The New Rare

Collectible design has long been a part of Milan Design Week. Limited edition furniture and decorative pieces that blur the lines between design, craft, art and experimental process are all a part of the spectacle of the world’s biggest design event. These works are usually found in galleries and palazzi across the city, while the Salone del Mobile fair at Rho Fiera has traditionally been reserved for more commercial design. At the 64th edition of the fair, however, collectible design will be showcased at the heart of the fairground in a new exhibition titled Salone Raritas. 

Curated by Annalisa Rosso and set within an exhibition design by Italian studio Formafantasma, the showcase brings together limited editions, unique works, antiques and high-end craft from almost 30 galleries.

“We are noticing that the entire system of design is changing these days, and we understood that it was important to add this layer to Salone,” says Rosso, who is Salone’s Editorial Director and Cultural Events Advisor and has worked in the collectible design field for two decades. “It is not only collectors looking for this kind of work now. Architects and interior designers are looking for something special, something rare, something with a specific cultural value to place alongside industrial design.”

Formafantasma’s exhibition design is conceived as what the studio describes as a “large architectural lantern” – a porous, light-filled landscape where galleries retain individual identity while the diverse pieces, which range from antiques to contemporary works, are displayed in visual dialogue with one another.

“It’s incredible, because when you see them together, you understand that there is a common DNA in the design of the last centuries,” explains Rosso. “It’s so impressive to see that there is a resonance between [Dutch designer] Sabine Marcelis and a small box encrusted with precious stones from the sixteenth century.”

Elsewhere in the showcase, Mercado Moderno will highlight Brazilian modernism, while Japanese modernism will be explored by Side Gallery; and small objects by architect Andrea Branzi will be presented by Friedman Benda. Even Nilufar, one of the most established names in the world of collectible design, is participating, despite already having one of Milan’s most celebrated gallery spaces.

“When we are speaking about Salone, we are talking to architects, buyers, dealers, designers and developers from all different cultures,” says Rosso. “My main goal for this project is that everybody who passes through the corridors of Salone Raritas will see something interesting to them. All these pieces represent different points of view and different markets.”

This strategic reach reflects the commercial ambition of Salone Raritas, which is designed to bridge the gap between the often rarefied world of collectible design and the Salone’s vast commercial ecosystem of more than 300,000 visitors from over 160 countries. For many of the exhibitors, it offers unprecedented access to specifiers and decision-makers working at a scale that galleries rarely reach.

Salone Raritas also reflects broader shifts within the design world, with international hospitality, high-end residential developments and experiential retail increasingly incorporating limited-edition works as markers of identity. “We are living through a huge change in the way interiors are being developed,” says Rosso. “Building this bridge and putting exhibitors and visitors into direct connection is a very interesting revolution.”