The Best of Milan Design Week 2018, Part I

This year marked our tenth anniversary of attending the Salone del Mobile in Milan, and this year’s fair felt a bit… different. The showrooms were more crowded (sometimes uncomfortably so), the brands were more lavish (Hermes’s installation employing 150,000 Moroccan tiles rivaled only Flos’s poured concrete last year in terms of sheer material costs), and the trends felt less obvious (we’re living in such maximalist times that it can feel like all colors are suddenly trending at once). But the biggest difference for us was in our own attitude towards the fair, and our confidence in living out the week on our own terms. Ten years of pounding the pavement has taught us many important lessons, including a) figure out the Milanese tram system, it’s a total lifesaver; b) never day drink; c) make time for inspiring field trips and long lunches with friends; and d) only see the things that you’re absolutely dying to see. Here’s the first of our posts chronicling all the wonderful things we found.