For Studio Como, traveling to Salone del Mobile is less a trip than it is a ritual.
Each spring, a handful of Studio Como design consultants travel to Italy’s infamous furniture fair—now in its 64th edition—to see, learn, connect, and return home with fresh energy. This year, all twelve Studio Como team members are embarking on the journey together. This will be a first time for many team members, and with close to two dozen showroom and factory destinations across Milan and the region scheduled, they’ll see firsthand how the world’s best furniture and cabinetry is designed, produced, marketed, and experienced.
“This trip will be just as busy as every year,” says design director Laura Folgoni, “but the focus is much more on us as a team, on Studio Como, and what we do.”
The itinerary begins on Monday with a preview event at Minotti—one of the only companies to host an event exclusively for dealers. “Originally, the Salone furniture fair was designed for dealers to go in, look and feel, and decide what to bring to their stores and clients,” Laura says. “Now that it’s grown to such a large scale—and open to everyone—it can be hard to get inside a booth or even sit on a couch.” At the Minotti preview, Studio Como design consultants will hear the vision behind the collection, get insights from the designer, and spend as much time as desired with the pieces.
Next the design team will visit the Bocci showroom, housed in a historic apartment in the second circle of Milan—“the installations are phenomenal, and change every year,” Laura shares—and then head to Baxter, who’s hosting Studio Como on a fully-furnished cable car ride across the city. “This should be a very fun and unique way to experience their line,” says Laura.
A visit to Henge, a newer addition to Studio Como, is scheduled, taking the design consultants to Via della Spiga, a pedestrian-only street known for its concentration of high-end fashion boutiques. Studio Como is expanding its Henge offerings stateside, with a full remodel of the Denver showroom’s lower level underway, dedicated to the brand.
Factory tours at the Poliform Lab and Baxter Villa will bring the team to Lake Como, where they’ll enjoy a full day of both inspiring, educational meetings and leisurely team building. Other important stops include visits to Cassina, Paola Lenti, Van Rossum, and Giopato & Coombes. The Cut, one of Studio Como’s new cabinetry lines—soon to have a display in the Scottsdale showroom—will provide the design consultants a close look at how high-end millwork and casements are made. “Even if you work exclusively in furniture, it’s very interesting to see this part of the business,” Laura explains.
There is no single thing Laura and the design consultants are looking forward to—rather, it’s the experience in full that’s most appealing. “Milan is an exciting city, especially during Salone,” she shares. “We look at amazing furniture, see beautiful design, eat good food, and enjoy our friends and colleagues in the industry. I truly believe there are few things as amazing as Milan during Salone.”
The focus on the city Salone—now often referred to as Milan Design Week—calls home has, over the years, changed how the fair feels and functions. With its ripples widening every year, more companies become invested, more design professionals make their way through, and more activations happen throughout the city and surrounding regions. As Laura explains it: “The energy around Salone is an upward crescendo of creativity.”
