Salone Mobile, Milan returns to the direction of global design

The courtyards reopen, the shop windows change their skin, the buildings are emptied to be rearranged. Milano returns to occupy the center of the global scene design. From tomorrow to April 26 the city overlaps with the fair and the fair with the city Furniture Fair. Milan in the pavilions of Milan Fair in Rho. Here, the data remains both industrial and strategic. Beyond 1,900 exhibitorswith a stable foreign share, and a fully occupied exhibition area. The product hubs that mark the biennial alternation return: EuroCucina, FTK – Technology for the Kitchen and the International Bathroom Exhibitiontogether with SaloneSatellite. This is where they focus technological innovationmaterials and production chains.

The most significant innovation is the structured entry of collectible design con Salon Raritiesedited by Annalisa Rosso and designed by the studio Formafantasma: a space dedicated to unique pieceslimited editions and excellent workmanship. A transition that brings the fair closer to the language of galleries and expands the perimeter of the market. Next, the theme of contract begins to structure itself as an autonomous area, with growing attention to complex spaces – hospitalityoffices, infrastructures – and their design configurations.

Fuorisalone and installations in the city

Outside the fair, the Fuorisalone (since yesterday) construction is carried out through localized interventions, with a density that is distributed along specific axes of the city. At the House of Artists returns Double Signaturea project that creates dialogue international designers e Italian master craftsmen: twelve unique works created by four hands, where the project meets traditional techniques and manufacturing. In the area of Tortona one of the most complex programs is concentrated. TO Factory 31“Soundsorial Design” Of IQOS con Devialet builds a reactive environment, where sound and space change in relation to the movements of the audience.

Experiments and new urban circuits

Al Geberit Experience Centerthe collective workshop oï presents “RS“, an installation on the water composed of elastic steel elements that react to passage. In via Tortona 25, Sara Ricciardi company “Corpography – Landscape of a woman“, an immersive environment built on organic shapes and soft surfaces. In via Tortona 12, I study Medus presents “Light is Shadow“, a project that works on electroluminescent light as matter. The independent circuit expands the urban radius. Alcove returns with new locations, including theformer Military Hospital of Baggio e Villa Pestarinibringing design into abandoned architecture and unconventional spaces, with an international selection of emerging designers and experimental studies.

Design trends and trajectories 2026

Alongside the individual projects, some product trajectories visible at the fair are consolidated: more enveloping shapesreturn of re-editions of the masters of the twentieth centurydevelopment ofarredo outdoor and a growing attention to customization. Technology is integrated into materials and objects, especially in kitchen and bathroom systemswhere a significant part of the research is concentrated. The week is thus constructed as a continuous sequence between Rho e Milano. On the one hand the industrial platformwith supply chains and innovation; on the other, a city that is fragmented into installations, exhibitions and temporary interventions. A system that, even in 2026confirms Milan as the central hub of global design trajectories.