Between the lines of the international press in the run-up to “supersalone”

“Hi, how are you? How wonderful to see you again!” These were perhaps the most frequent words echoing along the lanes at “supersalone.” After a prolonged and at times uncertain wait, the Salone del Mobile.Milano finally managed to welcome the lucky visitors who managed to  disentangle themselves from Covid tests, certifications and decrees and make their way through the gates of the Milan Fairgrounds. Even back in February 2020, at the press conference organised to announce the novelties of the imminent Salone, guests in the splendid Aula Magna of the Catholic University were following live connections with Chinese journalists who were banned from leaving the country. It wasn’t long before Italy found itself in the eye of the storm of the pandemic. Right from the outset, the design media had wanted to underscore the importance of the Milan event and the void that its postponement would create. The Architecture Digest network was one of the first, with a coordinated support project for design and the sectoral businesses under the hashtag #ADLovesSalone, which drew in publishers from the USA, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, Middle East, India, China as well as Italy. Despite the relentless ongoing closure of offices, schools, leisure and de facto places, in other words anywhere people could socialise, the media continued to cover design, which was doing its bit to counter immobility by coming up with ingenious interior furnishing proposals that were easy to produce and accessible to all, as well stimulating consumer interest in renovating their interiors and unexpectedly shifting their investments into the furnishing system. The Salone del Mobile.Milano continued provide a subject for the innumerable  articles that traced its history, such as A Tribute To The Foremost Design Fair – Down Memory Lane with Salone del Mobile in the Indian magazine Design Pataki, and the Egyptian magazine El Beit’s special Over to Beauty, tracing the history of the Salone del Mobile for its readers, Vogue Living Australia devoted its entire August edition to Italy with Viva Italia, A Tribute to Italy, while in India again, Stir World published a series of articles under the heading Miss You, Milan, Argentina’s 90+10 magazine declared El Salone del Mobile.Milano es una familia, in America,  ELLE Decor published a series of articles under the banner Welcome to ELLE Decor’s Virtual Salone del Mobile 2020. Meanwhile, a number of business publications explored the financial impact of the pandemic on the trade fair sector: the French newspaper Le Monde wrote about the Bataille en Italie Autour du Salon du Meuble de Milan, in Japan, The NY Style Magazine Japan published an article headlined For the Future of Furniture Industry in Europe and the United States, while the Australian Financial Review wondered Can Italian design survive the cancellation of Salone del Mobile? The decision by the Salone top brass to confirm that the special event would indeed go ahead caused a ripple of optimism among sectoral professionals. AD Pro in America commented that “production [had] restarted” in  Italian Design Brands Are Reopening Their Factories, and Raum und Wohnen championed a fair for all in “Supersalone” – Messe für Alle, Design Milk announced: “supersalone” Celebrates 18 Months of Design Gratification at Rho Fiera Milano. From that moment onwards it’s been nothing but a crescendo of expectations and incessant work for those who embraced the challenge to present themselves to the design community at “supersalone.” Further confirmation of the desire to look to the future came with the appointment of Maria Porro as President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, news that went down extremely well with the Italian and foreign media, as confirmed by the German Stylepark’s New President for the Salone del Mobile, Russia’s Interior+Design Мария Порро — новый президент Salone del Mobile, and even the Brazilian newspaper Gazeta do Povo Salão do Móvel de Milão Anuncia Primeira Presidente Mulher em Quase 60 Anos de Existência. The spotlights on “supersalone” were dimmed just a short time ago and inevitably, the initial reckonings are now being made. As “insiders” we’ll let the press have their say once more:  the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung with New Beginning with Wood, The New York Times with  A New Way to Look at Furniture in Milan and the Financial Times with Milan’s Salone del Mobile Returns with a New Format, among the first to pick up on the enthusiasm of professionals and visitors, the novel exhibition concept and the evolution of trade fairs, with the spotlight on the upcoming 60th Salone del Mobile under the leadership of the feisty young President Porro.