We’re all familiar with the idea of the American Dream, but what about the Italian version? Ever since the 1900s, it’s gone a little like this: move to Brianza, open a furniture shop, create the future.
For many young Italians, there can be no finer way of living. And to this day, this nation remains the spiritual heartland for all that is bold and beautiful. With the much-anticipated return of the Salone del Mobile Fair this month, we took a moment to catch up with all our favourite Italian design houses, to find out in which direction they’ll be headed in AW21 and beyond.
A curve ball
The first thing to know about the homes of the future is that they will not look much like the ones we have today. Whereas contemporary homes are a shrine to all that is straight and boxy, life in the future will be curvy. As will the sofas, tables and chairs.
The prevalence of such thinking in the upper echelons of Italian design is no coincidence. It builds on the research of Ingrid Fetell Lee, whose 2018 Ted talk revealed what many creatives had long suspected — sinuous shapes are clinically proven to spark joy. Indeed, when neurologists conducted MRI scans, they found the part of the brain responsible for fear and anxiety lit up whenever volunteers were asked to examine linear objects. The reaction to round, colourful objects was entirely different. The amygdala lay dormant. But everywhere else came alive with signals usually reserved for moments of contentment and play.
It explains why today you’ll find contemporary designers experimenting with curvy silhouettes that would have seemed outlandish to devoted modernists just a few years ago. And why architects have begun to rethink the traditional shape and feel of schools and hospitals across the country.
Among the new and noteworthy interior styles are cocooning loungers — more akin to cumulus clouds than formal settees — and undulating metal sideboards, inspired by the optical illusions of Alfred Hitchcock posters.
Beautiful, cosy, and more than a little indulgent, they reveal a distinct shift in sartorial styling. If once Italian design was driven by the pursuit of rationalism, today it’s all about serving up designs that can surprise and delight.
In this new world, comfort is king, and by far the most important stimulus for maximising our experience of life indoors.
No room for nostalgia
Doing away with nostalgia might seem like an odd idea for a country that worships tradition. But there’s a difference between being steeped in something and being bound by it.
And while the intelligence of the human hand remains the greatest asset of Italian artisans, a growing desire for sustainability has forced many design houses to rethink how they operate and grow.
To paraphrase one creative director we spoke to, it’s no longer enough to create designs that will be handed down and loved ad infinitum. Rather, the very fibres they are made from must also be actively working towards improving the health of our planet, too.
At Cassina, this has led to the creation of the Cassina Lab. A dedicated R&D department focused on transforming both icons and novelties into the very best eco-friendly versions of themselves.
Charlotte Perriand & Le Corbusier’s classic LC3 armchair is a case in point. In the new Grand Fauteuil version, its cushions are reimagined with recycled fibres and polymers, obtained primarily from ocean waste and masterfully repurposed to ensure the cosiness one has come to expect of this Made in Italy design.
Magis is another Venetian brand making waves in the sustainable space. Over the last year, it began to work alongside the local car industry, transforming waste into innovative new materials for products and packaging.
Such initiatives don’t just nudge companies closer to their carbon neutrality goals. They also show that we don’t have to swear off our history in order to trace a sustainable future. Rather, with just a little creativity, we can rethink how we make and consume, placing responsibility next to beauty in the contemporary pantheon of aesthetics.
This time, it’s personal
If there is one takeaway from the pandemic, it’s that we’re increasingly looking for individual expressions of style. Designs to make our own. And ideas that can adapt to the amorphous ways we’re choosing to work and play.
From customisable lighting through to shapeshifting storage, design lovers at this year’s Salone del Milano will consequently notice fewer discernible “trends” and more opportunities to get involved in the act of creation. One of our favourite customisable styles is the new Hide & Seek bookcase for Gallotti & Radice. All glossy finishes and svelte curves, it uses swivelling cubby holes to transform the act of storage with new whimsy and flair.
Personalisation is an idea that’s further explored at Lema, Jesse and Edra. Among the myriad novelties are sofas equipped with ‘smart’ cushions. Beds that clean the air while you sleep. And all-singing-and-dancing wardrobes that organise life down to the last belt and buckle.
Taken together, the new era of Made in Italy looks set to be an age of both substance and style. An era where the customer has the final say over the fit and feel of every product. And where manufacturers commit to creating designs that leave the world that little bit brighter than they found it.
Anna Howell is interiors editor at Chaplins, 477-507 Uxbridge Road, HA5 4JS. If you have a penchant for Italian design, you can sit, touch, experience all of Italy’s finest brands, up close in Chaplins’ Pinner showroom, 020 8421 1778. www.chaplins.co.uk
