Salone del Mobile: Part 2

The Brand Superlatives.

1. Best mix of business and culture: Loewe & J.W. Anderson

For both the Loewe and J.W. Anderson brands, authentic synergies with the art and design worlds were created. Blending cultural clout with business to feature each brand’s activities inside boutiques and (also purchasable) at external exhibits. For the “Loewe Lamps” installation, lamp designs were commissioned from 24 internationally known artists. J.W. Anderson unveiled the “Days” exhibition of fine gauge knits in varying lengths, yarns, and colors, each with a different word, by LA-based artist Patrick Carroll.

2. Best data acquisition: Gucci

Gucci’s multi-pronged approach included a flagship redesign with in-store exhibition, the takeover of the city tram system, and a newsstand with limited-edition postcards and flower giveaways. The brand had people lining up by the thousands for waits of up to two hours. The hitch? Showgoers give their personal data to Gucci – CRM gold, if you will – in exchange for participating with the esteemed hometown Gucci brand.  

3. Best Brand Collab: Bottega Veneta x Cassina

Not just a line-inducing exhibition or activation, Bottega Veneta partnered with luxury Italian furniture brand Cassina to present a brand collaboration and product launch. The reinterpretation of the iconic 1952 LC14 Tabouret Cabanon is for sale in limited editions at both Bottega Veneta and Cassina. The “On The Rocks” campaign for the Salone del Mobile events and the in-store product display of these multifunctional boxes were both elegant and modern.

4. Best use of spaces: Aesop

Featuring various installations scattered around Milan, Aesop reached a larger audience with this simple but genius location-splattering tactic. Like Gucci’s multi-locational strategy, Aesop leveraged its strengths in perfume and body care to insert the brand into the design week’s conversations in different iterations, such as a spa made of soap bars, complete with hand washing tutorial, and the Aromatorium, a walk-in chamber releasing a different scent each hour.

5. Best unexpected participant: Oatly

Though on the surface, there seemed to be no reason for Oatly to participate in Milan’s Design Week, they showed up in a creative and clever way that made sense for the brand and created justifiable buzz. Execution was the key to their success, and it became a teaching moment for culture-conscious brands: total outliers can participate in Salone del Mobile IF…the concept, aesthetics, design, and positioning are ON POINT and relevant (that’s why you read this newsletter.)

6. Best community experience: Miu Miu

The Miu Miu Literary Club wins for Best Community Experience, though there was no clear connection from the venue and activities to the design world other than the fact that the club happenings were during design week. What made it so wonderful and insightful for the brand is that they knew their core community would be in Milan for Salone, so it simply brought them together in a beautiful way and spoke to them on the levels of aesthetics, intelligence, and consequence their constituency considers themselves at. 

7. Best limited-edition item: Rimowa

Creating a pop-up Caffè Rimowa and collaborating with La Marzocco, the classic Italian commercial espresso machine used at most bars in Italy, Rimowa nailed the local aspect of being present at Salone del Mobile. Partnering with a respected Italian-made product and finding the aesthetic synergy between the industrial style of Marzocco and the contemporary design of Rimowa itself, they changed lanes to showcase themselves in a new light. 

8. Best strategic placement: Moncler

Moncler made a pure play to raise brand awareness and elevate the name, with no product or design collaborations to speak of, which is funny in a way because Moncler is the poster child for collaborating. The brand positioned its ethereal exhibition “An Invitation to Dream” in the very place where most Salone del Mobile participants would pass through either on their way in or out of the city, Milan’s Central Train Station. Strong first and last impressions for a strong brand. 

9. Best poly-partnering: Valentino x Cabana x Laila Gohar x Sant Ambroeus

Italian interiors publication Cabana Magazine and Valentino led the magazine’s 10th-anniversary celebration at the close of Salone del Mobile. To fete Cabana, Valentino provided 10 limited edition silk-patterned covers of the magazine, while chef-of-moment Laila Gohar creative-directed the kitchen of glocal gastronomic institution Sant Ambroeus Milano for a gorgeously curated and presented event. This is a perfect example of how macro-relevancy can be created by partnering with multiple cultural needle-movers simultaneously. A more-the-merrier approach executed to great effect.