Fashion houses take on the 2010 Salone del Mobile

As we noted in our May issue (Wallpaper*134), many of the A-list fashion houses have expanded way beyond the realms of mere fashion, opening hotels, bars and restaurants, and offering fully fledged furniture and home collections.

This year's Salone del Mobile provided a vivid microcosm of the brands that are extending their reaches and interests. Some presented their own home and furniture lines, others collaborated with interior brands - like Armani with bathroom specialists Roca, and Maison Martin Margiela with Cerruti Baleri - while others gave over their spaces to designers, as did Krizia to lighting designer Ingo Maurer. The results could only be described as brand width of the highest order.

Bottega Veneta and Casa Brutus
In addition to showcasing a new suite of furniture, Bottega Veneta presented a small cache of Japanese objets - created by Japanese artisans and master craftsmen - that had been specially selected by creative director Tomas Maier and Seiichi Kamei, the editor-in-chief of Japanese design and architecture magazine Casa Brutus. Among the pieces on display were Akita cedar wooden pitchers by Yasutaka Shimizu and hand-cut Shippo Kiriko glasses by Glass.

Brioni
With bespoke tailoring at its core, Brioni couldn't have been a more suitable host for our 'Wallpaper* Handmade... in Italy' exhibition, dedicated to the marriage of craftsmanship and design. We commissioned our favourite designers, artists, makers and manufacturers to create unique furniture, fittings, food stuffs, fashions and more, which were shown over four floors of the Brioni house. Visitors were greeted by a dramatic installation in the courtyard, titled '12,000' stitches', which paid homage to the craftsmanship it takes to create a single Brioni suit.

Diesel
Diesel's ambitious offering for the Salone not only included new pieces for its 'Successful Living' homeware collection - including sharp-edged tables outlined in black metal and chrome, produced in partnership with Moroso - but a new car, named the Fiat 500C. With 16-inch alloy wheels, the convertible features a denim interior and Diesel's iconic Mohican symbol on the gear stick. Also on show at the brand's HQ were a series of robust suspended lamps finished in rubber, metal and cement, created in collaboration with Foscarini.

Etro
What do you get when you combine the sturdy manufacturing capabilities of Kartell, Piero Lissoni's fertile imagination and Etro's ever original outdoor fabric from its 2010 Furnishing Collection? You get the fairy-tale inspired 'Pop Ranocchie' chair and sofa that were unveiled at Etro's boutique in Via Montenapoleone. Meaning 'frog', the Ranocchie fabric is a wistful water scene that calls to mind ancient Japanese tapestries.

Fendi
So pleased were they with their collaboration at last year's Salone, Fendi and Design Miami rekindled in Milan this year what we hope is a long lasting affair. Spazio Fendi was given over to 'Design Vertigo', a series of site-specific installations by Swiss artist Felice Varini and three emerging studios rAndom International, Graham Hudson and Beta Tank.

Gianfranco Ferré
For a week this past April, Gianfranco Ferré handed over its Spazio Gianfranco Ferré to a one-man show by the Spanish interior designer Nacho Carbonell. Living up to its marquee 'Diversity', the twenty new pieces were curated by Galleria Rossana Orlandi.

Giuliano Fujiwara
Having dabbled in eyeware and skincare, the Japanese/Milanese fashion label Giuliano Fujiwara is extending its reach into home furnishings. Its newly minted partnership with Formitalia is meant to be another element of the 'Giuliano Fujiwara lifestyle'.

Henry Cotton's
For its new three-storey flagship store in Milan's fashionable Corso Venezia, Italian fashion retailer Henry Cotton's enlisted Anouska Hempel Design to create a space that best reflected the brand's Brit-vibe. The 400m2 space is anchored by a staircase that spirals upwards through a palette of parquet, aged oak, beveled glass and leather, while the floor décor -- sprinkled with silver tea pots, hanging oars, timber skis and antique fire grates -- recalls the days of old Brittania.

Krizia
Ingo Maurer's ongoing collaboration with Krizia during Salone continued this year with his new exhibition 'Hoi Polloi - this, that and others'. Headlining the eclectic offerings displayed in Spazio Krizia were newly designed table and suspension lamps alongside the titular 'Hoi Polloi', a new lighting system that uses WonderLux - the engineering lovechild of the incandescent bulb and LED technology.

Maison Martin Margiela
Over the past few years, Maison Martin Margiela has flirted very effectively with interior design, most notably in the make-over of a suite at the Caudalie hotel and spa in Bordeaux. A furniture line was the next obvious step and a few pieces, produced in conjunction with furniture retailer Cerruti Baleri, debuted at this year's Salone. Dubbed 'Position Assis', or 'sitting position', the selection includes 'Groupe' - a surrealistic sofa made of three vintage armchairs - and an oversized armchair swathed in white cotton canvas.

Marc Jacobs
Following the recent launch of shops in London, Istanbul and Paris, it was only a matter of time before Marc Jacobs touched down in Milan. Set in Piazza del Carmine in the heart of Milan's historic Brera quarter, Marc by Marc Jacobs - which opened its doors during the Salone - boasts not just the full complement of men's and women's wear and accessories, but also a bar and café. Architect Stephan Jaklitsch opted to insert the shop frontage behind the building's arched bays while allowing clear views into the interiors of navy blue concrete floors, neon signage and blue steel shelving.

Malo
During Salone, cashmere knitwear label Malo teamed up with Zanotta for a very tactile, not to mention, comfortable collaboration. The shop floor in Malo's Via della Spiga boutique was given over to iconic pieces like the 'Sacco' beanbag chair, 'Lama' chaise lounge and 'Sella' chair, alongside new pieces swathed in cashmere from Zanotta's 2010 collection and Malo's new home collection of blankets, pillows and rib-chain cashmere clad lamps in shades of black and ivory.

Marni
Marni flexed its design muscle during the Salone by commissioning architect Matteo Thun to create a series of installations outside its showroom and the Interni Think Tank, that would provide a dialogue about the life cycle of a product. His 'Wooden Beacons' featured sustainable red oak panels that seemed to project from the earth, interspersed by Marni fabrics, hanging jewellery or floating paper lanterns.

Massimo Alba
Massimo Alba's new boutique in Milan feels more like a home-cum-studio than a store, with walls covered in pages from a 19th-century botanical encyclopaedia and a collection of comfortable chairs, books and artifacts. For the Salone, the designer personally selected a collection of brightly coloured, sculptural lamps by Paola Napoleone to complete the look.

Max Mara
Max&Co; showed its commitment to ethical design with a show titled 'Unexpected signs from Africa' in its flagship store on Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Alongside its 'Ethical Animalier' fashion collection was a range of furniture by Be Clever - a brand based in East Africa and headed up by Italian designer, Marzia Chierichetti. The chairs, shelves, cabinets and lights, created by local African artisans, have an organic texture that resembles bones and vertebrae.

Missoni
The fashion label has been extending its reach beyond fashion for many years now, with its own homeware collection and a growing troop of Missoni hotels. For the Salone it joined forces with Artek, for the Finnish furniture brand's 75th anniversary 'Dress the chair' campaign. Iconic armchairs and stools upholstered in Missoni fabrics were on show at Spazio Rossana Orlandi.

Moncler
Moncler took a more unconventional approach to the Salone at its Milan boutique. It created a new version of the 'Moncler Toy' - its iconic giant duck cast in resin - and called on Chinese sculptress Xiang Jing to 'clothe' it. She painted the duck in jade green, recalling the springtime explosion of colour in Beijing, the city of her childhood.

Moschino
Moschino created a special window installation for the fair, humbly titled 'Bits & Pieces'. The handmade tent, folding chair and lamp on display were inspired by nomads and 'eccentric grandmothers', and fashioned in colourful, recycled textiles. Salone was also the occasion to toast the opening of Maison Moschino, the label's outré hotel where four poster beds are framed by tree trunks and giant tea cups double as tables.

Roberto Cavalli
During Salone, the windows of the Roberto Cavalli Boutique showed mannequins clad in Roberto Cavalli S/S 2010 interacting with wooden sculptures by Hungarian artist Laszlo LL Papp. Taken from his latest collection, the works included a 'Bone cradle', made from Italian walnut, and a wardrobe called 'Skin and bone' in beechwood.

Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo may already have a fleet of hotels and a museum under its belt, but it has yet to unveil its own range of homeware. Instead, the brand called on furniture designer Patricia Urquiola to make her mark on fashion during the fair. Her 'Tosei' bag, inspired by Japanese armour suits, was displayed alongside a selection of daybeds and chairs she has created for furniture brand Molteni & C.

Sergio Rossi
Wallpaper* teamed up with Sergio Rossi to launch an ephemeral men's shoe boutique on Via Ponte Vetero. Designed by architect Antonino Cardillo, the temporary structure is akin to a theatre set within the original store, constructed from wood and billowing velvet curtains. Open for two seasons, the store features the men's footwear collection - designed by the brand's Creative Director Francesco Russo - which is the first step of a Sergio Rossi footwear world tour.

Stone Island
The fashion label Stone Island and furniture brand Zanotta literally fused together at the Salone. They called on designers Aldo Petillo and Andrea Dichiara to reinterpret the Zanotta's 'Sacco' chair using Stone Island's signature jacket as the skin. The resulting seven 'Metamorphs' were a dialogue about 'the ability of iconic products to adapt to a world that increasingly changes at a rate we are unable to control'.

Versace
Versace's 'Funked Up New Classics' collection was filled with pop colours and graphic themes. Reinterpretations of classical forms were mixed with distinctly modern shapes and the brand also unveiled its new range of glassware, in collaboration with Venini.

Vivienne Westwood
Two design ventures transformed the Vivienne Westwood store during the Salone. Suspended water bottles designed by Westwood for Sigg - makers of the original recyclable aluminum bottle - hung in the windows, aimed at urging people to rethink their use of the plastic alternative, while the walls of the store were decked in Westwood's collaboration with Cole & Son - a series of wallpapers featuring some the fashion label's most iconic designs, such as the 'Squiggle' print that first appeared in the A/W 81 'Pirate' collection.