There is a lot of anticipation in the design world for Milano Design Week 2025. Not only because of what will be shown during a week that is becoming longer and longer, and which is also linked to Art Week (the miart fair takes place from April 4 to 6). But also because it will see a change in the physiognomy of the Salone, which has always been its epicenter: some big companies have decided to leave the event and focus on their showrooms in the city, a trend that has been going on for years but today is really of a consistency that does not go unnoticed. We asked Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, for her point of view.
What do you expect from this Salone?
We have been going around the world with meetings and press conferences, and I have felt a great desire to be there. And also a very, very great appreciation. The work on the cultural project and also the change of pace in communication in the digital part create even more interest. I feel a positive wave even from very distant places. Then we know that the international context is complicated and full of uncertainties, so this broad work of international promotion, of opening new markets, is very important. The big architectural firms have been accrediting for a long time, there is a lot of demand to participate in the Lighting Forum. There is really a lot of expectation and attention.
Speaking of uncertainties, in recent years, major companies have decided not to come to Rho.
Does this change the physiognomy of the fair?
There have always been changes; a turnover of names is normal. For those who have left, there are many – important both in terms of specific weight and relevance – who have returned or come for the first time. Of course, I cannot mention names (I will mention them: Natuzzi, Nemo Group, Vispring, Moooi and many others – ed.). Another thing I can say is that the Salone has an attraction that it puts at the service of everyone, even those who decide to stay in the city. In these 61 years, the evolution of the event has also reflected the revolution in the manufacturing supply chain: an extremely dynamic context – unfortunately! – that has seen companies grow, die, and be reborn; international or governmental transitions. So I would try to look at the whole and not stop at individual cases.
In any case, there has been a decline in numbers: from pre-Covid to now, the number of exhibitors has declined.
There was also the decision to have a one-size-fits-all fair there, that is to say, to incentivize a reduction in square meters per company to reduce their investment. However, it has to be said that the number of visitors and operators has set a record and is back to pre-Covid levels, we are talking about +28% compared to last year in terms of operators, 6,000 journalists, a very successful 2024 in an international context where other fairs no longer exist. I hope that the economic situations that have led to some decisions will be resolved. Because everyone is important.
For those who choose not to attend the Salone, what are their reasons?
Ask them, not me. I’ll just say one thing: the Salone has a committee that decides who gets in and who doesn’t. The city does not. Anyone who comes and has the means can take the space they want without having to be evaluated and approved.
The European scene is changing: fairs that no longer exist, a phenomenon like 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen that excites everyone. What is happening?
There is a changing world, a changing distribution, more and more B2C, more and more commissions and big projects. The way of communication is changing. If you don’t have the parameters, it’s increasingly easy to get lost – as a consumer, as a professional – and not understand where quality and real innovation lie. The management of the Salone has a scale of values in which companies are selected and positioned according to a scale of expressive capacity and not purely economic parameters. Not the ability to invest in a space, but the ability to express a project. Events like this are the most important to help the consumer really read who is doing quality, who is doing innovation and who is not. Then, all these changes are intercepted by the Salone, and the work we do to involve architects, interior designers, but also contractors, is a very strong and widespread work made up of important investments. At the service of the entire sector.
What are your strategies for the future?
Internationalization. The MoU signed with Saudi Arabia is the project to organize an event dedicated to the contracting of large projects, a concrete goal in the short term. In the last two years there has also been a lot of interest from big international players, so we are working on that as well. We are moving through many different regions, we mentioned Saudi Arabia and then the whole Gulf area, but there is also India. Our cultural project is helping to position even better the companies that fit into the context of the Salone. I cannot tell you anything now, but there is already something very important in the pipeline for 2026.
Many people say that the Milan Design Week has become too big. Are there any solutions?
The week is now of interest not only to those involved in furniture, but to everyone. This has led to confusion, to greater difficulty in being seen by all those outside, self-generated events that in the past were an added value, a special spice. With the Polytechnic we have a project on the ‘design ecosystem’, we try to create working tables, exchange of ideas. With our digital structure, we try to help the companies present at the Salone and in the city to be visible, we promote the events organized by institutions like the Triennale and the Compasso d’Oro. At the end of the day, this also helps the visitor. In the end, the benefit is for all the companies that are part of our system. Not just those that choose to be in Rho.
