Milan Design Week can quickly descend from showcase to stress test, where my attention is divided and endurance depleted in an effort to cover everything competing to be seen. The city, as always, expanded beyond itself: palazzos, courtyards, industrial shells, and storefronts all pressed into service, each promising immersion, innovation, or at the very least, a decent aperitivo. But beneath the noise, the spectacle, the oversaturation, and the endless scrolling made physical, I was reminded of the joy design can bring.

Resonant moments were found in the loudest voices as much as in the quiet ones that lingered. Some spaces slowed me down while others sped me up. Objects asked something of us and materials carried memory as they projected the future. Across categories and scales, designers seemed less interested in novelty for its own sake and more focused on evolution: of typologies, of rituals, of how we gather, cook, sit, play, and connect.

From fluid, organism-like seating to immersive installations that dissolved architecture into atmosphere, from countertop appliances that refused to be hidden to craft practices reimagined through digital lenses, the throughline was clear: design is not just about form or function—it’s about conditions for living, for interaction, and for reflection. Consider this a dispatch from within the chaos that came from sorting through press kits, emails, invitations, notes, and the personal recommendations that got me through MDW 2026… and enjoy.

1. Roca’s Meridian Collection

Photo: Courtesy of Roca

In the churn of Salone, Roca carved out a rare moment of calm. Its booth, designed by Mesura, drew on Catalan architectural language — an all-white stair-line motif and roofline silhouettes — to channel a distinctly Mediterranean sensibility. Within this quiet envelope, visitors moved through collections like Avant, Ohtake, and the ever-colorful Nu, but the clear focal point was Meridian: a poised reworking of one of the brand’s best-known lines.

Photo: Courtesy of Roca

Led by Altherr Désile Park, the redesign walked a careful line between evolution and continuity. The brief was straightforward but nuanced: update the collection of sinks, toilets, and bidets for contemporary living—read: integrated storage, softened geometries, a sense of lightness—while preserving its lineage. “On one hand, we had a possibility to really go in deep with redoing the design,” noted partner Jeanette Altherr. “On the other hand, we needed to keep some sort of connection to the existing collection.”

Photo: Courtesy of Roca

The result held onto the Meridian name while reframing it through a Mediterranean lens — its defining arc motif tracing both the movement of the sun and the invisible longitudinal line it references. That gesture carried through the collection with quiet confidence, lending a simple, architectural elegance. In white, matte white, and matte black, Meridian transformed the bathroom into something warmer, more intimate — a private interior suffused with light.

2. Axia by Vittorio Venezia and Carolina Martinelli for LODES

What happens when you strip a chandelier down to its essence—no visible wiring, no excess, just balance? Axia’s Salone showcase answered that question with a striking response. Born from a process of experimentation, the suspension light resolved into a continuous, almost seamless system where structure, energy, and material quietly aligned as much as they conspired to delight.

While undeniably sophisticated, the designers’ work rethought how lighting could affect spatial perception without calling attention to itself. With its poised geometry and subtle presence, Axia hung like a small constellation of order and freedom, held in perfect equilibrium.

3. Common Ground by Gabriella Khalil for Ege Carpets

What did “common ground” look like in material form? Gabriella Khalil offered an answer with Ege Carpets — one built through line, tone, and rhythm. Ribbon, Imprint, Swell, and Maze read as quiet studies in movement. Creams and chocolates deepened with black accents, while linear gestures guided the eye across space. Beneath that calm, performance emerged: modularity, acoustic backing, and custom formats positioned the rugs as tools as much as surfaces. The result landed somewhere between softness and structure—shared, but never generic.

4. The Reissued Free System Sofa by Claudio Salocchi for Acerbis

Conversation pits returned, but not as nostalgia—as a shift in how we gather. Free System met that moment with ease. Originally conceived in the 1970s, Salocchi’s modular landscape felt newly fluent. Low, quilted volumes connected into soft topographies that invited sprawl, conversation, and reconfiguration—something I didn’t realize I needed until midway through Salone. There was rigor beneath the softness, but what lingered was openness: seating that encouraged posture to unfold rather than conform.

5. Loop Sofa by Elena Salmistraro for Ethimo

What if a sofa behaved like an organism? Loop suggested it could.
Salmistraro’s design rejected front and back in favor of a continuous, self-supporting form that curved and looped into itself. It felt futuristic in construction, yet deeply organic in how its volumes gathered and held space. Color grounded it, but the form did the work—guiding movement, prompting pause, encouraging interaction. Loop resisted labels entirely, operating instead as a soft, spatial system.

6. Twins by designer Júlia Esqué for Sancal

Why should seating behave? With Twins, Júlia Esqué treated the armchair less like a fixed object and more like a character capable of changing its outfit, its attitude, even its mood. Built on a cinema-seat-inspired structure, the two iterations played against each other. Formal Twin remained restrained—crisp geometry, sharp piping, a composed, almost architectural presence. Drama Twin, in contrast, became unruly. Fabric draped, folded, and exaggerated. It swished, performed, and refused to sit quietly.

That tension drew attention throughout Salone. By shifting nothing but the “wardrobe,” Esqué subverted the typology itself. The Designer’s Editions pushed further: contrast piping heightened Formal’s clarity, while structured skirts gave Drama a sharper edge. Irreverent and self-aware, Twins proved that furniture could hold form and fantasy at once—and even enjoy the costume change.

7. Kriskadecor Celebrates Its Centennial

Kriskadecor didn’t present a booth—the century-old brand built an environment. Odosdesign transformed aluminum chains into a fluid architecture that shifted with movement and light. Freed from hard edges, cascades of multi-chromatic chains veiled, revealed, and reframed space. Color gradients rippled, dissolving boundaries and pulling visitors inward, while pockets of seating and selfie-ready vignettes emergedlike pauses in motion.

You didn’t walk through it—you slowed within it. A century of material exploration condensed into something immersive, connective, and quietly celebratory.

8. Borgonuovo Game Table by Armani/Casa

Photo: Giulio Ghirardi

Games have always been about more than competition—they carry ritual, posture, and presence. The Borgonuovo Game Table by Armani/Casa leaned into that truth, turning play into a composed, almost cinematic act.

Photo: Giulio Ghirardi

Ebony wood, taupe leather, and satin brass edges formed a restrained Art Deco silhouette. The central gesture— rotating top that revealed a checkered surface—allowed the table to shift roles in real time. Drawers concealed game pieces, cup holders slid out discreetly, and monogrammed details echoed balance and precision. It became a quietly indulgent arena where strategy met atmosphere, and every move felt intentional.

9. SMEG’s Freshest Countertop Appliances

Why shouldn’t everyday tools carry the same design intelligence as furniture? SMEG has long elevated the countertop into a curated surface, and at EuroCucina 2026, that philosophy came into sharper focus. Amid larger appliances, it was the smaller pieces that caught my attention. Multiuse grills, combination microwaves, and the brand’s first air fryer reframed cooking as both ritual and rhythm.

The SMEG Multiuse Grill read like a design object first boasting the brand’s iconic visual language––soft, retro-inflected, and quietly sculptural. It displayed adaptability through interchangeable plates and multiple cooking modes.

Nearby, the new microwave range pushed beyond reheating into something more expansive with multi-step cooking, air frying capabilities, and automatic programs. The compact system compressed the logic of a full kitchen into a single, considered form.

And then there was the air fryer, perhaps the most unlikely icon. Typically relegated to the realm of the purely functional, there it was reimagined as something worth being displayed: simple, compact, and even playful in color. With SMEG’s latest releases, everyday countertop products became a design gesture where technology, aesthetics, and habit aligned into something both practical and expressive.

10. Bathco Wooden Lavatories and Novel Pedestals

Bathco presented bathroom fixtures as subversive material experiences with the power to pull focus in any space. The Wood collection centered the grain itself, with each sink carved from treated timber that resists humidity while retaining its natural texture, tone, and even scent. No two were identical, and the varied designs amplified those organic nuances, turning each washbasin into a quiet study of growth rings and imperfection.

In contrast, the pedestal sinks asserted something more architectural. Cast in porcelain, they grounded the assortment with a sculptural presence that felt solid, balanced, and monumental. Together, they hinted at a duality for the bathroom: one rooted in nature, the other in structure. The choice became less about style and more about sensation. Did you want to feel the grain beneath your hands, or rest in the quiet certainty of form?

11. Lina Ghotmeh’s Metamorphosis for MoscaPartners Variations 2026

At Palazzo Litta, space stopped behaving predictably. Ghotmeh’s Metamorphosis in Motion reworked the courtyard into a labyrinth that bent perception and guided movement. Geometry shifted, pathways unfolded, and architecture dissolved into atmosphere. It extended beyond the visual—seating, scent, and sound completed the experience. Less installation, more encounter.

12. Guatemala Diseña Con Las Manos

Amid a week obsessed with the new, this project returned to the tried and true. When I encountered Guatemala Diseña Con Las Manos, it felt less like an installation and more like a conversation. A stepped structure—echoing Tikal—anchored the space, while layers of textile and beadwork activated its surface. Up close, material shifted into something almost digital, yet unmistakably human. Movement, light, and craft accumulated into an immersive experience. It offered a quiet counterpoint: innovation not as replacement, but as continuation.

While one unfolds across water and the other over pavement, surfing and skateboarding share an almost meditative relationship to rhythm, balance, and flow. Boards become extensions of the body–conduits not only for movement, but for memory itself; each carved line and worn surface holding traces of experience long after the ride ends. For designer Mary Ratcliffe, that connection between maker, athlete, and material forms the conceptual backbone of the CARVER Collection, which distills the technical silhouettes and fluid geometries of surfboards and skate decks into sculptural furnishings that recall the child-like joy of movement and experimentation. More than a stylistic departure, the collection reads as a kind of material recollection within Ratcliffe’s broader practice–one where craft, intuition, and a rediscovered sense of play converge.

Texture is something that can be felt with touch, of course, but it can also be felt in the mind: synapses habitually relive a related sensation of the material, quickly determining what it might feel like. This instinctive reading of surface once helped our ancestors discern whether something was trustworthy, durable, or even safe. Mary Ratcliffe Studio’s (MRS) latest pieces do just that.

Presented by the Toronto-based studio during New York Design Week with Afternoon Light, the collection marks a notable evolution for Ratcliffe. Softer curves, translucent color washes, and a freer, more playful sensibility depart from the sharper geometries and raw natural finishes that have previously defined the studio’s work. Inspired by the “flow state” Ratcliffe rediscovered while surfing in Malibu earlier this year, CARVER reimagines youthful activities often left behind in adulthood as refined, handcrafted furnishings.

Wood is often prized for consistency, categorized and selected for matching grain patterns that create cohesion. Here, Ratcliffe instead celebrates the natural confluence of fibers and the shifting directionality of the grain itself. Thick solid-wood forms intersect with a satisfying sense of weight and permanence, visually signifying sturdiness and, therefore, trust.

The Decker Side Table captures that feeling of momentum through tightly radiused corners and a compact, rounded triangular footprint that easily nestles into a variety of spaces. Finished in translucent tones like Wet Clay and Dust Rose, the satin surfaces amplify the character of the white ash beneath rather than concealing it. The lower shelf not only offers visual balance and structural solidity, but also provides a practical perch for books, objects, or keepsakes. There is an agility to the piece that makes it feel somewhere between functional furniture and sculptural object.

The Dume Mirror is a study in both materiality and introspection. Crafted from a singular solid wood glue-up with a substantial nearly three-inch profile, the piece projects confidently from the wall, grounding the viewer in space. As its soft perimeter curves and bends, the grain rotates and shifts direction, revealing the lifecycle of the material itself. Ratcliffe frames this transition as a quiet parallel to self-rediscovery – an acknowledgment of growth, movement, and evolution embedded directly into the wood.

The Corral Cabinet features broad, undulating doors intentionally offset to reveal glimpses of the metallic backing within, a subtle nod to the carved path left by a board in motion. Its sweeping continuous radii reference both longboards and the curling line of a wave. Finished with a translucent wipe-on stain, the cabinet allows the organic patterning of the ash to remain visible beneath the surface, reminiscent of the weathered underside of a well-loved skateboard deck. Inside, a full-color application and reflective metal backing introduce a silvery flash of energy that contrasts with the warmth of the exterior.

The Solstice Coffee Table pulls from the tactile experience of experimentation and learning itself. Three distinct organic forms appear to ‘click’ naturally into place, like the moment scattered lessons suddenly cohere into instinct. Soft beveled edges and elongated curves echo the hydrodynamic contours of surfboards, while setback C-shaped legs and a connecting shelf create the impression that the table is almost floating within the room. Its translucent surfaces interact dynamically with the grain below, reinforcing the collection’s broader meditation on movement, intuition, and play.

There is an ease running throughout CARVER that feels intentional. Ratcliffe is not simply referencing surfing or skateboarding aesthetically, but channeling the mindset they cultivate: looseness, experimentation, and immersion in the present moment. In a culture that often demands efficiency and seriousness, the collection argues for something softer and perhaps more necessary – a return to flow, tactile awareness, and the value of play itself.

To learn more about the CARVER Collection and shop the drop, visit maryratcliffe.studio.

Photography by Ryan McCoy.

Our homes are changing fast all the while being asked to accommodate more and more functions. The same space used during the day as an office or playroom can moonlight as a lounge or sleeping chamber. When tasked with the transformation of a classic Milan apartment—traditionally fragmented into many smaller rooms—local architecture practice Atelierzero took a bold approach.

The maverick, locally based firm removed most non-load-bearing walls and methodically introduced a series of almost furniture-like inserts that divide the now main unit and adjoining studio home, but also allow for smooth, near-seamless transitions when needed. There are no doors, at least in the conventional sense.

Distinct yet complementary color blocking renders the pared-back, geometrically architectonic volumes as standalone elements, brought together almost like a miniaturized city skyline: buildings of various proportions placed side by side.

Inspired by the colonnaded porticos found throughout the northern Italian metropolis—and the commercial streets below—the main corridor, clad in a warm orange, serves as the apartment’s primary axis. Its almost Carlo Scarpa-like terrazzo floor is an emphatic “if-you-know-you-know” nod to context. On one side, rectilinear cutaways lead into the apartment’s main entertainment space. On the other, cabinet-embedded hatches open up to a powder room, utility space, en suite bedroom, and the semi-separate studio.

Holding pride of place in the “main hearth” great room of the apartment, the taupe-toned kitchen module appears to float on its own. It also strategically shields the more intimate study and dining area toward its rear.

Furnishings sourced from decidedly Milanese but globally recognized design brands B&B Italia, CC-Tapis, Oluce, and Flos intermix with iconic re-editions from equally emblematic producers Artek, Marset, and Thonet.

This shrewd, sparingly introduced curation ties everything together and softens what would otherwise be a starkly crystalline interior. The visual and visceral composition is intriguing. The adjacent studio reflects the same cohesive strategy, ensuring both spaces present as a unified, if physically detached, whole.

To see more work by the bold firm, visit atelierzero.it.

Photography by Specchi Studio.

“For Massimo, design was life and life was design,” New York–based designer Michael Bierut once said of his mentor Massimo Vignelli (1931–2014), with whom he worked early in his career. Bierut spent a decade in the 1980s under Vignelli’s watchful eye, absorbing the dos and don’ts of Swiss-centric graphic design.

“In those days,” Bierut recalled, “it seemed to me that the whole city of New York was a permanent Vignelli exhibition. To get to the office, I rode the subway with Vignelli-designed signage, passed people carrying Vignelli-designed Bloomingdale’s shopping bags, and walked by St. Peter’s Church, with its Vignelli-designed pipe organ visible through the window.”

Massimo, together with his wife and lifelong collaborator Lella Vignelli (1934–2016), is now the subject of A Language of Clarity, a retrospective exhibition at Triennale Milano co-curated by Francesca Picchi, Marco Sammicheli, Martin Kerschbaumer, and Thomas Kronbichler (Studio Mut). The show celebrates the couple’s enduring legacy, emphasizing their contributions to modernism, visual culture, and multidisciplinary design. Jasper Morrison’s Office for Design, with David Saik, shaped the exhibition as a coherent system—an environment that itself reflects the Vignelli mindset. Displays of printed ephemera are meticulously arranged in cases, framed, and hung with graphic precision, presenting an all-encompassing overview of their commercial print work.

“Clarity, for the Vignellis, is not an aesthetic preference; it is an ethical and methodological position. Their work is always rooted in a logical process, grounded in essentiality and reduction,” wrote Sammicheli, Director of the Museo del Design Italiano at Triennale Milano. The exhibition is a collaboration with the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology (USA), which has preserved more than 750,000 documents, objects, and artifacts spanning book design, visual identity, corporate systems, posters, exhibitions, products, furniture, and architectural photography.

From the outset, the couple operated in near-perfect harmony. Both grew up in Italy—Massimo in Milan, and Lella, born Elena Valle, in Udine. They first met at an architecture conference in 1949, then crossed paths again in Venice while studying at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV), where both their personal and professional partnership began to take shape. They married in 1957 and briefly moved to Chicago, with Lella going on to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), before returning to Milan at the height of Italy’s postwar design renaissance. There, they built a practice that moved fluidly across disciplines—graphics, products, exhibitions, and interiors—for clients including Olivetti, Pirelli, Venini, La Rinascente, Poltrona Frau, and Xerox.

According to Picchi, the Max dinnerware was originally conceived for an Italian manufacturer of plastic figurines and toys. The Vignellis persuaded the company to produce their elegant, modular, stackable, and affordable tableware design; however, the set was never distributed. Though the project initially failed to reach the market, it was later revived through New Yorker Alan Heller and his connections to the American market. Today, it is considered a classic, having received Italy’s highest design honor, the Compasso d’Oro, in 1964.

When Massimo—co-founder and design director of Unimark International (1965–71)—was invited to lead its New York office, he and Lella relocated to the United States. There, they developed corporate identities for major clients including Ford Motor Company, Knoll, Alcoa, Bloomingdale’s, and American Airlines. In 1971, they founded Vignelli Associates, marking the beginning of a new chapter. As Sammicheli observes, “The move to New York is presented as a moment of expansion. It coincides with their rapid international recognition and with the testing of their language within a new economic and cultural system.”

Their output during this period reflects a deeply systematic approach to design—visible in typographic programs, signage systems, publications, posters, and the now-iconic New York City Subway map, all shaped by a precise graphic language. As Picchi notes, “One of the central ambitions of the exhibition is to restore visibility to Lella Vignelli, whose contribution has too often remained unjustly in the background. Lella was an architect of remarkable rigor and sensitivity.” Her work ranged from interiors for the Artemide showroom to furniture for Poltrona Frau, as well as the Handkerchief Chair for Knoll—projects that embody her enduring elegance and exactitude.

Looking back, it feels timely to reassess the Vignellis’ place in design history. While their work was at times underrecognized within the broader narrative of Italian design—particularly between the mid-1960s and 1980s—today they are understood not only as champions of Italian modernism, but as architects of a universal design language defined by discipline and a remarkable consistency that continues to resonate across generations.

The exhibition remains on view at Trienalle until September 6, 2026. To learn more or find tickets, visit tktktk.

Photography by Delfino Sisto Legnani of DSL studio © Triennale Milano

Milan Design Week has become a behemoth—ontologically bursting at the seams and drifting from its original purpose as the world’s primary agora for innovations in furniture and furnishings. Today’s citywide happening has not only expanded in scale—spilling into every possible palazzo, church, and derelict industrial complex—but also in scope, incorporating a slew of “society of the spectacle” installations mounted by luxury and mid-market brands across nearly every sector. All shell out exorbitant sums to get in on the action.

A daily deluge of flashy showcases—often overpowering actual product or concept launches—alongside tightly gatekept cocktail hours, who’s-who dinners, and increasingly exclusive parties tends to culminate in late-night drinks at the legendary Bar Basso, famous as the birthplace of the Negroni Sbagliato, a cornerstone of the Milanese aperitivo, and the annual gathering place for the global design industry’s confirmed and aspirational elite.

Over the course of five or so nights, they converge on the relatively compact watering hole, crowding into its time-capsule interior, awning-covered terrace, and adjacent traffic circle. The requisite social media post—proof of attendance—has become a marker of acceptance, a confirmation of a pilgrimage completed.

For a crowd so attuned to the aesthetic makeup of furniture and furnishings, it’s curious—almost funny—how rarely anyone looks down to see what they’re actually sitting on, that is, if they’re able to do so at all. That degree of attention is reserved for, and often depleted by, the overly staged showrooms and sprawling fair booths found elsewhere in the city, where an avalanche of luxury goods is unveiled. At this year’s Milan Design Week, German designer Thilo Reich set out to poke at this paradox—perhaps also to challenge the growing triviality of the event itself, and the increasingly detached, occasionally frivolous posture of the industry at large.

Less a direct critique than a more transcendent reflection on cycles of presence and temporality, Reich’s site-responsive tables and chairs carry the recycled cast aluminum imprint of the worn, timeworn pavement beneath them. The ground plane itself has been shaped by years of use—the repeated placement, removal, and dragging of furniture leaving its own quiet record.

“The pavement is approached as a form of skin. Cracks, seams, repairs, compressions, and transitions appear like inscriptions of time,” the designer explains in an artist statement. “Positive and negative experiences leave equal traces. What was damaged does not disappear but becomes part of a new whole.”

Rendered in the same recognizable, mass-produced tubular frames as the furnishings typically found in situ, these idiosyncratic surfaces are introduced as subtle interventions, gently skewing expectations of what one might encounter in such a context.

The provocation—what Reich dubbed the “quietest show at Milan Design Week”—extends from his ongoing Urban Tissue project. “For many years, I have developed a continuous artistic practice centered on the transformation of urban materials and the exploration of social and spatial structures,” Reich says. “My work focuses on the characteristic surfaces of places and the ways they are shaped by social, cultural, and economic influences.”

To learn more about the designer, visit thiloreich.com.

Photography by Giorgio Garzella.

Co-working spaces are designed with a range of options to meet different needs, from dedicated desks to conference rooms. While artwork and decorative touches may call to mind the locale, the interiors are suitable almost anywhere—serviceable, but rather monotonous.

For Conductor, located in Stratford, East London, Studio MULTI and Tabitha Isobel looked to history to create a lush hospitality-inspired communal workspace.

Once the home of the Stratford Locomotive Works, the plan was to capture the same spirit of the Golden Age of Travel, with a nod to the foliage-filled social hubs popular during the Edwardian era. “We started by looking at the palm courts, and wanted it to feel like an oasis as soon as you walked in,” says Tabitha Organ, founder of Tabitha Isobel.

Materials in an array of combinations contrast with, yet still enhance, the concrete structure. The front of the reception desk is clad in glazed tiles of volcanic ash, while ceramic flooring includes alternating brick and block formations that add interest underfoot.

The palette features rust, ochre, and amber hues which reference the signature metal of the coppersmiths that were once common in the neighborhood. A suspended timber canopy covers the café and becomes its own unique section within the open-plan center.

Lush plants abound in the atrium, which is the heart of the 36,597-square-foot space. Benches upholstered in a bouclé fabric surround large custom planters. A variety of spots accommodate heads-down work or group sessions, while sheer cylindrical pendants float overhead.

Wood-framed meeting rooms painted a vibrant jade tone line one side of the perimeter. On the opposite end of the color and style spectrum, a Mad Men-esque sunken conversation pit is more cocktail lounge than corporate club. Enveloped in a deep wine tint, integrated seating and an acoustic treatment above complete the intimate setting.

The library balances openness with a more enclosed atmosphere. Permeable partitions of terracotta brick let light filter in. Shelves hold a selection of books and sculptural objects curated to echo the warmth of home. On the upper level, private offices are situated next to back-to-back booths and informal lounges.

With an emphasis on the atrium and the interplay of texture, Conductor becomes immersive as the illumination seems to shift throughout the day, which for Organ is an unsurpassed amenity. “The sun moves through the glass and then dapples through the plantings,” she notes. “The natural light makes the space magical.”

To learn more about the creative forces behind Conductor’s communal workspace, visit studiomulti.com and tabithaisobel.co.uk.

Photography by Jasper Fry.

There is an art to entertaining all day where pleasure suspends a collective sense of reality and we lose ourselves in joy where a beautiful backdrop, delicious food, and fantastic company conspire against the passage of time. Imagine a your most memorable get-together, tailgate, or adventure with loved ones. As day turns to night, some company gets cozy by a fire outside, or perhaps a few people just step out for air, while other party-goers relocate indoors for more fun after hours. Our music has long been mobile and snacks packs are plentiful, but what about the way we move with light?

The ILO Lamp from Arieto Studio liberates the luminary from its resting place for unencumbered enjoyment. The donut-shaped top easily detaches from the cylindrical base, allowing anyone to keep the party going wherever they land. A soft, diffused glow emanates from the glossy white lamp, creating a warmth that can be taken on the road, or simply outside to the patio.

Arieto Studio offers an elegant and intuitive solution where the portability of  similar products on the market come with some sort of aesthetic cost. Even when off, the toric form is beautiful to behold. The ring is a simple object easy to hold and carry. Charging passively, it’s always ready to be taken off dock for any type of social gathering on a whim sans charging cord.

Inspired and expressive, each subsequent colorway changes the feel of the lamp, offering curated shades that add a bit of personality. The hues are bold without being too bright, offering a warmer glow than the pure white variation. Whether your style is more reserved, or you take maximalism to the extreme, there are variations available to reflect your unique style.

To learn more about the ILO Lamp from Arieto Studio, visit arietostudio.com.

Photography courtesy of Arieto Studio.

One device is synonymous with the image of 1980s music: the legendary Sharp GF-777 boombox. Though not the first portable music playing device of its kind, this derivation had both style and substance. Released in 1983, the then advanced four-speaker, dual-cassette apparatus carried a rugged yet effortlessly elegant look that quickly made it a status symbol with the time’s street culture.

For the true music mavericks and aficionados of the era—the pioneers of Hip Hop, R&B, House, Techno, etc.—the device was a marker of taste; denoting a keen understanding of quality. Wrapped in a sleek chrome finish and bold primary color accents, the GF-777 was ideal for recording and mixing; enabled with tone controls for customized sound and to connect other devices.

Looking to recapture this glory but without the overly nostalgic reverence defining a lot of retro-tech these days, specialized producer Bumpboxx has released the reimagined but greatly optimised BB-777—cohereing classic analog formats with top-grade digital performance. “We wanted to build the boombox we grew up with, but engineered for today; something powerful, reliable, and complete,” says company founder Rob Owens. “The BB-777 is our way of proving that physical sound still matters.”

While it still incorporates the defining dual cassette deck, the at once historically cued and future forward device covers all the bases—tracks the evolution of music technology over the past three decades—with included radio, CD player, bluetooth streaming and USB playback. It’s TSA-approved rechargeable battery provides up to 15 hours of cordless power. With multi-voltage 100–240V AC compatibility, the BB-777 can be used almost anywhere around the world.

Thanks to two 6.25-inch super woofers, replete with independent channel gain, the revived boombox delivers up to 270 watts of power output. The BB-777 also includes two 6.25-inch coaxial speakers—emtting balanced mids and detailed clarity—and two horn tweeters—ensuring crisp, high-frequency projection. The fan-cooled amplifier provides thermal stability during periods of extended use. There are two wired microphone inputs with volume and echo controls but also ones that are built-in. Naturally, the BB-777 comes with a headphone output.

To learn more, visit bumpboxx.com.

Photography courtesy of Bumpboxx.

Marty Supreme might have gone 0 for 9 at the Oscars, but it seems to have ignited a ping pong fever. And the design world is paying attention. In fact, table sports in general are undergoing an aesthetic facelift, with brands like Unifor, RS Barcelona and even Louis Vuitton getting in on the game. Here are five that we’d love to try out.

1. COLOSSO by Marc Ange x 11 Ravens

COLOSSO, a limited-edition billiards table by 11 Ravens, the Los Angeles brand synonymous with elevated ping pong setups, looks designed expressly for one of Marc Ange’s über-luxury interiors. “Conceived as part of a new series of creature-like game tables, COLOSSO reimagines billiards as both a stage for play and an extraordinary work of art,” the manufacturer explains. Its pedestal bases come in a curated selection of woods, finishes, stones and marbles—and its playing surface in a selection of 60 Kvadrat textiles that expand upon the standard green. It’s shown here in burnt sienna.

2. Made to Measure by Herzog + de Meuron for Unifor

It’s hard to imagine the principals of heavyweight architecture firm Herzog + de Meuron in a rapid-fire ping pong match. But their Made to Measure collection for Unifor boasts table tennis tables as part of a broader offering including regular tables and seating. All are united by wooden frames with 12-degree-angled legs.

“The supporting structure consists of four solid wood beams interlocking in three dimensions: a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional castle joint,” the firm explains. “This structural matrix generates a scalable family of elements.” It’s as elegant as ping pong can possibly get.

3. Cleaf at Salone del Mobile

Spotted at Salone, Cleaf‘s exuberant Beyond the Lines laminate collection was used to clad a table tennis as part of a booth that “focuses on the intersection of sport and design, in an unexpected and playful way.” It made for a convincing application of the surfacing in a custom ping pong piece—if anyone is so inclined.

5. AL13 by Luca Nichetto for RS Barcelona

While we’re at RS Barcelona, let’s also admire its new collaboration with Luca Nichetto. AL13 takes as its point of departure the periodic table of elements — specifically the symbol and atomic number of aluminum, which comprises the shell of this curvaceous pool table. AL13’s upholstery in soft leather completes the impeccable design.

6. Odysée by Estúdio Campana for Louis Vuitton’s Objet Nomades

There’s sometimes an urge to slam the full weight of your body against a foosball table to manoeuvre your mini soccer ball — not with this marvellous creature. Named after the legendary Greek king, Odysée introduces handcrafted luxury and telltale Campana whimsy into the barroom staple. The tiny player figures are sirens with Swarovski crystal eyes and the legs are covered in leather scales. “At its heart,” Estudio Campana explains, “lies a poetic suggestion: the ball as a pearl, embraced by finely pleated blue leather that envelops the entire piece.”

Tony Piloseno’s journey from employee to entrepreneur was hardly typical. When he was in college, the Ohio native worked as an associate at a Sherwin-Williams store. He shared videos of himself mixing paint on TikTok, and by the sixth post he went viral. Viewers loved it, but the company was less than enthused, and he was eventually fired.

Even though Piloseno received offers to join other firms, he decided to strike out on his own, and founded Tonester Paints in 2021. Starting from the ground up was stressful, especially in the first few years after launch. “I was barely able to support myself with the small number of paint orders we had each week,” he says.

Photo: David Lawrence

Piloseno remained dedicated, and was convinced that he could turn his passion into a purpose-driven business. From the beginning though he wasn’t solely focused on sales. He showed customers how to complete their own dream interiors, from the selection of the ideal shade to tackling a DIY project.

The sumptuous colors Piloseno is known for not only cover walls, they also tell a story. Hues are evocative of places or personas. Midwest Cowboy, for example, is a black-caramel that calls to mind an upscale ranch setting. Brooklyn Vogue is on the other end of the spectrum, a deep blue-gray that references the famous borough.

Based in Florida, Tonester Paints is now a global brand, yet Piloseno still produces all of the social media content. He is active on Instagram and YouTube, and checks out new creators from the interior design world for inspiration. He captures plenty of ideas, in no particular sequence, with the help of his mobile device. “It is all extremely unorganized, but I use the iPhone Notes app every time.

Today, Tony Piloseno joins us for Friday Five!

1. Timepieces

Collecting watches has been a personal hobby of mine ever since entering the world of business and design. The craftsmanship and intention behind each piece in the market has always been fascinating to me. As someone who loves to meet new people, I have come to learn that most people you may meet have a strong personal story of how they acquired the watch they are wearing due to their own style and taste. This makes it a great way to begin a conversation and find shared interests.

2. Streetwear Culture

As a brand owner, I love the cult following that some streetwear brands have. Unlike most fashion categories, followers of a specific streetwear brand have the strongest sense of community. I love the excitement of drops that sell-out, the resale market research and demand, it’s all very intense and high energy.

3. Hip-Hop/Rap Music

Growing up in Cleveland, Hip-Hop and Rap had a big impact in our community believe it or not. The story telling and sense of motivation by specific artists in these genres have always been in my ears through every point in my childhood and early career.

4. NYC

Truly one of the most inspiring places to visit. Every time I visit, I leave with a newly charged battery full of passion, creativity and inspiration. New friends are always made on each trip!

5. Social Media

This may seem very Gen Z of me––but I truly enjoy scrolling and being active on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. I love seeing emerging creators in the world of interior design and people being their most creative selves. I still make all the social content for Tonester and social media is the easiest place to stay inspired and make new friends in your niche.

Works by Tony Piloseno’s Tonester Paints:

Milan Design Week
During Milan Design Week 2025, Mercoeur Edition, Tonester Paints, and Franck Genser, came together for Inspired Nuances, an immersive installation. A multisensory experience for visitors, it was a showcase of materiality, color, and form.

Photo: James Harris

M2L House
Tonester Paints and M2L joined forces to transform a historic Art Deco home in Miami Beach into a showcase of color, craftsmanship, and contemporary design. Tonester Paints developed a custom palette specifically designed to complement a furniture collection by Tacchini.

Photo: Courtesy D1 Milano

D1 Milano Watches
In collaboration with Italian watchmaker D1 Milano, Tonester introduced a limited edition series of four timepieces drawn from its Milan Design Week 2025 palette, each embodying a different moment and mood of the city.

Photo: Gabriel Volpik

Alcova Miami 2025
Franck Genser and Tonester Paints brought a serene yet powerful environment to life at Alcova Miami 2025, where material, light, and emotion converged. The installation included sculptural volumes and atmospheric hues that shifted like light across the sky.

Photo: Clemens Kois

Zappa Nest
Part of the Hollywood Hills compound built by guitarist Frank Zappa in the 1970s, the Zappa Nest was originally designed as a creative retreat for visiting musicians. Custom and signature Tonester hues were chosen for their emotional resonance, depth, and ability to shift with natural light. They anchor each room with a distinct atmosphere, creating continuity throughout the home.

There’s a particular alchemy that happens when interiors are conceived less as static arrangements and more as scenes waiting to unfold. The room becomes a set, the objects actors, the materials a kind of performance—each element calibrated to evoke mood, memory, and narrative. With the new collaboration between Laura Harrier and designer Tiffany Howell for Crate & Barrel, that sensibility takes center stage.

Debuting an 87-piece collection spanning furniture, lighting, textiles, and decor, Howell and Harrier approach the home not as a backdrop, but as a compositional tool capable of constructing richly layered interiors that feel cinematic in both atmosphere and intent.

The foundation of that world-building lies in a shared visual language. What began as a long-standing friendship evolved naturally into a creative partnership rooted in overlapping references—vintage cinema, archival fashion, photography, and the quiet drama of 1970s design.

“We were always pulling from the same references,” Harrier notes, describing a process translating image into object and memory into form.

Rather than starting with furniture typologies, the duo looked elsewhere: the curve of a dress, the glint of a cufflink, and the structure of a vintage heel. These fragments became the collection’s generative DNA, reinterpreted through material and scale. Upholstered silhouettes echo the cutouts of eveningwear; wood joinery carries the precision of jewelry detailing; lacquered finishes recall the gloss of accessories worn smooth over time. It’s a methodology that sidesteps conventional product design in favor of something more associative, and ultimately, more narrative-driven.

That narrative is steeped in a palette saturated in reverie. Tobacco, copper, and cream saturate the collection, conjuring the amber glow of old Hollywood interiors and late-day California light. Materials—burl wood, velvet, grasscloth, and mouth-blown glass—are deployed not just for their tactile richness, but for their ability to hold atmosphere. Together, they build a visual density that reads like a well-composed film still, both intimate and expansive.

Key pieces act as anchors within this scenography. The bar cabinet, a standout for both Harrier and Howell, distills the collection’s ethos into a single object: lacquered surfaces meet generous proportions, while interior compartments are scaled to accommodate vinyl records. Elsewhere, the dining table’s sculptural legs and brass detailing introduce a sense of tension and release, while seating elements subtly reference the architecture of garments, with curves and cutouts that feel at once tailored and relaxed. Together, the pieces become an invitation to ritual, to gathering, and to performing.

Even the smaller gestures carry weight. The curvature of a headboard, the interplay between upholstery and wood, the faint irregularity of a finish—each detail contributes to what Howell describes as a sense of “soulfulness,” a quality that resists perfection in favor of something slightly worn, slightly undone. The effect is a kind of softened glamour that favors lived-in elegance over pristine surfaces.

Crucially, this cinematic approach doesn’t abandon livability. Working within the framework of Crate & Barrel’s customer, the duo balanced expression with usability, ensuring that the pieces remain functional without sacrificing their point of view. The result is a collection that feels immersive but not prescriptive—capable of transforming everyday rituals into something more intentional and composed.

To see this and other works by the designer, visit nightpalm.com.

Photography courtesy of Crate & Barrel.

As Milan Design Week comes to a close, the Fuorisalone installation that lingers in my mind is once again that which puts a design spin on the familiar. MIT professor and architect Carlo Ratti partnered with Mutti to create House of Polpa, a temporary structure that turns one of the most ubiquitous pantry staples into an immersive architectural experience. Canned goods are rarely the subject of design discourse, yet their cultural presence is undeniable, as Andy Warhol underscored decades ago.

Here, that same basic can became the starting point for a different kind of exploration. Installed beneath the portico of the Università degli Studi di Milano, approximately twenty thousand cans of Mutti tomato pulp were supported by a steel substructure that allows them to be stacked and gradually removed without compromising their stability.

Visitors walked through the red volume spanning more than 25 meters. Inside, the experience move beyond the visual. Subtle cues of scent, texture, and sound created a sensorial environment referencing the tomato supply chain.

Circularity is also embedded throughout. The flooring, developed using a Mapei resin made from dried tomato peels recovered from processing waste, reinforces the project’s ethos. Nothing there was purely symbolic. Each element points back to cycles of production, use, and reuse. In essence, the project is designed to be ephemeral.

Visitors were invited to remove a can of Mutti Polpa as an example of participation through consumption. The dissolving structure will extend the exhibit’s life into many pasta dinners throughout the region. For the cans that remain, they will be donated. The dispersal of the project is what makes it so compelling. The installation’s destination will be someone’s kitchen, showing how design can minimize waste by thinking beyond single use.

Images by Saverio Lombardi Vallauri, courtesy of INTERNI Magazine.