TFBB in Milan Design Week 2016: Interesting Projects, Prints and Candles
It is always a thrill to be invited to design weeks in fashion and luxury
capitals. I am writing this in the flurry of all creativity and design in
Milan, where the annual FouriSalone or Milan Design Week 2016 is happening.
Great design is appreciated everywhere and without it, there would be no
good packaging for our favorite beauty products. I name L’Occitane as one
of the beauty products in the market which constantly churns out beautiful
laid out artwork in their packaging and original shapes for their bottles
and jars for example.
TFBB took the opportunity to visit various fairs which were set-up during
Milan Design Week. We visited up and coming designers in the Ventura
Lambrate area where we saw art and beauty presented in an interesting way,
prints in the Brera District where we saw inspiring designs and colors and
finally we got to check out Tom Dixon’s magical transformation of the Museo
dei Bambini Milano where we got a whiff of his luxurious candles.
When Art Combines Social Causes in Beauty and Perception
An interesting space in the Lambrate area was the exhibition of designers
from the Netherlands: Bora Hong, Studio Rolf and Monté. These 3 designers
joined forces and created the collaborative project called “Money Meat
Plastic Surgery”. Our beauty minds were surely twisted in a way wherein we
saw these artists interpret social cause that they see in the world of
beauty and its perception.
Bora Hong, originated from Korea and she explained that her collection was
inspired by the cosmetic surgery materials that were prevalent in her
country. Rolf Bruggink shared to us that he used money as one of the
materials in his benches and we saw real currencies rolled in his
installations.
Up came Isaac Monté and his fascinating glass containers filled with real
donor hearts. Monté entitled his installation as “The Art of Deception” in
which he started on building on the idea that “True beauty comes from
within” and with this phrase, he went deeper and went into asking “What was
the last thing within the human body that has not yet been manipulated?”.
Monté continued to explain that our faces can be manipulated with make-up
or beauty products but our heart cannot be manipulated and thus he started
to take 21 pieces of real donor hearts and transformed them, from painting
them to creating tattoos on them and showcasing them in glass containers.
It was literally presenting beauty from within in front of our eyes.
Heading to the Brera District, we found ourselves entering a typical
Italian apartment. To our surprise, it was the design showroom for Milan
Design Week of Marimekko, our favorite Finnish company when it comes to
prints. We love the Fall Winter 2016 collection of geometric prints in bold
colors. It would be cool if we see a design collaboration with Marimekko
and our favorite beauty brands like Marc Jacobs.
It is good to know that famous British designer Tom Dixon was in Milan at
the same week and we saw how he transformed the Museo dei Bambini Milano
into an instant, stylish and luxurious restaurant. We were glad to see and
smell the new candles and air diffusers that Dixon had on display. It
reminded us of how it can be a luxurious experience to bath in the midst of
these scented candles, shimmering in their metallic and gold cases. Much
like our beloved French brand Diptyque, the candles from Tom Dixon are
truly luxurious and a pure delight to our senses.
Back to France now with a bunch load of inspiration from Milan! Ciao!