From 8th April, with more than 2,100 exhibitors from 37 countries, the Salone will once again be the meeting point for a strategic supply chain, a key event for connecting with international markets, a hub that disseminates vital energy throughout the city, transforming Milan into the World Design Capital.
The concluding highlight of a six-act Cultural Programme: Library of Light, by Es Devlin.
In the year of Euroluce, the famous British artist will light up the Pinacoteca di Brera with a spectacular installation dedicated to the value of knowledge.
From 8th to 13th April, in the more than 169,000 square metres of sold-out exhibition space, the 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano will be primed to welcome more than 2,100 exhibitors, including – confirming the dynamic nature of the event – 168 brands at the Salone for the first time and 91 returnees with an increasingly consistent presence from abroad.
The same trend applies to the decision-makers, buyers, designers and investors making their way to Fiera Milano, Rho from more than 150 countries.
A result made possible thanks to the Salone’s commitment to coming up with formats and experiences that nurture creative processes, strategic vision, production and distribution models, in an open dialogue between the design industry and the imagination of the protagonists of a leading Cultural Programme, aimed at stimulating an increasingly broader, multidisciplinary, future-focused strategic vision.
With numbers that consolidate its success, in the pursuit of an ongoing path of evolution, the 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano promises to be, once again, the sector’s leading international event in terms of historical DNA, number of professionals, overall turnover and the quality of industrial manufacturing proposals that, thanks to being under the spotlight of the Salone, connects with the world with an unparalleled offer in terms of aesthetics, functional and technological innovation, materials research, and aptitude for transforming the challenges of sustainability into competitive advantage.
Four Special Projects feature on the 2025 Cultural Programme, two in the city, two in the Salone Pavilions.
The first to open to the public, on 6th April in an ideal bridge with Art Week, will be the installation Robert Wilson. Mother, at the Museo della Pietà Rondanini – Castello Sforzesco, a “total work” dedicated to Michelangelo’s masterpiece, recognised, together with Leonardo’s Last Supper, as one of the most iconic works of art in Milan.
The last to be announced is Library of Light by British artist Es Devlin, a powerful performative experience taking place in the Cortile d’Onore of the Pinacoteca di Brera: a “beacon of knowledge” with over 2,000 volumes selected and donated by Feltrinelli to celebrate the value of knowledge.
There will be two installations at the fair; in Pavilions 2224, the visionary eye of Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino, accompanied by the scenographer Margherita Palli and a soundtrack by Max Casacci, will pay tribute to a universal feeling: waiting, the most sincere moment in life, marked by the beating of a mysterious heart.
While it is to Pierre-Yves Rochon, the absolute protagonist of the most exclusive international hotellerie, that the Salone has entrusted the task of giving shape to an interior concept that reinterprets luxury in its timeless dimension: Villa Héritage (Pavilions 13-15), a tribute to Luchino Visconti’s Venice, to the music of Gustav Mahler, and to the talent for designing rooms that become worlds of their own in which heritage is not a constraint but an act of freedom.
Following the success of The City of Lights (2023), 2025 is once more the year of Euroluce – 306 exhibitors, among the best brands in the sector, 45% of them from abroad.
The Biennale will once again provide an international focus on the evolution of light in indoor and outdoor domestic spaces, as well as in the urban landscape. Expectations are high for the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, a multi-voice debate on the key themes in lighting design: 2 packed days of masterclasses, round tables and workshops featuring 20 speakers from all over the world, from solar designer Marjan van Aubel to Stefano Mancuso, the plant neurologist, to the great British anthropologist Timothy Ingold.
After celebrating its first 25 years in 2024, SaloneSatellite will be back stronger than ever with 700 designers from 36 countries and 20 international design schools and universities.
The theme of the latest edition is NUOVO ARTIGIANATO: UN MONDO NUOVO//NEW CRAFTSMANSHIP: A NEW WORLD, an invitation to re-imagine the universe of the handmade. A reflection that not only fuels the imagination of talents under-35 but also contributes to rethinking the design perimeters of the entire design industry, which over the years at SaloneSatellite has scoped both an endless breeding ground of young talent and fresh stimuli to explore and better understand the urgencies and challenges of the new generations of designers.
Finally, there is a huge focus on sustainability.
Thanks to a measurable path, the Salone has been ISO 20121 certified for sustainable event management since 2023, in parallel with its ongoing commitment to encouraging exhibiting companies to design and build stands following increasingly exacting Green Guidelines, which are becoming more and more challenging in line with the principles set out in the Salone’s Sustainability Policy.
Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say: “Since 1961, the Salone del Mobile has been an ecosystem that marries business, culture and networking, generating concrete value for industrial manufacturing in a dynamic dimension, which reflects the changes in design, in living, and in the business and design culture.
Each edition is the starting point for new challenges, made possible thanks to the faith of a supply chain that recognises the Salone as a strategic partner for internationalisation.
As of 8th April, the Salone will be up and running, with more than 2,100 exhibitors from 37 different countries, and Euroluce, the global benchmark lighting event with 45% of exhibitors from abroad.
The strong point of the Salone is its professional audience from 150 countries, which determines its success with an impact that resonates right along the value chain. This is why this year – against the backdrop of such a complex global scenario – we have put even greater effort into attracting professionals from established and emerging markets, stimulating fundamental competitive elements such as sustainability and providing a cultural offering that triggers new reflections on the future.”
Ms Porro went on to say: “Treats in store for us at the fairgrounds will include the results of Paolo Sorrentino’s exceptional vision and Pierre-Yves Rochon’s great talent, the Drafting Futures talks and round tables and the very first, much anticipated edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum. The Salone will also extend into the city, with two exceptional projects – a tribute to knowledge, with Es Devlin. Library of Light at the Pinacoteca di Brera, and a dialogue with light in Robert Wilson’s installation at the Museo della Pietà Rondanini – Castello Sforzesco. It is together with these voices that the 700 young SaloneSatellite talents, who add new meanings to the verb ‘to design’ each year, and its great design community, that the Salone will once again ignite the spark that transforms Milan into the World Capital of Design. This is our commitment, both tangible and intangible. But it is also our message: an invitation to design a world in which design is – as the 2025 communication campaign suggests – Thought for Humans. That means choosing, responsibly, individually and collectively, what the right trajectory for the future is.”
Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo, said: “In a truly complex and uncertain international climate, the most demanding and challenging week for the Made in Italy design industry and the supply chain that drives it is fast approaching. Yet the history of our sector has shown us that in times of difficulty, our ability to innovate and turn crises into opportunities comes to the fore even more strongly. This is the message that will come through loud and clear from the pavilions of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, where the best of Italian design will once again confirm its world leadership status with products that are not just products, but visions for the future, with solutions that combine style, sustainability, research and innovation. We cannot, however, ignore the challenges that wood furnishing and design are up against: industry data remind us that exports, which have always driven our growth, are experiencing a slowdown that is impacting the main reference markets, Germany and France first and foremost, and the winds blowing from the US over Trump’s tariffs are far from reassuring. Added to this, domestic demand is struggling to recover. The 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano will therefore be even more of a powerful industrial policy tool and a trailblazer towards emerging markets. The Salone del Mobile and the companies that have rendered it unique over the years will once again be able to meet expectations and set the course as befits true leaders. The work that we at FederlegnoArredo do every day is also fundamental in this sense, thanks to the identification of industrial policies that enhance the sector, and effective measures for internationalisation.”
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