The Milan Edit 2024

In 2024, Milan held its biggest design festival yet. A record year, in fact – 361,417 visits recorded in total (a remarkable increase of 100,000 in one year), including 26.8 per cent more professional presences than in 2023. This year was a little different for us too, having said goodbye to two leading, longstanding members of the editorial team. As Habitus editor, Aleesha Callahan covered Milan Design Week in recent years, while Indesign editor, Alice Blackwood, has also moved on. Again, we extend our gratitude to Alice and Aleesha for their thoughtful and enthusiastic service to the design community in these roles.

As always, Milan Design Week 2024 offered an embarrassment of riches. Alongside the wide range of products on display, I spent a good part of my time speaking to people on the ground. In particular, that meant speaking to the designers behind the products – from architects and industrial designers to architects doing industrial design and everyone in between. In this Edit, I’m delighted to bring you some of the insights from those conversations.

One of the true highlights of the week came with our event at the Pinacoteca di Brera, held with our friends at V-ZUG. A morning panel talk in the remarkable setting of a centuries-old reading room, the gathering proved to be a focal point for those from the Australian design community who travelled to Europe this year. Aside from Europe-based Martin von Freeden, Head of Corporate Design at V-ZUG, the other panellists had all travelled from Australia: Charlotte Wilson, Senior Associate and Head of Interiors at SJB Sydney; Jo Lawless, interior designer and Director at Lawless & Meyerson; and Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux Colour and Communications Manager.

Let us take you (back) to Milan for a tour of some of the most exciting objects of design on display.