Milan 2010
Trends and musings from most important date on the international design calendar.
Milan looked like a very interesting proposition this year from the ourtsiders perspective and, for once - thanks to the now infamous volcano, we followed it closely from the comforts of home.
From the off there seems not to have been that much in the way of coverage of the festival itself from the usual sources. While they (the journalists and bloggers) might have been stuck there perhaps they might have used the time wisely and done a little writing instead of panicking about being stranded in one of the world's most beautiful cities?
That said, exerience won over in the case of Dezeen.com, which continued to post despite being hampered by the ash cloud, as did Coolhunting.com, which had some of its writers in from New York. So let's see what went down...
Or, perhaps let's rephrase that and begin with a quick look at colours from the show. Leading the way and reflecting views we recently expressed in an interview with Coatings World, there is a beautiful interpretation of some of the key catwalk trends this year. It's the 'nude' of which we speak.
On the catwalk it refers to skin tone colours on nice, simple fabrics as demonstrated by Celine and its designer Pheobe Philo who used lots of nude colour blocking in its collection this Spring in Paris and New York.
In the design world, this translation was evident all over the place. Essentially it's an absence of colour - treating materials very simply to let the natural beauty shine through. Simple staining of woods, gentle light pastels, greige textiles, light varnishes or veneers... Young Swedish designer Johan Lindsten exibited a couple of nice pieces over at Designersblock, the nude element present in the use of a lightly treated wood in his Emboidery Chair.German designer Stefan Diez showed an oak veneered ply lounge chair for e15. Straddling his bases in Tokyo and London, Shin Azumi provided nice examples of this nude colour blocking for Danish brand Fredericia in a project entitled Nara - referencing a Japanese city famed for its sacred wild deer, allowed to roam free.
Spanish designers grouped together under the moniker Red with a number of luxurious examples of this trend. Japan's Nendo pretty much own this trend with its Cord Chair, made from hollowed out wood covering a metal frame -delicate, balanced and jaw-drroppingly beautiful.
As well as being attractive to look at it's a difficult trend to pull off effectively. As it creates such a luxe look, it's all about attention to detail due to the fact that it does reveal any flaws in production. Executed well though it's a joy to behold. There are gentle talks of a resurgence in the Scandinavian style of design, woody, natural and well-crafted lifted to popularity during the 90's thanks to the efforts of Wallpaper magazine. Looking at some of the examples here you'd have to agree.
