Earlier this month, as I was packing my bags for my annual visit to Milan, I suddenly thought: do all those designers and brands really have something new to share? The last fair was only 8 months ago, but fortunately it soon became clear that the last edition was merely a dress rehearsal for this year’s real thing. I should have known, really, because my dance card showed more names than ever before: apparently, everyone was dying to show new designs. A lot of brands went all out with their presentations, both in town and at the fair. Making up for lost time. And, admittedly, a stand that offers an experience will stay with you for longer, and many presentations were almost cinematographic.

I feel as if the question ‘how do we want to live?’ is at the heart of the Salone and it is always interesting to me to see the answers and main themes. If you look closely, there are always similarities and by putting these together, an image of the status quo will, almost automatically, emerge. For instance, we noticed that Nature continues to inspire and increasingly influences interior design. The demarcation between inside and outside had already become more diffuse but, today, has gone almost entirely. This was noticeable not only in the furniture, where you can barely distinguish outdoor from indoor, but also in the stand design at the fair.