Milan Design Week 2026 Preview: Part I

From its two sites – an unfolding series of intimate rooms on Via della Spiga, and a huge three-storey former warehouse in the north of the city – Nina Yashar’s Nilufar influences the future direction of design in Italy and beyond. Casa Magica is the offering at Via della Spiga: the show tackles the meaning of the home beyond function, as a space of tradition and belief, and is curated by Valentina Ciuffi of Studio Vedèt and with spatial design by Space Caviar (the two are also the co-founders of Alcova, see below). The work on show will be rich in symbolism and suggestive of ritual, including Anita Morvillo’s totemic glass lighting and Kym Ellery’s anthropomorphic metal candelabra.

After a busy day on the streets of Milan, there are many who will perceive British design house Liberty’s Milan proposition – “a sculptural circular sofa composed entirely of cushions” – as a slice of heaven. The installation is a collaboration with Milanese furniture designer Lorenza Bozzoli and is set in Bozzoli’s Brera showroom: she will draw on Liberty’s 150 years of archival material to specify the fabrics, turning two-dimensional textiles into a three-dimensional structure. Open by appointment: pre-book here.

This installation in a private home marks the first large-scale collaboration between Belgian designer Elias Van Orshaegen and interior architect Maarten Van Meerbeeck. Garçonnière translates as ‘bachelor’s apartment’, suggesting a masculine intimacy, and Van Orshaegen  and Van Meerbeeck are staging the space as a cinematic environment in several acts. Shown against a backdrop of soft architectural elements made from stretched fabric, the pieces on show include a pine and silk daybed; a table and floor lamp in mahogany, cast aluminium and rock crystal; and a wool rug by Van Meerbeeck.

The dream-like visual world of Fornasetti is one of Italian design’s most recognisable exports. At Milan Design Week, some of its beloved motifs, from classical statuary to flaming suns, have been reinterpreted for the floor (or wall) by CC Tapis, across a variety of scales and materials, from small hand-embroidered tapestries to hand-knotted rugs. See them in the CC-Tapis showroom, as well as in the Fornasetti showroom (Via Senato 2) which has been completely remodelled by design studio Tutto Bene and also features a flower shop curated by Simone Gooch.

Taking place across the vast corporate fairgrounds at Rho, the Salone del Mobile is the reason why Milan Design Week exists at all. This year its organisers have revitalised the offering with a new show-within-a-show, Raritas. Dedicated to limited-edition design – think PAD or Design Miami, but with an Italian accent – it will be set within an environment created by Formafantasma, with 25 participants including Nilufar, Galerie Mitterand, Mercado Moderno and Collectional.

Elsewhere, a collaboration between Gufram, Memphis and Meritalia presents Radical Home, with the three brands’ work in dialogue in a house-like setting. Look out for a new, more compact version of Masanori Umeda’s boxing-ring-like Tawaraya Ring, an icon of Memphis’ postmodern aesthetic.

Presented by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), this show celebrates the craftsmanship of one of the world’s most culturally rich destinations. The elegant 18th-century Palazzo Citterio is the setting for the work of 12 contemporary designers, who have all worked with Uzbek artisans to create new pieces: Bethan Laura Wood’s colourful tassel- and ribbon-adorned tapestry on the building’s facade sets the tone, while other participants include Fernando Laposse and Raw Edges. In the garden, a pavilion designed by WHY Architecture will host workshops and talks.

Marimekko is exploring the art of flowers in a typically joyful manner in Milan. The Finnish design house is launching a new floral collection, Kukasta Kukkaan, by Erja Hirvi, and from there the idea blossomed for a space that showcases Hirvi’s ceramics and textiles, alongside existing Marimekko classics that also feature flowers. While you’re there, enjoy a Finnish-inspired menu of drinks and aperitivo bites served in the dining room or outside, devised by chef Maud Saddok of Helsinki restaurant Maukku and inspired by Marimekko’s exuberant prints.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei seemingly knows no bounds when it comes to media, having worked across sculpture, film-making, photography, painting and more to express his socio-political messages. His latest project sees him collaborate with the heritage Venetian textile brand Rubelli to create a special installation of works woven in silk – a material that bridges the divide between the artist’s Chinese heritage and Rubelli’s deep expertise in weaving this precious material. The showroom will be presented as a “scenic box” enveloped in the fabric, which features motifs such as surveillance cameras, handcuffs and chains – tools of oppression and confinement – as well as the more hopeful symbolism of the llama, a popular signifier of freedom and anti-censorship in China.

Last year’s Romantic Brutalism show of contemporary Polish design was a Milan highlight, and in 2026 the Visteria Foundation returns with another look at Poland’s contemporary design scene. This year the focus is on Polish modernism – a story of cultural resistance and the fight for an identity that aligned more with the rest of Europe than the Soviets – and its continuing legacy. The location, high up in Milan’s top-heavy brutalist tower, Torre Velacsa, is apt, and visitors will see historical objects (on loan from the National Museum in Warsaw) alongside contemporary work by the likes of Mati Sipiora, Monika Patuszyńska and Aleksandra Hyz.

Described as “the most offbeat of antiques dealers”, Antoine Billore is collaborating with boutique fragrance brand L’Artisan Parfumeur to create this multi-sensory experience. At a Milanese apartment decorated with some of his current obsessions such as marquetry panels, Billore is launching hybrid furniture pieces that are a blend of minimalist timber chairs augmented by antique finds. L’Artisan Parfumeur’s role is to deliciously scent the space, including with its cult Amber Boule diffuser, a hand-carved wooden sphere containing amber crystals.