If you are looking not for the next micro-trend, but larger directions of travel that are influencing the design world, you have come to the right place. We reflect on the major design events of 2026 so far to decipher the moments that mattered and the styles having the biggest impact on our homes.
Hedonistic nostalgia
It is the pleasure-seeking side of the 1970s that’s inspiring design this year. Sophie Lou Jacobsen’s sparkling cocktail glasses and plates capture the mood perfectly. Her range, named ‘Disco Aperitivo’ (pictured top), also includes an ashtray, one of many spotted during the big design events so far this year – the bad habit, it seems, is having a design moment.
Jeweller and silverware house Buccellati’s exhibition of caviar spoons and ice buckets hit a similar Studio 54 note, while Christian Adam’s 1970 ‘Tomato Chair’, reissued by fashion house Chloé, was a great camp hit. Sexy, squashy seating also came courtesy of Ligne Roset’s reissued 1976 ‘Kashima’ sofa. At 3 Days of Design, Hay brought back Niels Jørgen Haugesen’s ‘X-Line Chair’, a polar opposite with its sharp frame, but still instantly nostalgic.
Audio upgrades
Sound equipment is making a spirited comeback, with sculptural speakers and eye catching turntables continuing to steal the spotlight. At Milan design week, sound artist Devon Turnbull collaborated with Klipsch on ‘kO-R2’, a chunky, old-school wooden and aluminium speaker with serious sonic heft, while Bang & Olufsen’s quartzite outdoor speaker ‘Beosound Haven’ looks as good as it sounds – an achievement for weatherproof hi-fi. French collective Studio Hall Haus found inspiration in the 177-year-old archive of leather-goods company Moynat for their stack of trunk-like speakers. Meanwhile, at 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, Fritz Hansen opened a sound bar to showcase a Technics turntable and reissue of their curvy Kaiser Idell lamp (both pictured) in a juicy burgundy.
Inventive reuse
Finding creative uses for waste materials is becoming second nature to many furniture makers. One of the best shows at Salone Raritas was Max Radford Gallery’s display of Lewis Kemmenoe’s patchwork furniture (pictured), made with offcuts of various European timber. At Alcova, we were also stopped in our tracks by Japanese studio Atma’s ‘SUR+PLUS’ collection of chairs made using waste marble and stone. French flooring company Tarkett invited creatives to use carpet and vinyl offcuts to produce work for their show ‘Beginnings & Endings’ at 3 Days of Design, where Austrian designer Laurids Gallée turned vinyl into exquisite marquetry designs. Meanwhile, Danish furniture company Takt, a trailblazer in sustainability since its launch in 2019, collaborated with Dinesen to make chairs out of douglas-fir floorboard offcuts. Reuse is officially high-end.
Sculptural marble
There were some monumental marble tables showcased during Milan design week, such as Christophe Delcourt’s ‘Zaho’ table for Baxter, which has legs that unfurl like book pages, and Minotti’s ‘Blaine’ table by Hannes Peer, which was inspired by Henry Moore’s sculptures. Marble also made its mark in lighting, with some of the best examples on show at the Alcova exhibition spaces. Greek American designer Kiki Goti’s ‘Aether’ collection was all marble and box-office gold, but the table with scalloped edges (pictured) was a remarkable use of this material. The key is to use marble in unexpected ways – think sculptural forms that are as much art as function.
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Gaming culture
A sense of play lit up the most memorable installations across this year’s design events. Architect Lina Ghotmeh – creator of the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion – was the name behind the best immersive show in Milan: a hot-pink maze filling the courtyard of Palazzo Litta, while an exhibition on the history of boardgames called ‘0-99 Design for Play’ took up residence in another Milanese palazzo. Playfulness is also set to come home with Armani Casa’s games table, made of ebony and leather, and Georg Jensen’s ‘At Play’ collection (pictured) featured solid-silver and marble games inspired by its founder’s childhood, making downtime an elevated affair. It’s not all about winning, either – design is simply ready to make us smile. Take Vipp’s collaboration with Barcelona-based studio Mesura as an example, with its seesaw version of the brand’s ‘Swivel’ chair.
Literary fever
There’s been an uptick in literary salons, libraries and niche art-bookshop openings recently. Jil Sander turned its Via Luca Beltrami showroom into a reference library during Milan design week, and Miu Miu held a book club. Thank goodness, then, that there are outstanding bookcases to keep all of our expanding reading lists displayed in an appropriately on-trend manner. Poltrona Frau released a special edition of the ‘Albero GFF’ (pictured), a spiral in rosewood and American walnut. Porro presented the ‘Ryo’ with long, open shelves that were created by folding a single sheet of aluminium, and Kartell collaborated with Patricia Urquiola on the ‘Lepid’ shelving range, which looked like deconstructed, jazzy hashtags.
Hospitality in focus
The crossover between hospitality and home interiors grows, with Milan hosting three exhibitions inspired by 1920s-style grand hotels. Paris studio Maison Numéro 20 brought its installation ‘Aurea’ to Salone del Mobile’s hall using light, scent and super-luxe fabrics to help evoke a glitzy hotel. Nilufar Gallery’s ‘Grand Hotel’ (pictured) featured vintage furniture by master craftsman George Nakashima, along with that of contemporary stars, such as designer Rooshad Shroff. Tom Dixon opened the doors of the Mua Mua Hotel at the Mulino Estate (originally designed in 1929 by Chiodi and Gio Ponti). His collaboration with bed manufacturers Vispring was next level – especially the headboards, which were dramatically outsized, cushioned and extravagant.
Rugged rugs
The standout rugs so far this year have arrived in muddy browns, creams and rust reds, grounding us at a time when that could not be more what the world needs. The ‘Faces’ collection – Jaipur Rugs’ collaboration with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma (pictured) – captured this aesthetic brilliantly. The rugs depict the shadows created by the windows and panelling on the façades of Kuma’s most celebrated buildings. Similarly, studio Casa Milana worked with Beni Rugs on ‘Unioni’, a range decorated with depictions of tiles and terrazzo. Spanish brand Nanimarquina covered rugs with motifs from artist Lucia Eames’ archive – a sunnier take, alive with abstract forms and butterflies.
Colourful crockery
The most Instagrammed pop-up cafés this year have been Marni’s takeover of Pasticceria Cucchi and Marimekko’s aperitivo bar at the Osteria Grand Hotel. Both featured bright plates (Marimekko’s ‘Oiva’, pictured), glassware and coffee cups in poppy colours that looked great in real life and on the grid. Fun is officially on the menu. Not ready for all-out colour? Natalia Criado’s collab with Laboratorio Paravicini presents a sophisticated and minimal take on the patterned ceramics.
Tubular chairs
Another revival came in the form of the metal-frame tubular chair. The design, which originated during the industrial boom of the 1920s, was back in a big way: Cassina reissued the ‘CH66’ by modernist designer Nicos Zographos and Thonet presented a reinterpretation of Marcel Breuer’s ‘S62’ chair from 1929 in collaboration with designer Jil Sander (pictured). Flexform’s take on the concept was the chunky, cushioned ‘Avalon’ by Antonio Citterio, while Gubi’s ‘Copacabana’ chair, with its extra-bendy metal frame, available in bright orange, was an eye-catching update of this sculptural seat.
