“He who arrives late, stays badly”. Never has a popular saying fit so perfectly for the exhibitors of the International Furniture Fair 2023 which, after the Covid stop, will celebrate its sixty-first edition from 18 to 23 April in Fiera Milano-Rho. And yet, for the first time in its long glorious history as a promoter of Italian furniture and while registering the sold out, see a quite substantial drop in exhibitors which go from 2085 of the sixtieth anniversary which took place in June 2022, to 1962 of next April. And of these, there are as many as 550 young people under the age of 35 in the SaloneSatellite, invented years ago by Marva Griffin, a global arena of experimentation and innovation to which much space has been given, as well as 27 design schools.
How do you reconcile the sold out that we mentioned at the beginning with the drastic drop in participants? Because the team led by the President of the Salone, Maria Porro, cultured and brilliant entrepreneur (37 years old, marketing and communication director of the family business, Porro SpA) bravely undertook – after 2.300 interviews and a long job – an almost total renewal process of the event which – it should be remembered – is the most important design event in the world. And, as such, it will also become in this choice the reference for an inevitable transformation of traditional fairs. For the first time the Salone del Mobile will take place on a single floor, the one on the ground and this led to the inevitable reduction in terms of square meters of many stands, which dissatisfied many but allowed SMEs to get out of the "physical" subjection that compared their stands with the gigantic ones of famous brands.
What reactions – we asked Maria Porro – have come from foreign exhibitors and operators regarding the new layout of the Show? “After the announcement of the renewal of the exhibition layout, all the exhibitors proved to be curious and open to change and discussion on the new layout and new itineraries, in particular those of Euroluce. The willingness and desire of companies to improve consolidated formulas to obtain ever greater value and competitive advantage from participation in trade fairs and therefore also in the exhibition is clear. In fact, the evolution that we have proposed this year comes from a listening job that we have done not only with the visitors but also with the companies that animate the Exhibition every year”.
Porro: the Salone changes because the world has changed
Compared to the 2019 edition, the last "traditional", there are about 500 exhibitors missing; some companies, it seems, have been told that the spaces had already run out. But there are also no more or less illustrious names. What are the reasons for this substantial decline? “In this edition more than ever – underlines Porro – we have worked not on the quantity but on the quality of the Event, the exhibitors, the visit itineraries, the not only commercial but also cultural and multidisciplinary contents, so that the return to April had in itself a exceptional nature. We cannot pretend that the world has stopped at 2019, pre-pandemic or pre-conflict in the Russian area, to which we are still today, unfortunately, witnessing. The market and the world of design are no longer what they were four years ago and, precisely for this reason, a comparison makes no sense. The Salone listened and was ready to welcome all the companies it dealt with. It has certainly made strategic choices also in terms of the number of exhibiting companies. We are certain that his extraordinary willingness to get involved, the effort towards continuous improvement, the search for new formulas, will give life to a sixty-first edition that will generate value for the entire design community”.
One of the criticisms concerns the fact that, as there are no longer divisions based on categories, it will be difficult for visitors to orient themselves….That is: what will be the criterion on the basis of which to search and find an exhibitor?
“The Salone del Mobile talks about a sector that by its nature brings together different styles, different aesthetic tastes, but also different targets. We have therefore tried to reorganize the layout, no longer simply dividing it by stylistic areas, but also organizing the companies according to their target, always thinking of the visitor and the exhibitor who need to create that encounter that is fruitful for both. We have therefore optimized the routes so that it is easier for the visitor to "see" and "meet" the brands of interest to him and we have introduced a digital orientation system inside the pavilions. For us, in fact, the most important thing is that all companies are visible, from the smallest to the largest, and have the possibility of expanding their pool of interlocutors".
A confirmation, the Chinese are back
It seems that Chinese investors and journalists want to return to the Salone and with enthusiasm…..
“It's true, we have very important signals on the Chinese front – confirms Porro – but not only. We can already see that the operators in the companies have begun to move and come to Milan. There is a very strong demand for visas and we are working in collaboration with the embassies. The signals are extremely affected by those areas of the world. China was the area most affected by the blockades, a very important market for the furniture sector and this year we finally expect the return of buyers. But there will also be new operators, such as the United Arab Emirates and India, for example".
Euroluce, culture, hitech, entertainment
The new layout will also present a further step forward with the Euroluce biennial for which Studio Lombardini 22 has proposed a semicircular path, almost a large Italian square, where visitors will be welcomed by experimentations, meeting areas, splendid products, exhibitions cultural and, finally, a lot of technology with spectacular effects. But everywhere and not only at Euroluce, Maria Porro's team has included culture and entertainment, which will culminate in the opening night at La Scala – by invitation only -. In the meantime, a few famous brands and some manufacturers of period furniture (the faux antique is still there) have disdainfully abandoned the Salone to enthusiastically opt for the merry hubbub that is the FuoriSalone. Which – it shouldn't be forgotten – exists only because the Salone exists. With a real and often unspoken motivation: participating in both costs too much ... But to counter the protests of those leaving the Show, many important confirmations, and first of all that of Kartell who, despite having to change the traditional location, explained that enthusiastically join the "new" Salone to present a very illustrious history, full of emotions and innovations. “The Salone, Milan is always an exciting appointment that cannot be missed” he declared. Class – many have commented – is not water…..
How much is the sector worth? of wood and furniture?
A lot, despite stratospheric energy bills, raw material costs (with average increases higher than those of all other manufacturers) and inflation. Preliminary results announced by Claudio Feltrin, president of FederlegnoArredo-FLA, give a further increase in production and exports, albeit with a 10 percent drop in the trade balance. The entire Legno Arredo sector is worth 57 billion euros (to production) with a +12,7 percent on 2019 (and for the first 10 months of the year). The furniture sector reached 29 billion (+11,2 percent) and with 53 percent of exports confirms an extraordinary leadership despite the fall of the Russian and Chinese markets. Design and technologies of Made in Italy therefore continue to pull (and it seems that even the first glimpses of 2023 are surprising). And after all, for years Italy has boasted the fifth trade surplus of its manufactures with foreign countries worldwide and then with 56 billion dollars since 2019, we have been second only to China in commercial activity in the “3 Effe” of design and quality (Fashion, Furniture, Food & Wine). In the contemporary design sector we are the first in the world for quality, largely dominating the medium-high, high-Luxury and Premium ranges.
Better understanding why a famous brand prefers not to participate (and perhaps mentioning them, as was done for Kartell) could have led to a more interesting analysis. I omit comments on the definition of "faux antique" for creators of Classical style otherwise the profound ignorance and incompetence of part of the Italian journalists who deal with Design would have to be analysed.