From Prada To Loro Piana, Fashion Bets Big On Milan Design Week 2025

Once the preserve of furniture and home brands, Milan Design Week sees participation from myriad fashion houses such as ultra-luxury home collections from Hermès and conceptual in-store installations by the likes of COS.

This year is no different, except there are even more players entering the fashion-meets-furniture game. Case in point: Longchamp, which is releasing its debut furniture collection with renowned wood artisan Pierre Renart to be displayed in their flagship boutique on via della Spiga for the duration of Milan Design week.

Known for a graceful, sinuous style, this marks two milestones for Renart: it’s the first time he is combining wood and leather in a single piece and it’s also the young designer’s initial foray in the world’s foremost design event. Longchamp worked with Renart in 2021, when the French brand commissioned him to create variations on his Wave coffee table for its renovated boutiques styled in the mold of Parisian apartments.

The new Longchamp furniture pieces are original designs by Renart done in his signature gravity-defying style: a banquette Wave Cuir (Wave leather bench) and a set of eight Chaise Ruban (Ruban chairs), both crafted from American walnut and upholstered in cowhide leather.

“These designs are all Pierre’s work,” says Sophie Delafontaine, Longchamp’s Creative Director. “We challenged him on a single point: to ensure that even with the combination of wood and leather, the pieces looked as light and fluid as if they had been executed in wood alone. We wanted him to keep the idea of movement, of the single, unbroken line—and clearly, he has done exactly that.”

A Curated Universe

Loro Piana is no stranger to the home realm, but the luxury house is mostly known for its sumptuous interior textiles. They’re taking it further in Milan Design Week 2025 with a collaboration with Dimoremilano, Dimorestudio’s contemporary furnishings, textiles and lighting brand.

Founded in 2003 by Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci, Dimorestudio is a global architectural and design studio that enjoys a cult-like following. Anyone in a creative rut only needs to visit their space in Milan’s via Solferino to get their imagination going. While there will be no exhibitions held there this year, the practice has five projects at Milan Design Week including La Prima Notte di Quiete, an immersive installation with Loro Piana.

New collections merit fresh explorations, which is what unfolds at the engaging installation held at the courtyard of Palazzo Cortile della Seta, Loro Piana’s Milan headquarters. Drawing from the brand’s quiet luxury aesthetic, extreme attention to detail and pure tactility, it recreates a fully-furnished Loro Piana house complete with new furniture, tableware, and materials as well as emblematic Dimoremilano pieces upholstered in Loro Piana Interiors fabrics.

With Dimorestudio behind the project, it won’t be an ordinary home set-up, but one that blends a cinematic direction with a warm, intimate ambiance.“It’s an all-encompassing experience involving all the senses, showcasing our shared expertise in creating exceptional products and exploring our unique sense of touch”, says Damien Bertrand, CEO of Loro Piana.

Fashionable Forums

Fashion brands are also delving into staging thought-provoking events in an effort to explore—and expand—conversations around contemporary thought and culture. A standout is Prada Frames, an annual symposium “based on the belief that intellectual inquiry and cross-disciplinary dialogue can act as vessels for progress”.

Now in its fourth edition, this year’s event is led by Formafantasma and happens alongside Salone del Mobile. Entitled ‘In Transit’, it takes a closer look into the interaction of mobility, design and environment, including how goods and humans travel across the globe in this era of hypermobility. It’s a timely (and sensitive) topic given the fragmentation of globalisation due to recent tariff-induced changes in worldwide trade.

The symposium is led by award-winning design critic Alice Rawsthorn, featuring speakers such director Giacomo Abbruzzese, architect Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, author Tung-Hui Hu and more.

The locations are equally inspired—discussions take place in symbolic sites within Milan’s Central Station. This includes a peek into the Arlecchino train, originally designed by Gio Ponti and Giulio Minoletti in the 1950s, as well as in the Padiglione Reale, a historic waiting space once reserved for royalty and heads of state.

Prada’s sister brand, Miu Miu, is also introducing the Miu Miu Literary Club 2025, the second iteration of the event running parallel to Milan Design Week. Called ‘A Woman’s Education’, the event is personally directed by founder Miuccia Prada and explores the themes of girlhood, love and sex education through the work of two notable literary legends: French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir and Fumiko Enchi, a revered female author during Japan’s Showa era.

More than just an exploration of the written word, the conversations around these landmark talents and their creations aim to challenge the rules and norms taught to women over centuries. The spirited discussions will also feature live music performances, plus prose and poetry readings.

La Prima Notte di Quiete by Loro Piana and Dimoremilano runs from April 8 to 13, 2025 at Loro Piana headquarters, Palazzo Cortile della Seta, via della Moscova 33, Milan (Visitors can book the time of the show here). Prada Frames In Transit runs only until April 8, 2025 (registration here). Miu Miu Literary Club takes place at Circolo Filologico Milanese in Milan on April 9 and 10, 2025.

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