Fuorisalone Milan Design Week 2011: Time to say goodbye?

As you know we’re no huge fans of Milan.

Love the city. Don’t love the size and cost of their furniture fair and design week.

A couple of months ago we spoke to Giulio Cappellini, one of those who have been part of “Design Legend Milan” since the earliest moments, and he told us that, in his opinion, Milan had to be careful that it didn’t all become too big.

For us a design festival where it is physically impossible to see everything is pretty close to our definition of “too big.”

Obviously we don’t want to see everything. It would just be nice to have the chance to.

And so our most challenging project during this years Fuorisalone was without question “50 reasons not to leave Fuorisalone Milan Design Week”

We failed. Miserably.

There just aren’t that many good reasons to justify Milan’s existence in its current form.

But for us three very good reasons to stop the madness.

1. Too many old products on display at Fiera.

2. Environmentally irresponsible.

3. It has become self perpetuating hype.

Too many old products on display at Fiera

Milan has a design museum; the annual furniture fair doesn’t have to become one. For us a trade fair should focus on new products and new developments. Not celebrate the fact it exists. A good example is Kartell which devoted ca. 30% of its 2011 stand to new products and 70% to established Kartell top sellers. And they weren’t alone. There were once again too many “familiar faces” in Milan. For us there needs to be stricter (self-)control from organisers and producers to ensure that what is displayed at Fiera is predominately new. And meaningful. Because at the end of the day if Fiera is smaller, more innovative and better focused, all benefit.

Environmentally irresponsible

During the 2006 football World Cup we spent a lot of time looking at the German FAs “Green Goals” environment campaign and the environmental impact of major sports events in general. Fuorisalone is comparable. Aside from the resources burned in bringing exhibitors, visitors, journalists and goods to Milan, one also has all the info material, press CDs, invites etc etc. The majority of which eventually land in the bin. A good metaphor for us this year was Tom Dixon’s PVC Blackberry branded tote bags – which only contained a poster of the Tom Dixon Collection.

Sustainable? Discuss.

For those involved in an industry that claims it exists to make our world a better place its appears very few designers have given much thought to the environmental impact of their annual get together and how one could reduce that.

Or maybe they have – and just didn’t like the obvious conclusion.

It has become self perpetuating hype

And so by definition irrelevant.

You have to go to Milan. Because it is Milan. And what comes out of Milan? That you have to go to Milan. Because it is Milan.

Konstatin Grcic spoke about the fact that Milan brings a certain rhythm to the designer’s year. While we can see where he, and the numerous others who have told us similar, are coming from. We can’t agree.

That a furniture producer wants a piece ready to launch at a certain fair is OK. But does it have to be Milan?

One of the most distressing factors of the talks we held in Milan was the number of Germanic designers and producers who have given up on, or are in the process of giving up on, IMM Cologne.

Because be it Cologne, Stockholm, London, Eindhoven, wherever… there are more than enough established national design weeks and trade fairs where new collections and products can be presented.

The modern media that designer furniture producers need is online, dominated by design blogs, twitter, facebook et al, and so it makes little difference for a producer where a new chair is launched. Assuming they – and the trade fair organisers – manage everything correctly.

For us that is the direction the global furniture industry must take – less producers in Milan, more at their “local” shows. If the dissemination is properly managed one creates more space and so more opportunities for all, including young designers and small producers, to be heard, seen and enjoyed.

But who is going to take the first step and stop going to Milan?

And can the likes of IMM Cologne present an attractive alternative? That certainly wasn’t the case of late.

Just to be clear, we don’t want Milan to cease.

We’re not monsters.

But there needs to be a serious debate as to if it is going in the right direction, if after 50 years it still achieves anything worthwhile, what the true alternatives are and if the global furniture industry should continue to feed the beast.

Because if Milan implodes……