MILAN — A celebration of Italian home design will be hosted on the sixth floor of Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship as part of the retailer’s “From Italy, With Love” country promotion.
On Monday, Italian design trade show Salone del Mobile revealed it has partnered with the U.S.-based department store for an installation and a series of curated events and talks that will unfurl between Sept. 5 and 29.
Since Olivier Bron took over as Bloomingdale’s chief executive officer last year, he’s been working on taking the upscale department store to the next level with a fortified strategy that includes marketing and events. During the same period, Salone del Mobile.Milano has been working ardently to promote the design and furniture fair throughout the world. Last year, its president Maria Porro embarked on a promotional tour that kicked off in the European capitals of Paris, London, Berlin and Copenhagen, with U.S. stops in Dallas, New York, Las Vegas and Chicago.
The Salone del Mobile.Milano activation at Bloomingdale’s is named “Italian Design: From Classic to Contemporary,” a tribute to new and notable Made in Italy products by 23 selected brands, all exhibitors of the Salone del Mobile.Milano trade fair. Architect Ferruccio Laviani is curating the installation, which took inspiration from Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical piazzas.
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On Sept. 4, the Salone del Mobile.Milano will present an installation of the same name that is dedicated to Italian design and furniture, curated by architect Ferruccio Laviani, who conceived his display based on Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical piazzas.
Artemide and Foscarini, design firm Kartell and furniture companies like Porro, Minotti, Molteni&C and Visionnaire are among the brands that have been selected. Laviani will also pay tribute to two great Italian figures: Luca Ronconi, an Italian actor, theater and opera director who rose to fame in the second half of the 20th century, and iconic designer Achille Castiglioni.
“By joining forces with Bloomingdale’s — with which we share a similar vision, an eagerness to move forward and a commitment toward enhancing the heritage of leading brands — we have the opportunity to broaden and strengthen connections with a market that is fundamental for Made in Italy…a program of talks aims to bring the American public closer to the world of Italian design production,” said Porro, adding that the exhibition will be an imaginative statement that will unfold into space as a parade of iconic products, conceived as a single installation. It will connect art, architecture, aesthetics and Italian products.
A rendering of “Italian Design: from Classic to Contemporary” Bloomingdale’s New York Site-specific installation by Studio Laviani. Studio Laviani
This event also marks the start of an international tour of the Salone del Mobile: a road show aimed at strengthening the image of Salone as a catalyst for transformation, avant-garde and cultural innovation.
A program of talks, titled “Conversations About Italian Design,” has been curated by Salone’s editorial director and cultural events advisor Annalisa Rosso, and will open on Sept. 4 with a panel discussion with Porro, Laviani, Bloomingdale’s fashion director Kelley Carter and SaloneSatellite founder and curator Marva Griffin Wilshire to discuss the role of Italian furniture brands in the global market. The latter founded SaloneSatellite in 1998 and, at the time, it was one of the first events to propel the work of young designers under a global spotlight. “As a design enthusiast, attending Salone del Mobile each year is always a personal highlight. We’re thrilled to bring that same excitement and innovation to Bloomingdale’s,” Carter told WWD.
On Sept. 11, Elle Decor executive director Ingrid Abramovitch will preside over a dialogue between Objects of Common Interest cofounder Eleni Petaloti and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill associate principal Qiyao Li about Italian design as an international reference and future trends in the sector. Objects of Common Interest, the New York- and Athens-based research and design studio, made a splash at Nilufar‘s Viale Lancetti gallery presentation during Milan Design Week with its “Purple Nebula” with futuristic designs that represented ethereal nebulas.
On Sept. 18, artist Francesco Simeti and Lissoni Architecture New York chief operating officer Stefano Giussani will discuss the relationship between contemporary design and classical Italian culture.
