Every year during Milan Design Week, Hermès takes over the spaces of Via Palermo’s La Pelota to stage what has become known as the best design spectacle of the week. For 2022, the colourful set is inspired by brutalist water towers, whose forms were replicated with voluminous wooden structures covered in translucent coloured paper. The four structures by Hervé Sauvage and Charlotte Macaux Perelman glow in the cavernous space, their jewel hues concealing the maison’s latest furniture and accessories.
Lightness is the theme of this year’s presentation, with special attention to home textiles in bright cashmere (one of the materials favoured by the house), whose application is explored via a series of techniques.
Plaids are made of strips of cashmere combined in a patchwork motif by American artist Carson Converse, or panels joined through a technique borrowed from couture (relinking), replicating the geometries of Gianpaolo Pagni’s work. The finest woven cashmere is also used as a canvas for fine stitching, creating more expressive geometries for new tactile pieces.
The theme continues in the furniture and accessories, such as porcelain tableware referencing the colours of the sun, or discreetly folded leather becoming a series of centrepieces, their geometric patterns elegantly applied freehand with a brush.
The sophisticated furniture offering includes the ‘Oria’ chair by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, a balanced composition of curved oak with canework and leather details, while Álvaro Siza’s Japanese-inspired stool merges a delicate cane structure with a leather seat.
Lightness is perhaps best exemplified by Tomas Alonso’s series of lights. Parachute fabric folded and held in place by a simple bamboo structure forms the shade for these lamps, whose light source is held by a circular steel piece and reflected on the painted textile and a carefully conceived light switch, a bold piece in blue and teal that’s not to be kept hidden from view.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Via Palermo, 10
20121 Milano
-
‘I wanted to create a sanctuary’ – discover a nature-conscious take on Balinese architectureUmah Tsuki by Colvin Haven is an idyllic Balinese family home rooted in the island's crafts culture
-
‘Concrete Dreams’: rethinking Newcastle’s brutalist pastA new project and exhibition at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle revisits the radical urban ideas that changed Tyneside in the 1960s and 1970s
-
Mexican designers show their metal at Gallery Collectional, Dubai‘Unearthing’ at Dubai’s Gallery Collectional sees Ewe Studio designers Manu Bañó and Héctor Esrawe celebrate Mexican craftsmanship with contemporary forms
-
Faye Toogood brings new life to Matisse’s legacyMilan Design Week 2023: tapped by Maison Matisse, the London-based designer has taken inspiration from the French master’s forms to create a collection of heirloom-worthy objects
-
Prada Frames 2023: Milan programme announcedProgramme announced for Prada Frames 2023 at Milan Design Week, the annual symposium curated by Formafantasma at Luigi Caccia Dominioni's Teatro Filodrammatici from 17 to 19 April
-
Alessi Occasional Objects: Virgil Abloh’s take on cutleryBest Cross Pollination: Alessi's cutlery by the late designer Virgil Abloh, in collaboration with his London studio Alaska Alaska, is awarded at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023
-
Salone del Mobile 2023: highlights from Milan Design WeekIn pictures: our highlights from Milan Design Week, held during the 61st Salone del Mobile 2023 (18-23 April)
-
USM launches blushing pink limited edition of its modular furnitureFollowing an installation during Milan Design Week 2022, USM launches a new pink limited edition of its Haller range
-
‘You don't want space; you want to fill it’: Milan exhibitionMaking its debut during Milan Design Week 2022 at Marsèll Paradise, a new exhibition by Matylda Krzykowski, explores how we approach the space we live in (until 15 July 2022)
-
Kohler and Daniel Arsham brought experiential art to Milan Design WeekLooking back on Daniel Arsham and Kohler’s Divided Layers installation, and the brand’s latest bathroom collection
-
Men’s mental health takes centre stage at an art and design exhibition by Tableau‘Confessions’, which travels to Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design following its debut at Milan Design Week 2022, features commissioned work by 14 male artists, designers and architects, reflecting on toxic masculinity, vulnerability and mental health
