Future Direction of Salone del Mobile: Insights from Maria Porro on the Evolution of the Largest Global Furniture Exhibition
Salone del Mobile.Milano Steps into a New Era under Maria Porro's Leadership
In the vibrant city of Milan, the annual event Salone del Mobile.Milano is gearing up for its 2025 edition, marking a significant shift in its strategic direction under the leadership of its president, Maria Porro.
Porro, the great-granddaughter of the brand's founder, envisions Salone as more than just an annual trade fair. She aims to position it as a cultural incubator, transcending its role as a commercial marketplace. Porro sees Salone as a platform for creative expression and industry reflection on future challenges, while nurturing a sustainable, human-centered approach to design.
The 2025 edition, themed "Thought for Humans," emphasizes the harmony between humans and materials, as well as sustainability challenges. This year, Salone del Mobile will take place from the 8th to the 13th of April.
Porro's vision for Salone extends beyond Milan's fairgrounds. She believes in connecting Salone more closely with the city and engaging people from a young age. In 2023, she introduced lower ticket prices for students, resulting in a 28.6% rise in student attendance.
Salone's global reach and influence are also a key focus. Porro has been instrumental in establishing Salone's presence beyond Milan, with the recent launch of an international chapter in Osaka, Japan. She views this as the start of a new chapter for the fair, with Osaka being a strategic destination.
To measure Salone's environmental, economic, and social impact, Porro unveiled the Milan Design (Eco) System in November 2024. This report monitors developments to assess key challenges and opportunities, including attendance breakdown, accommodation, transport, and waste. The Milan Design (Eco) System involves scientific research by the Politecnico di Milano and collaboration with 130 stakeholders and 530 field observers across ten working groups.
Salone's commitment to sustainability is evident in its propositional programming. For instance, an installation about water consumption in the bathrooms exhibition was implemented in 2024. The fair also hosted projects like 'The Library of Light,' an installation by Es Devlin at Pinacoteca di Brera, which involved students working with a world-leading creative talent and donating books to local libraries.
In 2024, Salone welcomed 370,824 attendees, with 65.6% coming from outside Italy. There was a 32% increase in web traffic compared to 2023. The full Milan Design Week 2025 guide is available on the website.
As Salone del Mobile steps into a new strategic phase, Porro expresses a desire to forge a future for Salone based on its place in a new reality that is reinventing itself. She believes that the idea of Salone only ever being a fair is wrong and imagines a future where Salone may no longer be a fair but would not want it to cease to exist.
Porro has taken Salone's soft power to Hong Kong and New Delhi to inspire and encourage new audiences. The Milan Design (Eco) System is designed to help Salone work towards a long-term goal of beneficial impact for Milan and its future generations. With Porro at the helm, Salone del Mobile.Milano is poised to continue its journey as a global leader in design, innovation, and sustainability.
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- Maria Porro, the president of Salone del Mobile.Milano, aims to transform the annual event into a cultural incubator, extending its role beyond just a commercial marketplace.
- Porro wants Salone del Mobile to become a platform for creative expression and industry reflection on future challenges, focusing on sustainability and a human-centered approach to design.
- The 2025 edition of Salone del Mobile will be themed "Thought for Humans," emphasizing the harmony between humans and materials, as well as sustainability challenges.
- Salone's global reach and influence are important to Porro, and she has launched an international chapter in Osaka, Japan, as a strategic step.
- To measure Salone's environmental, economic, and social impact, Porro unveiled the Milan Design (Eco) System, which monitors developments and assesses challenges and opportunities.
- Salone's commitment to sustainability is evident in its propositional programming, including an installation about water consumption in the bathrooms exhibition and projects like 'The Library of Light.'
- In 2024, Salone welcomed 370,824 attendees, with 65.6% coming from outside Italy, and there was a 32% increase in web traffic compared to 2023.
- Porro has taken Salone's soft power to cities like Hong Kong and New Delhi to inspire and encourage new audiences.
- The Milan Design (Eco) System is designed to help Salone work towards a long-term goal of beneficial impact for Milan and its future generations.
- Porro envisions a future where Salone may no longer be a fair but would not want it to cease to exist, imagining instead a reinvention of its purpose in a new reality.
- With Porro at the helm, Salone del Mobile.Milano is poised to continue its journey as a global leader in design, innovation, and sustainability, influencing industries such as finance, lifestyle, fashion-and-beauty, food-and-drink, investing, home-and-garden, business, real-estate, gadgets, smartphones, technology, travel, sports, football, the Champions League, the NFL, European leagues, the Premier League, American football, Serie A, and LaLiga.
