AD CORE DEVISE DESIGNER COLUMN Vol.180
I went to Milan Design Week again this April. I've been going to Milan Salone since I was 24, so that makes it 40 years now. Initially, it was held at Fiera Milano City, an international furniture fair located near the city center, just 7 stops from the Duomo. It was held in September at that venue, and I remember the last time I went it was as hot as midsummer. There was no air conditioning, and the building was as hot as a sauna, lit only by halogen lights. (Back then, it was common for shops in Milan not to have air conditioning.) Since 2005, it has been held at the current Fiera Milano Rho, on the outskirts of Milan, which relieved us from the heat, but it's now 17 subway stops and about 30 minutes further from the Duomo, and the venue is huge, making it difficult to walk around. Since then, various events have been held in the Tortona area, which is a former factory site, and in the city center of Milan, attracting people from all over the world.
The Milan Furniture Fair (Salone del Mobile) is known as one of the two major furniture fairs, along with the Cologne International Furniture Fair held in Cologne, Germany. The kitchen exhibition held concurrently is now held biennially in Italy and Germany, and in the years when the kitchen exhibition is held at the Milan Furniture Fair, many interior designers attend. In recent years, this joint kitchen exhibition with Germany has begun to break down, and German kitchen brands have focused on showroom displays in Milan and no longer participate in the Fiera. As a result, the space inside the venue has been left unused year after year, and this year the aisles have been widened and curtains have been hung to hide the extra space. The same was true for last year's lighting exhibition. The same is true for furniture brands; many major brands that used to exhibit at the Fiera have opened showrooms in the city and established permanent exhibitions, and the number of major manufacturers that used to visit 10 years ago has been halved.
This decision stems from the realization that opening a showroom within the city is more cost-effective than the soaring exhibition fees and the expense of setting up a massive booth at a major trade show. In the past, trade shows attracted buyers from all over the world, with both buyers and sellers seriously focused on generating a year's worth of sales in a single week. The first three days, Buyer Days (open to the public), were filled with a palpable energy and a strong desire to sell. Now, major brands have established agents globally, with franchise agencies in major cities, making new sourcing impossible. With communication and payment easily handled online, the focus of trade shows has shifted from buyer-centric presentations to showcasing the brand image to consumers. This new focus on image presentation has attracted crowds, and city events have become design festivals, anticipating these visitors. As a result, there are more brand advertising events, including installations beyond furniture brands, attracting large crowds and driving up hotel prices.
In recent years, the soaring travel costs during Salone have been a problem, but this year, with the yen weakening and the euro rising by about 20%, the hotel where I've been staying for the past few years, which cost around 60,000 yen per night two years ago, rose to 93,000 yen last year, and is now over 120,000 yen. This is an abnormal amount compared to 15 years ago when our company was running Milan Salone tours and it was in the 20,000 yen range. Therefore, this year, instead of the usual three-day stay starting on Wednesday, I changed the itinerary to Friday through Sunday, the general public days, to reduce hotel costs as much as possible. (The accommodation fee for the final day, Sunday, is halved.) I also decided to extend my stay by three days to see what the city is like after Salone. It was my first time exploring on the final day, Sunday, and my first time seeing Milan after Salone had ended in my 40 years of visiting. On the final day, Sunday, the lines for the fashion brand events were so long that I gave up on entering, but the showrooms of famous furniture brands, which are also well-known in Japan, were deserted. It seems that ordinary citizens aren't interested in furniture showrooms.
At the same hotel where the room rate was reduced to 1/5 of the original price starting Monday, the breakfast area suddenly became crowded. During Salone, the seats were never full, but it was bustling with regular business people. To be honest, I can't afford to spend more than 10 yen on hotel expenses for business trips, and the hotel is of the same grade as a Japanese business hotel, so it's usually a hotel used by business travelers. What surprised me when I walked around town after Salone ended was how deserted the town was, which had been so lively, and there were no restrictions on entry to the showrooms of furniture and kitchen brands. I just walked in through the empty entrance, and inside there were only a few staff members working at their usual leisurely pace, so I could look around, sit down, and take pictures to my heart's content. The popular kitchen brand in Brera also had long lines during Salone, and for the past few years I had given up on even seeing it, or even if I could get in it it was too crowded to take pictures, but where had all that hustle and bustle gone...?
I only knew about Milan during Design Week, but I was surprised to discover how quiet it can be to walk around. From next year, I think I'll visit places other than showrooms during the week and then visit the showrooms after it's over. New products are still on display, and you can leisurely view the interiors and products. It's nice to see the festive installations, but when I think about whether they'll be useful for my work, I think I'll be able to spend my time more meaningfully than seeing the fun, expo-like exhibits that are only enjoyable during the week. If fewer people go during the week, hotel prices might go down a bit too... Anyway, this year's Milan Design Week report will have many photos taken in relaxed spaces, so I think it will be a worthwhile report. Stay tuned! (Noboru Seto, Creative Director)
