conversation, I can pretty much guarantee Brexit cropped up in one of your conversations at the fair!
And so what do we do? We remember the simpler times of having a bit of fun! And there sure were some brands here to show us that! Everyone’s favourite mouse also made an appearance on a couple of stands for his 90th birthday!
Whilst our product expert works on the new releases from the fair (watch this space!), here are a couple of teasers…
The Grand Relax from Vitra. To be released in November 2019, this chair is one of the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat in…which came as a wonderful surprise after walking on your feet for 7 hours straight! The classic design and simple leather upholstery makes it a great fit for many spaces. But it is not until you sit in the chair when you can really appreciate its beauty. A must-try!
Rookie is a simple, new task chair from Konstantin Grcic. “Rookie stands for newcomer, or the youngster on a team”
Outdoor by lapalma. Walking into lapalma’s greenhouse (yes they loved their plants too!), we enjoyed seeing how the guests of the fair were subconsciously being invited to sit in the products lapalma have created for the outdoor space. Large, modular sofas, outdoor chairs featuring a mesh back adding a bit of a different style to the standard outdoor chairs, and an S-shaped alcove seating which can be sat in independently or for a quick catch up!
Also, Fermob showed a beautiful range of outdoor furniture, coming soon! Their outdoor chairs moved away from the cubist look and pulled inspiration from the traditional patio furniture with patterned back rests (photo shared in the neo-mint section of this post, above). They also have the largest outdoor, wireless lamp!
A great space at the Herman Miller show room in Milan! Pulling from across their family of brands, the exhibition includes products from Herman Miller, Colebrook Bosson Saunders, Design Within Reach, Geiger, HAY, Maars Living Walls, Maharam, naughtone and Nemschoff. These design-led brands allow you to create spaces of any kind!
We love the attention designers pay to the small, little details which make their designs beautifully though out
The underlying theme of all of these trends, products and highlights is nature. As we have seen the damaging effects of our actions over the past years, there is now a focus on our future; working sustainably, naturally and realising this might just help our physical, mental and emotional well-being as well!
Finally, during these uncertain economic times, we all just want to have a bit of fun. From crazy patterns, to statement pieces to the return of the most famous mouse as Mickey turns 90!
What was your highlight of the fair?