Milan Mayhem

We’re hard at work preparing for Salone del Mobile next week. Read on for some teasers about what we’re unveiling!

Next week marks the 56th edition of Salone del Mobile, the Mecca of design fairs hosted in Milano. The international trade fair attracted nearly 400,000 visitors last year from over 150 different countries. The first ever Salone dates back to September of 1961, which at the time was a showcase for Italian furniture, with 328 exhibitors set up over 11,000 square metres. It was initiated to attract foreign interest after saturating the internal demand for furniture in the post-War reconstruction.

Within just 4 years of running the annual event, Italian furniture exports more than tripled. In 1967, Salone del Mobile opened up to international designers and since the venue has far outgrown its original grounds at the Fiera Campionaria exhibition centre. Today, with over 2,700 exhibitors, Salone is held outside of the city centre, at the Milan Fairgrounds at Rho designed by Massimiliano Fuksas, with over 270,000 square meters of display area.

Nowadays you will hear “Salone del Mobile Milano” used as the umbrella name for several different events including Euroluce, the biennial international Lighting Exhibition, launched in 1976. This is where our design & engineering team are hard at work building an impressive display for the unveiling of two new Tala collections!

Here’s a snippet of an internal Tala love letter written by our Design Director Joe Armitage,

Dear Team,

On the eve of the worlds largest design show our lorry, packed with exhibition equipment and half a crate of Graham’s port, has driven off into the setting sun on its way to Milan. The driver has ensured that even with the large amount of alcohol on board and despite the language barrier he will definitely make it the 793 miles and safely deliver our equipment and products to the stand.

Known as the Mecca of Design, pilgrims have travelled to marvel at the wonders of the Salone del Mobile for over half a century…. Unfortunately the rest is highly classified information about the two new ranges we’re launching next week. But if you want to try some of that port, we are hosting drinks at our stand every evening!

Alright, a little teaser on the new ranges, since the release of our Voronoi Design Range, we’ve again turned to trusty nature for inspiration, this time towards the rocky English coastline. (No more hints, you’ll just have to come and see for yourself!).

As well as our main show at Euroluce, we have three smaller satellite installations throughout the city-centre where you can see our Voronoi collection: ​

We hope to see you there,
Ciao!