From Gucci’s pop-up apartment to Gullermo Santoma’s Gas installation for Rimowa, Milan Design Week 2019 (April 9 – 14) showcased the very best of innovation and ingenuity within the design industry. Alongside the extravagant exhibits, however, were glimpses of the upcoming interior trends that’ll shape how our home interiors look in the near future.
UnSUBURBIA has explored the best of Milan Design Week 2019 and which trends you should seek to incorporate in your décor.
A return to age-old techniques
We don’t always have to look to the future to get inspiration for the latest interior trends. Woven and cane accessories and furnishings are having a resurgence, bringing differing textures and materials to our homes. Both of these traditional production methods were on show across Milan Design Week, offering insights into how best use them.
For accentuating features around the home, introducing wovens is your best option. Choose woven shades for a chandelier or light fitting, or something simpler such as a woven waste bin and a basket for storage. A woven plant pot with a bold leafy green plant sat inside is a beautiful combination for any space. LOEWE’s woven exhibit at the design show was regarded as one of the event’s highlights.
Although the use of cane may be seen as being a retro trend, designers are finding new ways of moulding this material into new shapes and styles. ‘Andy’, from Studio Marfa, is an excellent example of how cane can be brought to your home – an understated chair, it can bring a touch of style to any décor.
Curved furniture
At Milan Design Week, cubic design approaches were completely eclipsed by a movement towards curved lines and circular-inspired organics. The seating system designed by Christophe Delcourt for Minotti is the epitome of trend, allowing for flexibility and fluidity so furniture can be moved to suit any living space.
It’s not so much about having circular pieces in your home, but more about using curved edges to effortlessly exude style and practicality. Combining linear lengths and rounded bends in your furniture will not only bring an on-trend look to your interior, but also means you can have items that fit to the flow of your room without feeling shoehorned in.
Alternative marble features
Marble has long been a prominent figure within interior design, but Milan Design Week showcased the very best of those trying to reinvent this iconic material choice. The key to this trend is encouraging the use of differing colourations within the marble to add to its aesthetic. Visonnaire Home had some fine examples of this technique on display, mixing greens, oranges and whites for a marble-topped sideboard
‘Eco chic’
An emphasis has been placed on how we reuse materials such as plastic and metal in a sustainable manner (read UnSUBURBIA’s recent blog on this subject here) and it was an area high on the agenda at Milan Design Week.
The aesthetic of eco chic might not be to everyone’s taste, but that isn’t the trend’s main prerogative – it’s about creating products out of waste in an eco-friendly, ethical way. Think of plastic bottles being turned into wine glasses and chairs made of high impact polystyrene plastic waste for an idea of what the style is about. Milan-based design gallery Rossana Orlandi hosted an entire exhibit showcasing the best of eco chic design, supporting its ‘Guiltless Plastics’ initiative, where it offers out prizes in recognition of innovative product concepts using waste plastics.
The thrills of fringe
A material choice harking back to the roaring twenties, the thought of having fringe within your home décor could cast your mind back to a grandparent’s house and depict memories of an outdated interior. But in 2019, fringe has had a resurgence. It has gone full circle and become cool once again.
Introducing this revived trend into your home doesn’t need to be an arduous task – having small pops of coloured fringe will suffice to bring a space to life. Your lighting can be an efficient way of featuring fringe, whether it’s on a shade hanging from the ceiling or a simple table lamp.
The styles on show at Milan Design Week 2019 have blazed a trail for the future of interior trends. But adding these into your home doesn’t have to be a difficult task – with a few pops of fringe, cane and marble, you’ll have an on-trend decor that’s the envy of everyone.
Banner image: Credits to Gucci (@gucci – https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv7dN8_nZWI)
