I’ve been holding on to this post since July, but now that the stories are all out (The Peak, Domain and Home & Decor), I can share!
Space Furniture took us to Milan to meet their Italian brand partners.
We arrived earlier than our first appointment, so we walked to 10 Corso Como for a look-see first. Didn’t buy anything that day, because summer sales were just about to kick off the coming weekend.
Walking back to the hotel to meet B&B Italia for lunch, we passed by these bicycles for rent.
For dinner, Giorgetti took us to Bagutta, the trattoria of Milan trattorias, where writers have congregated since 1924.
The next few days were a whirlwind of showroom and factory visits. Flos on Corso Monforte, in a villa restored and interior-designed by Jasper Morrison.
Flos took us to The Studio Achille Castiglioni, where the Italian master worked.
And then lunch overlooking the Duomo di Milano.
We walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II at the Piaza del Duomo to get to our next appointment.
The Driade showroom, located in an honest-to-goodness palazzo with restored frescoes.
From Driade, we walked to its founder Mr. Astori’s house for a home-cooked Milanese dinner (cooked by his Filipina maid haha).
We went to the Kartell Factory, which housed its own museum chronicling its development of plastic furniture for the past half-century.
We went to Bergamo, hometown of the innovative Acerbis brand. They took us on a lovely walking tour of the historic higher city of Bergamo…
…its cobblestone streets…
…and Renaissance architecture.
We went to more factories: Poliform, Flexform, Giorgetti. This is B&B Italia.
And this, I can’t remember anymore.
We had morning slushies at the Bulgari Hotel before hitting Milan’s summer sales.
On our last night, Giorgetti took us to dinner at Il Gato Nero, where George Clooney reportedly broke up with Elisabetta Canalis.
After dark, there were fireworks because it was the Fourth of July!
BTW, we stayed at the tiny, family-run Park Hotel, which had Miro paintings all over the lobby.
And Achille Castiglioni lights in the bedrooms. How designer can it get?
Next post: Verona and Lugano.
