The city fills with spectacular installations and crowds; hotel rates soar to prohibitive levels, taxis become impossible to find. Such is the Milan Design Week effect, whose repercussions – both positive and negative – are well known. But what drives this success? Where is there room for improvement, and what challenges lie ahead, now and in the future? We put these questions to three key figures behind this macro-event.
Maria Porro
President of Salone del Mobile.Milano
The Salone del Mobile.Milano is far more than a trade fair: it is a cultural and economic infrastructure that forges connections between companies, designers, institutions, and visions. In this sense, its bond with Milan is not merely historical but structural. The Salone brings to the city an extraordinary international momentum: it activates relationships, generates content, and fosters opportunities for exchange between markets and design cultures. Milan, in turn, offers the Salone something equally vital: a unique ecosystem composed of enterprises, schools, showrooms, cultural institutions, and a creative community capable of making design an integral part of the urban fabric. It is this reciprocity that underpins the success of Design Week and its enduring ability to attract a global community year after year. Today, our commitment is to further strengthen this platform. In an international landscape marked by profound transformations, the Salone increasingly aspires to serve as a compass for businesses: a space in which to interpret change, chart new trajectories of growth, and nurture dialogue between industry, research, and design culture. To this end, we are exploring new design territories – such as contract – and developing curatorial platforms like Salone Raritas, which broaden the scope of design while enhancing its most experimental and cultural dimensions. At the same time, we continue to invest in the cultural sphere and in emerging talents, because design today is no longer merely about products: it is thought, methodology, and the capacity to interpret the complexity of the present. Looking ahead, the challenge is twofold: on the one hand, to continue interpreting the complexity of global markets, offering companies a platform capable of guiding, connecting, and generating new opportunities; on the other, to grow while maintaining the highest standards of quality – enhancing the experience for exhibitors and visitors alike, strengthening international reach, and making the richness of this ecosystem ever more accessible and legible.
