Milan's fashion week may be more famous, but its annual furniture fair is just as influential. Eoin Lyons spends two hectic days trendspotting in Italy's design capital
APRIL 5TH
8am: Fly to Milan. Over the next few days, big Italian furniture manufacturers and smaller, quirky companies will launch their new lines at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile furniture fair. Buyers for shops specialising in interiors will be there looking for fresh stock; designers and architects to find out what's new. The razzmatazz is similar to fashion week, except this is about tables and chairs.
11am: Arrive in Milan. Before leaving the airport, buy Casa Vogue - always good for go-see ideas. Two of the best hotels in which to stay are the Park Hyatt (chic, beige, expensive) or the Hotel Straf (concrete, steel, affordable) because both are next to the Duomo (cathedral) in the centre of town.
Noon: Pay a visit to the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II beside the Duomo. An elegant iron and glass arcade, this was a precursor to the modern idea of a shopping centre and opened in 1867. It connects the Piazza Duomo with Piazza Scala and is filled with cafes and shops but also tourists and a lot of pigeons. The only shop worth seeing is Prada, not so much for the clothes, but the elegant interior and its original fittings. The most desirable thing, incidentally, is a five-foot suitcase in the style of an old steamer trunk - a snip at €15,000.
2pm: Go to Via Durini to see the showrooms of Cassia(www.cassinausa.com) and B&B Italia (www.bebitalia.it), two influential furniture companies. What they make now, shops such as Habitat or Ikea will replicate in three years. The Cassina showroom is dedicated exclusively to Le Corbusier reproductions from the 1920s. Modifying classic pieces by early 20th-century designers turns out to be a trend through many shows.
Next door is B&B Italia. Italian Antonio Citterio and Spaniard Patricia Urquiola are two of today's star furniture designers and both work for B&B. Influenced by the 1930s French designer Emile-Jacques Ruhlman, there's nothing wishy-washy about the look: matt-black oak, wide-stripe fabrics, all-black or all-white rooms but with shots of red or yellow. Notice the quality, marvel at the fabrics and gasp at the prices. Sofas start at about €12,000. All are very deep and piled with large cushions. Comfort is back. Leather, linen and velvet are combined on many pieces. B&B can be ordered in Ireland through Haus, Crow Street, Temple Bar.
3pm: Stilettos and nudes as far as the eye can see at the current Helmut Newton exhibition Sex and Landscapes at Palazzo Reale. The extraordinary Spazio Armani on Via Manzoni is Giorgio Armani's superstore and sells everything he produces, from clothing to furniture. It covers one whole block and the cafe is a good lunchtime stop. The Promemoria store at 13 Via Bagutta is worth a visit to see very high-quality contemporary furniture, again with a 1930s bent. At the other extreme, one of the best markets in Milan is Fiera di Senigallia, which takes place every Saturday along the wharf - find African craftwork, old furniture and second-hand clothes.
4.30pm: 10 Corso Como, the shop owned by Carla Sozzani, whose sister, Franca is editor of Italian Vogue, gives a snapshot of all things cool in the city. Its silvery, glittering interior sells clothing for men and women, as well as books, music, art, photography, home wares and furniture. A cafe, restaurant and small hotel are attached, too. There's everything from yoga gear tomotorcycle helmets to umbrellas. There are men's Marni cashmere cardigans for €600.
9pm: For full-on Euro-trash tackiness, visit the black and red Dolce & Gabbana bar at 15 Corso Venezia behind their shop. Two other fashion-furniture restaurants are the Just Cavalli cafe, designed by celebrated architect Ron Arad, and Armani Nobu, where prices are predictably stratospheric.
APRIL 6TH
10am: Journey to the main fair complex. Unlike fashion week, which is basically a closed shop, these shows are open to everyone. The main fair takes place at the Fiera exhibition centre in northwest Milan (take the tube to Amendola Fiera). A two-mile long "spine" connects the various areas. Head first to halls five and six, where the big names exhibit.
At Porada, available in Ireland through Bellissima in Cork (www.bellissima.ie), there are chairs inspired by Le Corbusier. The comfy sofa trend is evident again: deep, cushioned and in velvet or linen. Roberto Cavalli, the fashion designer, has the 1930s Hollywood look: mirror everything, croc-skin beds and white sofas. The influential, trendsetting Minotti has moved away from monochrome to a softer, more human look. This sets their produce apart from everybody else's, which after a while starts looks very brown-beige-bland. For Minotti, pale blue is now the colour, linen is the fabric and geometric carpets are the accent. They have taken the famous Eileen Gray Transat chair and simplified the shape, using blue leather. Minotti (www.minotti.com) can be bought at Minima in Dublin (www.minima.ie).
2pm: Back into town. Cargo on Via Meucci sells nice, affordable things of a size that's easy to bring home. It's an edgier version of Habitat with a crossover of styles such as Indonesian and Finnish. Its
sister store, High Tech in Piazza XXV Aprile, sells more expensive household goods and runs a courtesy bus to Cargo. Also make sure you see Driade, at 30 Via Manzoni, a family-owned company that employs Philippe Starck and Patricia Urquiola to produce furniture at reasonable prices.
4pm: Back to the furniture shows. Super Studio is a secondary show space in the middle of a warehouse area, with cooler independent designers and small companies. In Bombay Sapphire's annual glass competition, NCAD student Tara Whelan from Cork is Ireland's representative. Her clever martini glass doesn't win and instead the prize goes to two RCA students who have created an awkward-looking glass that consists of a bowl from which stems a long handle.
Thorsten van Elten (www.thorstenvanelten.com) is one of the few British designers at Super Studio and his stand is fun: plastic pigeon lights and giant teacups as planter holders.
Tom Dixon (www.tomdixon.net), creative director at Habitat is another British designer, but the furniture he showed is truly horrible: depressing airport-style seating and ugly prints. Three of the most identifiable trends at Super Studio are: traditional Victorian style in high-gloss veneer or an unexpected material such as papier mache (see www.moooi.nl); perforated fabrics used as carpets or wall hangings; and metal wall cladding (www.irisceramica.com).
9pm: Late flight home. Don't need to see another striped sofa for at least a year.