From Loro Piana’s cinematic interiors to Formafantasma’s full-blown theatre show with Cassina, Milan pulsed with performance energy. Spaces weren’t designed, but directed. Furniture became characters. Light flickered with intention. Sound swelled like a film score.
Whether it was popcorn stands, musical monologues or candlelit entrances, storytelling took centre stage. Exhibitions transformed into experiences, charged with emotion, surprise and spectacle.
Loro Piana’s collaboration with Dimoremilano delivered pure Italian drama. Immersive, emotive and totally unexpected. A striking departure from the brand’s signature quiet luxury, La Prima Notte di Quiete played out as a theatrical tour de force.
Set within a moody interior, cushions were strewn, blankets tossed, light cracked through a slowly opening door. Sound rustled through trees, footsteps echoed on marble. It wasn’t designed. It was choreographed.
The narrative was so rich, so lived-in, it transformed furniture into protagonists. Each room built tension towards a glowing, cinematic crescendo, as the space suddenly lit up. A moment that made everyone hold their breath.
Then came the kiosk. Serving popcorn, naturally. A wink to the theatricality of the whole affair. Suddenly it all clicked. Not just an exhibition, but a set. A scene. A performance. Loro Piana, like you’ve never seen them before.
Across town, Formafantasma’s Staging Modernity truly merged design with theatre. Housed inside the grand Teatro Lirico, the duo teamed up with opera director Fabio Cherstich to present a furniture collection through a surreal stage show.
Performers sang about chroming techniques and the craft behind the shine. Then came the plastic animals, lions, squirrels and foxes, crashing through the seriousness with surreal, kitsch chaos.
It was bold, bizarre and genuinely brilliant. A playful reframe of modernist design as spectacle.
Meanwhile, Aesop took a quieter approach, but no less theatrical. Set within the candlelit Chiesa del Carmine, The Second Skin unfolded like a ritual.
Beginning with a sculptural glass installation that suspended raw oils from the brand’s fragrances and products, the experience guided visitors into the church, where shadow and scent did all the talking.
Vision was dulled. Scent heightened. Candles flickered against ancient murals. The atmosphere felt reverential. A sensory slowdown that proved drama doesn’t always need volume.
Takeaway
At Milan this year, the best storytelling didn’t sit still. It moved. It breathed. It performed. Design became theatre. Bold, sensory and steeped in mood. Proof it’s not just what you show, but how you make people feel.
Ready to step into the spotlight? Let’s chat.
