Since 2022 the Salone del Mobile.Milano has launched an international tour of shows in Europe, North America and Asia, selecting the most strategic markets for industry-related exports and to present the innovations and experience of genuine Italian products that an architect, designer or builder can only find by visiting the most important furniture fair in the world.
The United States, the top market in the world with Europe, marks the 10th such date in three years. Following the great success in Miami, the first stop in the international Road Show to share the news about the upcoming trade fair, which will take place in Milan, April 8-13, 2025, the Salone del Mobile.Milano continues its journey in the United States with a strategic stop in New York wheremany of the new features of the trade show have been presented.
In New York, on January 21, the top brass of the Salone del Mobile.Milano and the Italian Trade Agency Miami, the office responsible for the design industry in the U.S. – which has co-established and coordinated the Salone’s mission in the United States – in collaboration with the major American associations of architects, designers and builders, have created two meeting opportunities dedicated to presenting the 63rd edition of the trade fair: with industry press and with trade professionals and several stakeholders.
The exclusive press event at the Office of the Italian Trade Agency NY was led by the President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Maria Porro who presented the news for 2025 and conversed with architect Pierre-Yves Rochon, author of the visionary project “Villa Héritage” which will be unveiled at the upcoming fair. The second event, held at the Rizzoli Bookstore on Broadway, in partnership with Interior Design (industry-leading magazine in the U.S.), included artist Robert Wilson, who presented “Mother,” a “vision” of Michelangelo’s Rondanini Pietà placed in the Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle) for the 63rd Salone del Mobile.
New York /New Jersey and the Tri-state area, an undisputed starting point to promote all Italian sectors, in particular design, seeing that for years the most important Italian companies, Salone exhibitors, have built and continue to expand important distribution channels in the New York area. Italian design, in particular, is a leading element in the neighborhoods of Chelsea, Madison, Soho, the Meatpacking District and Hudson Yards. Flagship stores and shops specializing in Italian products are an absolute Italian reality in the Big Apple.
Erica Di Giovancarlo, Coordinator of ICE Offices the U.S. and the Italian Trade Commissioner New York: “Bringing the Salone to the U.S. is part of a post-pandemic strategy to promote genuine Italian design, which we are adopting for all Made in Italy products; in fact, we are presenting well-known trade show formats with international content directly in geographic areas with the greatest growth in purchasing and new investments in Italian products. For example, Vinitaly in Chicago, Cosmoprof in Miami and, now, the Salone del Mobile in NY. We are close to ending 2024 with a new record of Italian sales in the U.S. (already 70 billion USD, to which Italian design products also contribute) and we are reassured that these presentations propel the Italy brand in the U.S.”
Carlo Angelo Bocchi, Italian Trade Commissioner Miami: Presenting in the U.S. and in NY where our products are already known helps sustain the leading reputation that the Salone del Mobile.Milano has achieved since it was established: the American passion in architecture studios, designers, builders and engineering companies for Italian production is strong because it is seen as unique and up-to-date, continually innovative and looking to green solutions in the area of sustainability and circular economy. Furthermore, working for the first time with Interior Design, we are researching and scouting from the so-called Giants and Rising Giants to identify new buyers from those large builders suited to our design products and this year, lighting.”
The Salone del Mobile.Milano has always been an engine of growth for the entire international furniture sector, a global platform that opens Milan to the world and welcomes it as the global design capital. The 2025 edition will present themes and content to inspire new visions and opportunities. Imagination, the pillar of change, guided these choices this year, once again, along with quality, intrinsic to the fair’s DNA since the beginning. Thanks to a record number of exhibitors and the strength of international relations, the 2025 edition is already sold out, confirming the Salone’s global appeal and its role as a catalyst for both established and emerging markets.
Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano: “Returning to NY as the first American stop on the 2025 Road Show is a decisive choice for the Salone del Mobile.Milano and for our entire sector. The Salone, a global event, linchpin of a virtuous system with its roots in Milan but projected throughout the world, has told the American press, always paying careful attention to news about the fair, about numerous items regarding the upcoming edition in April – from the biennial Euroluce to the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, to the rich schedule of Talks and Round Tables on the subject of light, the project “Mother” by Robert Wilson dedicated to the Rondanini Pietà, Michelangelo’s last masterpiece, exhibited at the Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle), and the evocative vision of Villa Héritage by Pierre-Yves Rochon. We are also very proud to return to the U.S. as the market with a strong interest in Made in Italy products, where the reputation of “Italian-style” and design products is continually expanding. A growth that includes numerous distribution channels, from single-brand and specialized stores to architecture, design and engineering studios, and residential and contract building companies. In particular, the U.S. is the reference point for this sector and large hospitality and residential projects. Italian products in the U.S. are increasingly recognized and valued for their quality, innovation, sustainability and, lastly, for their unmistakable style, which explains why the 2025 international tour is starting in this country.”
Photo: Carlo Angelo Bocchi, Italian Trade Commissioner Miami – Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano – Erica Di Giovancarlo, Coordinator of ICE Offices the U.S. and the Italian Trade Commissioner New York – Marco Sabetta, Gen. Man. Salone Mobile.Milano – Marva Griffin, Founder and curator of SaloneSatellite