Milan Design Week has been my personal design utopia for years – a pilgrimage that's shaped my career and served as the ultimate on-the-ground education in global design. Returning each year feels like a special treat, one I don't take lightly, especially with today's rising cost of travel!

It's nearly impossible not to have a good time in Milan during this week. The city shines at its prime – glorious weather, excited crowds, people dressed to the nines, new venues popping up with endless design discoveries. But beneath this seductive surface, significant shifts are happening that deserve attention.

The Price of Popularity

Milan's evolution brings both excitement and challenges. The fashion world has naturally gravitated toward Milan's concentration of educated, design-savvy visitors, with technology and automotive brands following suit. This year, the crossover reached new heights, transforming the very essence of Design Week.

What's happening is more than just growth – it's a fundamental shift in focus. The original purpose of Milan Design Week – celebrating furniture and product innovation – increasingly gets overshadowed by extravagant PR activations designed primarily for social media. While a broader audience could theoretically enrich the design ecosystem, many visitors now prioritise the Instagram moment over genuine design engagement.

Finding independent designers and emerging talents – those who represent design's future – requires more dedication than ever. Having made this pilgrimage for years, I've watched the experience transform with each edition. The endless queues and labyrinthine registration processes have become standard, creating barriers to the spontaneous discoveries that once made Milan so magical.

This changing landscape makes initiatives like those from Foscarini particularly valuable. Their ongoing commitment to supporting emerging talent stands out amid the noise. During Milan Design Week, they offer a platform for young designers and artists to reinterpret their lighting collections and contribute fresh creative perspectives. Their exhibitions explore the intersections of art, lighting design, and technology without sacrificing substance for spectacle. Similarly, Living Divani's collaboration with Giacomo Moor – a rising talent known for his integrity and commitment to designing for underserved communities – demonstrates how established brands can nurture new voices while maintaining their design values.

Some of the highlights

One of this year’s most surprising highlights was my visit to the Salone del Mobile fairgrounds at Rho. While many major brands have abandoned the fair to show exclusively in town, several smaller and mid-sized brands have returned with considerable success. I genuinely enjoyed seeing actual products displayed with intention and context. Even at the fairgrounds, the popularity of certain stands meant waiting times. While I’m fortunate to be armed with a press pass which allows me to skip (almost) any queue, leaning on partners like Space Furniture proves invaluable when visiting their multitude of brands – their industry connections and arrangements can facilitate access to otherwise challenging exhibitions, enhancing the Milan experience significantly.

At the fair, I fell for the new collections from Acerbis, a brand that's absolutely scorching right now under creative directors Francesco Meda and David Lopez Quincoces. Since their 2020 appointment, they've been brilliantly reinterpreting Acerbis' archive designs for contemporary contexts, and so Acerbis has been rocketed to the top of my favourite brands list.

I also loved rediscovering Azucena's collections at Design Holding's showroom on Via Durini. Founded in 1947 and known for its elegance and aesthetic purity, this brand deserves much more of my attention than I've been giving it.

As this was the year of Euroluce – the biennial lighting fair – I must also mention my favourite lighting discovery: the MAAP by Erwan Bouroullec for FLOS. This wall of organic, mouldable light stopped me in my tracks. Despite its bold presence, it's extremely lightweight and built around an ultralight Tyvek envelope – paper-like in appearance, but tear-resistant in nature. It's outstanding!

Last but not least, dining with design legend Paola Navone, courtesy of Baxter and Space Furniture was a personal highlight. Paola's commitment to colour, pattern, and a singular design language across products and interiors is legendary. Her brutal honesty is particularly refreshing in an era when many feel muzzled by political correctness. I love her! Also, her new Chicago sofa for Baxter is a total knockout, too.

Finding balance in the chaos

What makes Milan Design Week irreplaceable is this beautiful paradox – it's simultaneously overwhelming and essential, commercial and creative, frustrating and inspiring. Despite the challenges, it remains the beating heart of global design discourse. The key is learning to navigate its evolution with both critical awareness and open-hearted appreciation. Milan Design Week has been my personal design utopia for years – a pilgrimage that's shaped my career and served as the ultimate on-the-ground education in global design. Returning each year feels like a special treat, one I don't take lightly, especially with today's rising cost of travel!

It's nearly impossible not to have a good time in Milan during this week. The city shines at its prime – glorious weather, excited crowds, people dressed to the nines, new venues popping up with endless design discoveries. But beneath this seductive surface, significant shifts are happening that deserve attention.