Exceeded the 2 thousand exhibitors, the record number of foreign visitors and above all exceeded the number of cultural events of the Salone and Euroluce. Here is the city of Milan and its splendid Furniture expo of the Rho Fiera district, finally opens its doors: scheduled by 18 23 to April 2023. Completely renovated (all on the ground floor no more ups and downs) and with +25% ticket sales, an advance of the record numbers that will arrive at the end of the Fair and which, despite the discretion of the organizers, should go beyond the threshold of 300.
The number of visitors pressing at the gates is incredible, the beauty of the great "carpet" of furniture and objects, of innovations and beauty that extends over the entire ground floor of the Fair, finally free of stairs, climbs, double and triple levels.
Salone del Mobile 2023: the symbol of the fairs of the future
What will these six days be like for the public? “We are presenting a renewed 61st edition, usable and fresh, vital and lively, which looks to the future of the exhibition experience with the trust and commitment of those who know its value and want to preserve it – declares Mary Porro, president of the Salon -. It will be a show full of novelties, open to contamination. Design and furniture feed on science, technological research, art, photography, digital communication, publishing and much more. The new format of the Exhibition will show this relationship by proposing a new depth of horizon".
34% of exhibitors, a figure which is constantly growing year after year, are foreign. “We are expecting – continues Maria Porro – thousands of visitors from Europe, the United States and China, but also from Saudi Arabia, India and Far Eastern countries”. As already premature, Asia with China and Korea will make the largest contribution. 2023 will once again be on the rise in terms of turnover, exports and sales on the domestic market, with growth purged of the heavy price increases that drove up sales values in 2022, but with a risk already heavily underway: lack of manpower specialized, the "precious" one, i.e. upholsterers, expert workers and engravers of metals, woods, paper, assemblers of machines and equipment, installers of fixtures and systems.
Meloni at the Salone del Mobile: “Lack of manpower? It works out with women."
Prime Minister Meloni, speaking at the inauguration of the kermesse dedicated to design and furnishings, replied that instead of resorting to available migrants, it is necessary to train the women who form a large reservoir. Too bad it will be late as wood supply chain experts have pointed out the labor shortage now. Otherwise turnover and exports will drop. The Prime Minister then often referred to the Made in Italy theme: "We must transform the entire wood supply chain into Made in Italy". Forgetting that it is already like this, and that it is precisely for this reason that gold and diamonds are worth.
An increasingly dynamic supply chain
“We are very good – comments Claudio Feltrin, president of the FederlegnoArredo supply chain, FLA – since the supply chain has been able to defend itself for some time -. And as for counterfeiting, there are many Chinese here, but we don't fear them. These are buyers, buyers of our made in Italy”. An increasingly dynamic supply chain: the furniture hardware – which had made in Germany and made in Austria as a reference – now largely “speaks” Italian. And a very first tour of the showrooms will suffice to verify this. We are the most skilful transformers of wood, plastic, metal, glass, aluminium, rags, mattresses, all coming from recycling and waste and that is why the furniture makers churn out very thin panels, very light tables, airy lamps, soft boneless sofas that are extremely movable, transformable, articulated with clear control of the value chain. This must be why we have previewed so many reissues revisited with great respect for the precious heritage of the golden years of the Italian design.
Japan calls Italy in the name of design
It will be precisely for the control of the components, materials, colors and workmanship, that in the space of a few years the large patrol of Italian manufacturers of outdoor equipment and furniture is reaching sensational levels of exports, with proposals that elevate the outdoor a privileged location, now essential after the sacrifice of the Coronavirus 19 enclosure. Everywhere the application of technologies that make furniture bright, IoT connected and movable remotely, iridescent, with sudden changes of colors and reflections. And this ability finds a parallel appeal in another trend, that of the large, widespread presence of Japanese design as never happened in the past, very refined, very attentive to details, to the parsimonious use of materials and substances and space, and in this very close to our manufacturing that cannot afford waste. An example for all: the first manufacturer of wooden furniture in Japan, Karimoku Furniture,
At the Salone del Mobile 2023 the wonders of Karimoku Furniture e VismaraDesign
Karimoku Furniture is presented for the first time at the Salone and at the Fuori Salone with a large collection. Other upcoming trends, such as the combination of art and design, and also design and technology. Precisely in this last binomial a star, VismaraDesign: a discovery that caused the stand and the showroom to become incredibly crowded, where game tables, table football, ping pong, 3D cinema multirooms, sophisticated entertainment, augmented reality are presented with allusively suggestive names: special Onassis sofas, bar furniture Hemingway, Fellini, Stargate, Kubrick. For outdoors and not just indoors, with a gigantic Samsung outdoor TV to complete the cheeky but fantastic luxury. And other trends, discoveries, news and even a lot of culture to come.
