Learned from the Pros: Key Trends and Impressions from Salone del Mobile 2018

Cultural brands and young talents once again unveiled new products for home. We learned from experts who attended this exhibition — Olga Kosyrev, Nade Zотовa, Vladimir Samoilov, Zhenya Zhdanova, Marina Braginskaya and Ekaterina Oleynikova — what impressed them most and what to expect in design in the near future.

Olga Kosyrev: "There are definitely two main trends, and both of them are retro"

Olga Kosyrev, Design Critic, Co-founder and Head of the Educational Program at "Olga Kosyrev's Design Lecture"

The first trend is the return and reincarnation of the 1970s style. The second one is "neomemphis," a return to the design of the 1980s, their stylistics, set by the main designer of that time — Ettore Sottsass and his followers from the "Memphis" group.

There were several stunning premieres at EuroCucina — in particular, Japanese kitchens from Sanwa.

Sanwa

Also liked were Italian kitchens from Abimis and the Portuguese furniture brand Sachi, which created outdoor kitchens.

Abimis

I have always liked the Kartell booth. This year it looked impressive: beautiful prints on fabrics, a lamp created in collaboration with Moschino, innovative flexible veneer that Philippe Starck used to make chairs.

There were also several bio-developments — for example, a table made of composite material that can serve as both a workspace and a kitchen with an integrated cooktop.

Kartell

The new brand Mingardo impressed me — this year they presented a new chair, shelf, table lamp, pendant light and several panels that can serve as room dividers or decorative wall surfaces.

Mingardo

Nade Zотовa: "Freedom, individuality and creativity — that's my favorite trend!"

Nade Zотовa, Designer, Founder of Enjoy Home Studio. Creates living and public interiors around the world from sketches to implementation

Unpretentious compositions on ornate baroque console tables, foxglove with orchids, luxurious marble and cheap plastic. We live in good times: we can combine incompatible elements and not fear that it's not acceptable, guests won't understand or it's not by the rules. Freedom, individuality and creativity — that's my favorite trend!

The most noticeable compared to previous exhibitions is the abundance of color. It appears everywhere, even among the most conservative manufacturers. And not just as a "I'll put one bright pillow to show I'm bold" — but from the heart, in the form of vibrant sofas combined with richly colored walls and geometric carpets.

Photo: Nade Zотовa

Photo: Nade Zотовa

Photo: Nade Zотовa

Photo: Nade Zотовa

Vladimir Samoilov: "In this year, the black color took the lead"

Vladimir Samoilov, Designer, Design Analyst and RedDot Design Award winner

This year, black color took the lead, and colored metals became aged and brassed. Imperfection and craftsmanship were deliberately introduced into ideal objects. Regarding materials, there was a lot of textured wood and stone. Mirrors of any shape and size were used. Among styles, disco and pop art stood out, neomemphis mixed with art-deco.

At Salone del Mobile, I was impressed by the stone objects from Citco.

Citco

At FuoriSalone — the Nendo and Sony exhibitions.

Nendo Hourglass

My favorite was the Plank collection. Two new chairs from my favorite designers: Naoto Fukasawa and Konstantin Gričko. As always, comfortable, clean in lines, and technologically advanced.

Plank

The main discovery was the SILA lamp designed by Hungarian architect and designer Zsuzsanna Horvath. It combines the delicacy of thin strips cut from plywood and a flexible glowing OLED plane.

Zsuzsanna Horvath

Zhenya Zhdanova: "Innovative technologies serving humanity — probably the main trend"

Zhenya Zhdanova, Interior Designer, Founder of the online interior boutique DivaDecor.ru

And technologies are becoming more and more "soft," natural, and unobtrusive, gradually entering our everyday life.

One example is the new Dialog Oven Miele. In my eyes, a chef placed raw fish in an ice cube, put it into the oven and after 6 minutes took it out of the oven, opened the icy lid, and the fish inside was completely cooked while the ice cube remained frozen.

Dialog Oven Miele — the result of the chef's experiment

Or the Sony space, where you could actually peek into the future.

For example, a new type of furniture finishing material that changes on contact with another material was presented, and an acoustic speaker that allows switching tracks by simply rotating it to a different face.

Sony. Material that changes on contact with another

Impressed by the Extinct Animals ("Museum of Extinct Animals") collection by Marcello Vandera, which is the most complete and meticulously designed space from idea to its perfect realization.

Extinct Animals. Photo: Zhenya Zhdanova

Extinct Animals. Photo: Zhenya Zhdanova

Extinct Animals. Photo: Zhenya Zhdanova

Extinct Animals. Photo: Zhenya Zhdanova

Liked the "airy" collection of furniture and lighting by designer Ini Archibong (Ini Archibong), created for Se Collections.

Ini Archibong. Photo: Zhenya Zhdanova

Ludmila Verba: "For the first time, greenery incubators have become so popular — people lack closeness to nature"

Ludmila Verba, Designer, Specialist of the highest class in residential interior design

Notable was the trend towards very tall kitchen cabinets reaching the ceiling. The Bosa factory collection set an interesting trend — subtle eccentricity. Their accessories carry irony, playfulness, and all of this against a backdrop of vibrant colors and interesting forms.

Bosa

And most of all, I liked the sanitary ware and bathroom furniture from Cerasa. The designers meticulously worked on the forms — it turned out to be a concise modernized retro.

Cerasa. Photo: Ludmila Verba

I also discovered the young Indian factory Scarlet Splendour. They have very interesting collections — at the boundary between classic and eccentric modern style. Due to modern forms and distinctive geometric patterns, they achieve a crazy result.

Scarlet Splendour

Marina Braginskaya: "Another noticeable trend is attention to Asia and the legacy of Chinese culture"

Marina Braginskaya, Designer, Professor at the Design School "Details," member of ADEDI, founder of Atelier Interior

I think this trend can have interesting development for our — and I consider us part of the European — market.

The main players in recent years — marble, brass, lacquered wood — are still relevant. But designers actively experiment with textures. For example, marble, matte, rough, colored, with a vivid pattern, in unusual combinations — like Antolini. Brass heavily patinated and coexisting with other metals.

Antolini

Carcase-less furniture is experiencing a new wave of popularity. But at the same time, graphic and refined forms, elegant legs, armrests and backrests are still relevant.

Very impressed by the off-exhibition program. For example, Bulgari had an installation that took me almost an hour to recover from. Powerful pop-art effects, experiments with space, reflections, prints — a serious challenge for the vestibular system!

Bulgari

Delighted by the new product from Olga Podolskaya — a minimalist stylish chandelier that I would gladly use in my projects. The carpets by Angelina Askari also made an impression.

Angelina Askari

Olga Podolskaya

Chandelier, design: Olga Podolskaya. Photo: Olga Kosyrev

Chandelier, design: Olga Podolskaya. Photo: Olga Kosyrev

Ekaterina Oleynikova: "Salone del Mobile 2018 — immersion in color, variety of forms, textures, and, of course, experiments"

Ekaterina Oleynikova, Designer, Senior Designer at "The Design Point" Studio

As last year, the most vivid trend — a deep and saturated color palette. But unlike last year, more emphasis was placed on terracotta and green shades. I liked the combination of a deep saturated color and contrasting black-and-white geometry. This technique can be clearly seen on the booths of Baxter and Gervasoni.

Gervasoni

Impressed by the Portuguese brand Mambo Unlimited Ideas. They use vivid colors and quality materials: metal, textiles, fur. Their tables are made with printed stone texture and covered with glass surface. In addition to furniture, this Portuguese factory has a wonderful collection of tiles and ceramic items.

Mambo Unlimited Ideas

Also memorable was the wooden furniture collection Me & Meow, where all items are designed for peaceful coexistence in one space of people and cats — various lounges, secret passages and convenient surfaces for cats that blend with a pleasant minimalist design.

Me & Meow