To set the scene: Under the grand frescoed ceilings of the Palazzo Serbelloni, a Daft Punk record gently spins on a turntable, which in turn sits atop a record player crafted from layers of butter-soft tan leather molded into curves to appear like the petals of an enormous, blossoming flower. Around the corner in an adjoining room, a silvery space-age pinball machine sits with a cartoon-style side profile of Pharrell Williams backlit above the screen that displays the score. On a sprawling shelving unit that hangs across the opposite wall, a small monogrammed trunk opens up like an exploded-view drawing to reveal compartments for espresso cups, silver spoons, and a shimmering silver Moka pot—for those wishing to sip on a first-rate coffee no matter where they are in the world, presumably.
What unites these objects, which range from the humble to the humorous, and the extremely high-end? Louis Vuitton, who this week unveiled their latest Objets Nomades collection during Milan Design Week—and in doing so, showcased their most ambitious (and playful) homewares offering yet. Presented within a suite of rooms running through the first floor of the palazzo, the exhibition demonstrated the full breadth of Louis Vuitton’s ever-growing homewares offering. Whether inventive riffs on their classic trunk travel cases—here, repurposed to transport everything from pop-up desks to full dinnerware sets—or pieces of furniture expressing the maison’s extraordinary savoir-faire, crafted by world-class designers including Estúdio Campana, India Mahdavi, and Patricia Urquiola. In particular, the Argentinian artist and maker Cristián Mohaded’s streamlined designs—notably, his Aventura sofa and Pegase chair—served as an impressive articulation of how Louis Vuitton is transferring the leatherwork skills its ateliers have mastered through producing handbags and accessories into homewares. The graceful curvature of the leather seatbacks and straps encasing the sofas were a marvel, somehow both sturdy and delicate.
Wander down a spiral staircase and through to the imposing central courtyard of the building, and an unusual structure sat pride of place: an installation of the legendary French designer Charlotte Perriand’s La Maison au Bord de l’Eau. First designed in 1934 and reconstructed by Louis Vuitton for the first time in 2013, it was conceived as a statement about the right to leisure. Despite its elegant proportions and materials, which celebrate the geometric shapes and sleek lines of the first modernist wave, the price point was deliberately accessible, making it a sort of pre-fabricated holiday home that could be placed by a lake (the clue’s in the name), in a forest, or by the sea. Sure, the retail of Louis Vuitton’s homewares may not exactly be the most democratic, but there was a thoughtful continuation of that idea in the form of the delightful Hommage collection, which pays tribute to some of Perriand’s graphic abstract designs by translating them into sophisticated cushions and throws that offer a (relatively) more entry-level introduction to the brand’s vast homewares world.
But the real showstopper? In a darkened room, an exhibition of colorful textile works and tableware were theatrically spotlit, a journey into the wild and wonderful mind of the early 20th-century graphic artist Fortunato Depero. A key member of the Futurist movement, Depero’s designs take fantastical elements from Italian culture and folklore and render them into vibrant, fanciful new forms inspired by textile marquetry. Here, plates were decorated with parrots and pelicans, horses and monkeys, while the rugs—in this instance, displayed as wall hangings—featured gently abstracted still lives of flowers in vases, or fish displayed on a pattern of squares that carried echoes of Louis Vuitton’s famous Damier pattern. Sitting somewhere within the gray area between homewares and fine art, the effect was dazzling; as each new group of visitors entered the room, you could hear audible gasps.
This Milan Design Week was an important one for Louis Vuitton. They also took the opportunity of having the cream of the design world crop in town to inaugurate their flagship store on Via Montenapoleone, a four-floor behemoth of a retail destination designed by Peter Marino. The store serves as a deliberate celebration of Milanese design and craftsmanship—and includes landscaped greenery lining the internal balconies, a sweeping staircase adorned with lacquered parchment inspired by the iconic Villa Necchi Campiglio, and not just one, but two restaurants. (Operated by the team behind Da Vittorio—the Michelin-starred restaurant outside Bergamo that has become something of an Italian culinary institution—the paccheri al pomodoro, which features three types of tomato, should be high on your priorities if you’re planning a Milan visit any time soon.)
On Monday night, a glittering crowd stepped out to celebrate the store’s opening, before heading over to Palazzo Serbelloni to wander through its halls and take in the homewares collection. Before long, the crowds begin to gather around La Maison au Bord de l’Eau, queueing up with cocktails in hand to explore its interiors. It was a reminder that there is something rather democratic about it all: Milan Design Week is a genuine celebration of the city that hosts it, with thousands of locals joining the throngs of international designers and editors that descend each year. Watching those locals “ooh” and “aah” over the craftsmanship of the design objects on show, and poke their way around Perriand’s house and admiring every corner, it felt like a genuine exchange between the design world and Milan itself. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about?
