Dezeen's favourite furniture and lighting from Milan design week 2026
Stackable drawers, anthropomorphic lamps and a pillowy PVC coffee table are among the standout products spotted by the Dezeen team last week during Milan's Salone del Mobile furniture fair and the city-wide design festival that surrounds it.
Inflatable Table 001 by Jabez Bartlett
chosen by Jane Englefield, design and interiors reporter
"Inflatable furniture created by big brands got plenty of air time in Milan this year, so it was nice to seek out pieces by emerging designers who have savvily jumped on this growing trend.
"British production designer Jabez Bartlett applied his cinematic vision to this pillowy PVC coffee table, which he topped with a deliciously opalescent resin surface that you can't help but want to touch.
"Bartlett's aim with his debut furniture was to make 'more permanent objects' with materials that he normally uses to bring film sets to life on screen. Resisting the urge to sprawl across the table at Alcova, where it was presented, I found that he had passed his own brief with flying colours."
THING_04 by Konstantin Grcic, for 25kg
chosen by Amy Frearson, editor-at-large
"Of all the designs I saw in Milan, one I hope to see a lot more of is the latest 'thing' from 25kg, the radical design platform launched last year by German designer Konstantin Grcic.
"All of 25kg's products are designed to challenge the norm, with past offerings including a stool without a seat and a multi-purpose wall bracket.
"The latest is a rotationally moulded seat made from post-industrial plastic waste, which clamps onto standard scaffolding poles. It offers a clever and eco-conscious way of turning any scaffolding structure into a piece of furniture."
PS 2026 Lamp by Lex Pott for IKEA
chosen by Jennifer Hahn, design and environment editor
"The funny thing about being a design journalist is that most of the time, we can't actually afford the things we write about. But thankfully, every once in a while, IKEA delivers an absolute belter.
"Such is the case with the PS 2026 Lamp, which manages to rival the expressiveness of Pixar's famous mascot with zero need for animation, thanks to its cute trumpet-shaped head, a trio of 45-degree hinges and the impeccable colour selection we've come to expect from Lex Pott.
"Despite its simple construction, the designer's first foray into lighting turned out to be one of the most characterful pieces I saw all week. And all that for the same price as a meal at a mid-range London restaurant (including booze)."
Savoia Chair by Barber Osgerby for Kartell
chosen by Max Fraser, editorial director
"I'm one of the first to question if the world needs yet another new chair. That is, until a really elegant, refined and well-proportioned one comes along.
"Every year, there are a few such additions. And this year, for me, it was designed by British studio Barber Osgerby for the Italian stalwart Kartell. The slender frame is made from die-cast aluminium, the profiles of which extend into the armrests. The structure is finished in various high-gloss colours with different seat and backrest options, too.
"Amid a sea of furniture choices at Salone del Mobile, ranging from the boring to the flamboyant, this chair gently lured me in. It's a piece that required considerable investment from the brand – justified as it will likely stand the test of time."
Compulsion Chair by Lara Bohinc
chosen by Rima Sabina Aouf, contributing editor
"This chair haunts my sleep. Created by Slovenian-British designer Lara Bohinc for the House of Creatures exhibition, it evolves the bulbous forms she has played with in the last few years into dream-like territory, making an emotive piece that both enthrals and discomforts with its image of one chair squeezed through the frame of another.
"The feeling of unease is reinforced when you learn the chair's title, with its suggestion of intrusive thoughts and impulsive behaviours.
"The fact that one interlocked chair is made of metal and the other of wood adds to the intrigue, making this an impressive technical feat as well as a poetic one."
Stainless-steel bed by NM3
chosen by Cajsa Carlson, deputy editor
"There's nothing NM3 likes as much as steel, and for this year's Milan design week, the studio transformed its own office into a stainless-steel paradise.
"Drawing on the Velvet and Silk Cafe installation by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, the team created an apartment made out of four rooms divided by movable partitions.
"In the bedroom, a stainless-steel bed with a pattern of circle cutouts was matched with NM3's modular metal storage system.
"The eye-catching industrial-style bed might not be the most comfy-looking, but it is such a perfect example of modern, cool Italian design that I think I would sleep really well in it."
Abaco armchair by Ronan Bouroullec for B&B Italia
chosen by Amy Frearson, editor-at-large
"French designer Ronan Bouroullec, along with his brother Erwan, is already responsible for some of the most iconic chairs of the 21st century. His latest, for B&B Italia, shows he hasn't lost his touch.
"The Abaco is a chair that lays everything bare. With a leather seat and backrest visibly sandwiched between the two halves of each wooden leg, the construction dictates the aesthetic.
"This wasn’t the only standout from B&B Italia's impressive Salone showcase. Chairs by Michael Anastassiades and Jasper Morrison also caught the eye, although contributions from female designers were sorely lacking."
Becoming In Lamp by Anita Morvillo
chosen by Jennifer Hahn, design and environment editor
"A guaranteed way to make it onto my favourites list is to make me feel something. That might sound like a low bar, but it's deceptively hard for an inanimate object to meet.
"The lighting of Italian designer Anita Morvillo goes one step further and manages to provoke not just one but several conflicting emotions at once, leaving me caught between a sense of protectiveness and repulsion.
"Reminiscent of the kinds of spiky creatures that exist only in alien movies or at the bottom of the ocean, the lamps feature impossibly intricate metal-wire bodies, pierced by pointy glass tails, probes and antennas.
"Morvillo says this dichotomy between fragility and aggression reminds her of herself. 'I really feel like I'm mirroring my object', she told me."
Wall cabinet by Marcin Rusak
chosen by Jane Englefield, design and interiors reporter
"To me, Marcin Rusak's flower-infused glass and resin furniture is the perfect Milan design week find. The pieces balance astounding beauty with impressive technical craftsmanship, and embody a museum-like wonder that makes seeing them in the flesh a genuinely exciting experience.
"Every piece in Rusak's Forum Florum exhibition captured this magic, but his wall-mounted cabinet held a particularly special place in my heart for its dehydrated irises trapped between sheets of laminated glass that look, in the words of the designer, like painterly 'X-rays of plants'."
Side Stack by Raw Edges for Established & Sons
chosen by Rima Sabina Aouf, contributing editor
"Raw Edges' Stack drawers, launched in 2008, are a classic of playful contemporary design, but not something most people can fit into their homes. No longer, thanks to this new mini version.
"Made of metal with a fine, sand powder-coated finish, Side Stack shrinks down the Jenga-like tower of drawers into a size that can function as a side table or desktop organisation unit.
"The ingenious double-sided opening mechanism is retained, allowing you to play with the staggered profile to your heart's content."
Pasta chopsticks by Jin Kuramoto
chosen by Max Fraser, editorial director
"The Chopsticks exhibition brought together eleven alternative designs to, you guessed it, chopsticks. Curated by journalist Yoko Choy, the everyday culinary tool was reinterpreted by various designers from China, Japan and South Korea.
"Hardly any visitors to the exhibition could resist the playful design by Jin Kuramoto – edible chopsticks made entirely from pasta. With a nod to both Italian pasta culture as well as the fact that millions of wooden chopsticks are used once and then discarded every day, Kuramoto proposed a witty alternative.
"Enjoy a starter of sashimi or gyoza with your chopsticks before plunging them into boiling water and continuing with a bowl of pasta; nourishment and no waste, playfully combined.
"Those on display were actually 3D-printed, but I eagerly await the day when a pasta manufacturer commits to production."
Aether table lamp by Kiki Goti
chosen by Cajsa Carlson, deputy editor
"The cool, rationalist interior of Milan's late 1930s Villa Pestarini was one of the settings for design platform Alcova this year, displaying a wide variety of designs across its rooms and gardens.
"One of the most striking pieces on show was a monumental stone lamp that I can't stop thinking about. Part of designer Kiki Goti's marble collection Aether, the shape of the light draws on the soft-looking carved drapery seen on classic Greek sculptures.
"Despite being made from solid marble, its scalloped edges and translucent sides created a delicate, romantic impression that looked right at home in the villa's elegant interior."
Milan design week took place in Milan from 20 to 26 April 2026. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
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