IROCO Design Reports from Salone del Mobile: Milan’s Vision for Sustainable, Timeless Furniture

This year’s Salone del Mobile, founded in 1961 and the global epicenter for Designer Furniture, showcased a powerful shift towards sustainability, heritage, and thoughtful design. As a leading Furniture Sourcing Company in Japan, IROCO Design Tokyo team followed the fair closely to bring you the latest trends shaping Contract Furniture Japan and beyond.

Moving beyond mere carbon-cutting, brands blended eco-conscious innovation with a deep dive into their archives. Finnish brand Artek reimagined Alvar Aalto’s iconic 60 stool into creative new objects like chess sets and record players.


Japan’s Yamagiwa reissued Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin light fixtures in a captivating tubular installation designed by Shigeru Ban, demonstrating the harmony of tradition and modernity.

The fair also saw luxury fashion house Loewe expanding into public furniture by showcasing exquisite chairs in Milan’s historic Palazzo Isimbardi gardens. Unique venues like the Alcove exhibition in a former abattoir and Dropcity’s industrial vaults added to the event’s creative buzz, highlighting the intersection of design and place.

Japanese craftsmanship stood out with Karimoku Furniture unveiling its NF Collection—stools, lounge and dining chairs, and tables designed by Norman Foster for the Foster Retreat. This collection perfectly merges Japanese calm with architectural elegance, ideal for office furniture, outdoor furniture, and inspiring creative spaces.

The event emphasized quality over quantity, favoring mature, longer-lasting designs over constant newness. Florian Egli, senior ETH Zurich researcher, echoed this vision, urging the fair to bridge design with policy discussions about better space usage.

As experts in acoustic furniture and space design, IROCO Design Japan is proud to engage with these conversations, bringing forward timeless, sustainable pieces for the future of interiors.