The Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026, the platform for innovation

Perhaps the most eagerly awaited moment of every edition of the Salone is when the new products engendered between the companies’ walls finally see the light of day. Furniture, after all, remains the true star of the show. Taking a look at the main previews allows us not only to discover the language, technique and innovation behind each project, but also to take the pulse of the ecosystem, to understand how style is evolving, and to grasp the key themes running through production.

So what does our wander through the Rho pavilions tell us? Walking through the various pavilions, the classic types of furniture would appear to have been revisited with deliberate yet controlled boldness.  Combining strong choices with discreet and measured gestures is one of the clear innovations in the upholstered sector. Among the new models on show, shapes make their presence felt while eschewing hyper-decorativism: it is precisely  the calibrated details, rather, that define the deviation from the norm. In the Crease collection designed by Faye Toogood for Meritalia, the red line of the profile serves to accentuate the graphic lines of the sofa. A closer look reveals another particularity: inspired by a sweater worn backwards, the British designer has left the seams visible, revealing the construction of the upholstery around the structure.

The Luis sofa by the  Portuguese brand House of Capricorn, launched in 2025 by Paula Amorim and making its first appearance  at the Salone del Mobile.Milano, embodies a contemporary idea of Portuguese slow luxury, playing on the graphic character of the seat and backrest in a showy but essential way. In the case of Meera too, the new sofa system designed by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani, the geometry remains essential, while gaining dynamism through the volumetric effect created by the inclination between the planes of the seat and the backrest, serving to emphasise its presence without creating heaviness, and ensuring that comfort plays an essential role. 

Francesco Binfaré’s Anywhere for Edra reasserts the deconstructed approach that has defined the Tuscan company’s vision over the years: moving beyond the rigidity of form to embrace comfort and contemporary drama. The seven modules that make up the sofa are independent and can be arranged as desired, whilst the large back cushions adapt to movement, allowing the depth of the seat to be reconfigured. The gentle curves and welcoming seat are the hallmark of the latest offerings from MaxDivani. The seat, profile and legs of the Clizia sofa consistently evoke the same sense of softness, whilst the armrest opens slightly as if to extend an invitation to sit. Some of the exhibitors at the Salone – and they are by no means alone – have turned to historical catalogues and revitalised them in a new guise, as is the case with Visionnaire and its Bachi armchair, a 1960s design by Vittorio Vero, now revisited and reissued by La Conca. The iconic interplay between the folded seat and backrest modules remains unchanged, of course, whilst the materials have been updated to underscore its personality, a balance of sculptural and informal, even more markedly.

In the field of seating – another key indicator of the latest trends at the fair – the apparent lightness and simplicity of the lines are combined with a focus on the potential of the materials.

The Nuy chair by Marco Acerbis for Et.Al strikes up a dialogue between the coloured upholstery of the seat and the ash of the frame, distinguished by the striking contrast between the sloping front legs and the parallel rear legs. Among the latest offerings from Potocco, the Stadium by Favaretto&Partners reinterprets the bucket seat design by emphasising the backrest, which takes on an elongated elliptical shape to evoke the gesture of a metaphorical embrace, whilst the solid ash wood frame gains dynamism through an interplay of curves and straight lines. Desalto, which makes the slogan Metal is our Nature its guiding principle, has chosen to reinterpret the classic Chiavarina chair in a contemporary vein. Designed by Francesco Rota, the company’s art director, Ultralight makes lightness its hallmark, as was the case with Gio Ponti’s Superleggera, the quintessential reinterpretation of traditional Ligurian chairs. Pared down to the essential, the frame consists of a steel tube just 14mm in diameter, resulting in a weight that, as the name suggests, clocks in at just 3.4 kg. Even the fabric seat, distinguished by an original shaped weave, maintains the same compactness, combining rigour with visual richness. In contrast, Savoia, the new design by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby for Kartell, leverages die-cast aluminium. The structure is distinguished by the clean lines of its profile, which extends seamlessly from the base to the armrests, combining essential elegance with structural solidity.