Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week (3-9 April 2017) – the acknowledged international event for the world’s premier design sector is always a week of inspiration, new products and brilliant talent. Now in its 56th edition, the event of incredible multitude of spaces and districts that completely invade the city for one week, presents endless opportunities to explore Milan with new eyes.
For the Australian design community, the next best thing to being in Milan is attending the legendary MILANTRACE talks, presented by super talented and witty Dana Tomic Hughes, founder and editor of Yellowtrace. Together with her husband Nick Hughes, they marked their 8th visit to Milan Design week and Salone del Mobile, with carefully planned itinerary to bring back the very best highlights including Dana’s personal favourites. In collaboration with Living Edge, Australia’s premier furniture destination, in their beautiful Melbourne showroom, Dana took the guests to Milan in her signature 90 minute jam packed talk with breathtaking photography and behind the scenes videos.
As supporters of Australia’s rich design industry, The Local Project was thrilled to hear all about the shining work presented by the Australian collective – Local Design. Featuring a total of 11 established designers, it’s a challenge to mention everything that stood out. Even Dana’s biggest challenge is deciding in advance what to see with so many installations competing for one’s attention. Here are some of the Australian favourites. From Ross Gardam, Henry Wilson, Studio Truly Truly, Tom Fereday, Jon Goulder, Adam Goodrum and Josh Carmody just to name a few.
One of Dana’s favourites at Salone Satellite was the work of Studio Truly Truly, Australian designer based in Amsterdam. They showcased impressive collection. The Wove wire-frame chair in all its simplicity, a delicate graphic interplay between gently bent wires dominated in deep and intense colour. Besides furniture, the studio tackles creative challenges in lighting, textiles, range of objects and spaces. The Daze Tables with subtle slits that let colours float through are a testament in their innovation process that’s bold and effective. The Touch collection, consists of three shade variations, emphasises the expressive beauty of glass’s natural blown form, while allowing an element of control.
Lighting design dominated at the Salone, and Henry Wilson, one of Australia’s most respected young designers stood out by far. The sculptural line up of elegant table and desktop accessories was displayed in the stunning interiors of Aesop’s Milan store in Brera. Named the “Cast Impressions” collection, it focused on form and function, designed to surpass trends and stand the test of time in gunmetal bronze and rumbled to a polished finish.
Remnant Series clamp system by Josh Carmody, is designed to inspire interior designers and architects to reuse the stone, tile and timber cut offs often discarded during design process. The resulting hardware range is a clamp on leg system, designed to hold and join materials of different shapes and thicknesses. Allowing anyone to configure table tops in any size, layout and shape desired. With a design practice based in Melbourne Josh impressed with bespoke handcrafted piece for both domestic and commercial clients, balancing modern aesthetic with traditional handcrafted quality.
Tom Fereday’s Jeanette chair & Mito floor lamp celebrate minimal design of natural beauty and character of raw materials. Tom is an industrial designer based in Sydney and his products are based on the principle of honest design which connects with people and their environment. There is a certain precision in his design to create a truly sculptural piece.
The Local Project team couldn’t be more proud of Australian designers taking standard production techniques to new heights. And illustrating their brand’s DNA on the global design scene along side some of the biggest international names. Massive thank you to Dana and team Yellowtrace for sharing their MilanTrace journey with the Australian audience, their passion for design and visual inspiration that never ceases to impress.
Yellowtrace is an influential and award winning online design publication featuring carefully curated content in the areas of Interior Design, Architecture, Art, Photography, Travel and Design Culture. On top of daily design research and regular travel, Studio Yellowtrace specialises in the Commercial, Residential and Hospitality sectors. For more details head over to www.yellowtrace.com.au
