Ready for the design world’s biggest week ? We have curated the ultimate edit of launches, exhibitions and other highlights across Salone del Mobile and beyond, but first we catch up with British stars, established and new, for exclusive insights into some of the biggest events across the city
Tom Dixon
Head to the Manzoni restaurant and showroom, where classic designs will be served up in fresh colours, sizes and an ethereal new finish
When we talk to Tom Dixon he has just stepped out of a top-secret debate about colour with his team. It’s a subject on the designer’s mind as he launches his hugely successful portable ‘Bell’ lamp in four new shades – ‘Fluoro’, ‘Grey’, ‘Taupe’ and ‘White’. There were only supposed to be three colours, he confides to us, but ‘we argued over taupe versus fawn versus elephant breath, whatever, and ended up including two greys because we couldn’t agree.’ What was non-negotiable, though, was the highlight colour. And, as Dixon puts it, when he does a highlight colour, he does not hold back! This ‘exclamation mark’ of orange is the same shade he once daubed across tote bags, furniture, his bicycle and even an Aston Martin.
Dixon will also present the iconic ‘Melt’ ceiling, floor and table lamps in a luminescent new ‘Opal’ polycarbonate finish that has the appearance of floating clouds. Obsessed with recreating the appearance of opals, Dixon added phosphorescent blue tones to the plastic, creating a cooler glow (a warmer LED bulb is available as well as the standard offering). He is also thinking smaller –sized-down versions of the ‘Melt’ range have been added to the collection, for the lower ceilings of more compact urban apartments. ‘These pieces are more affordable and slightly more realistic, which, of course, I resent immensely,’ he adds with a customary wry smile. tomdixon.net
Tamart
Introducing the new furniture brand launched to honour the creativity of Tamar de Shalit and Arthur Goldreich
Architect Amos Goldreich was visiting his father’s studio when he came across a large tin container. Rolled up inside was part of an extensive archive, charting the work of his parents, architects and polymaths Arthur Goldreich and Tamar de Shalit: the starting point for new furniture brand Tamart.
‘My mum passed away in 2009 and my father 18 months later; cataloguing their work became part of the grieving process,’ says Goldreich. It took a dream, though, to prompt him to take their designs off the page and into production. ‘I saw myself in Milan, on stage with the ‘Clore’ chair and ‘Central’ stool (pictured),’ he recalls.
Tamart’s inaugural collection of 10 pieces will be on show at Design Variations. Look out for aspecial version of the ‘Clore’ chair, upho
