MILAN — Although the dusty pink accent piece — side tables, dining chairs, serving trays, and more — against pale blues and soft greys ruled Paris in January during its semi-annual trade show Maison & Objet, this season has clearly left the pastels behind. In Milan this week, during the city’s epic Salone del Mobile, color schemes took on a decidedly bolder tone; throughout the booths of the mammoth Rho fairgrounds, shades of red were everywhere.
“Red is ever the color that symbolizes design,” said designer Giulio Cappellini, “even if now it is proposed in a softer tone and less bright than in the past.” (To be fair, his eponymous, avant-garde design brand has for decades loudly announced its presence with its own red logo, so perhaps he imagines that the modern day iterations pale in comparison.)
While it’s worth noting that red was also the color of the exhibition center’s carpets, trending prominently here was a contrast with specific shades of blue and green. At times the pairing was more vibrant, as with the bright red throw pillows and attached powder-coated metal tables of Patricia Urquiola’s cheerful cerulean new “Tender” sofa for Moroso, and at other times more austere, as with the burgundy samples of Poltrona’s new soft-washed leather in its booth of dark teal and dark woods.
“In this time, people prefer warm and soft environments with touch of color, and surely red is the color that better fits,” Cappellini said, whether it’s with, “natural stones and light and dark woods, or with beige and ecru nuances of fabrics.”
After an arduous trek through the many exhibition halls of Salone del Mobile, ARTINFO presents a look at the sheer versatility of this season’s “It” color.
Click on the slideshow to see the new red launches at Salone del Mobile.
