Brera Highlights – Moroso, Missoni, Boffi, Nodus, Hermès, Fritz Hansen, Paola Lenti, Agape, Seletti | Milan 2011.

Morning and happy new week to you all. Wowee – last week was a massive one for me. So much to tell you, but all in good time – we have to get through all this Milan stuff together first.

Today I would like to share some of my photos of the things I saw in the Brera Design District. This was definitely my favourite fun-filled day in Milan this year. The weather was just beautiful, we had a fantastic crew of some of my dearest friends, everyone was dressed-up and looking a million bucks (alway a good feeling) and we saw some great stuff. Brera is such a fantastic part of town – located in the historical centre of Milan, it is a densely packed neighborhood with a host of high-end design showrooms, galleries, cafes and some amazing shopping (although there was no time to shop – bugger!)

Here are some of the things I saw.

Tokujin Yoshioka launched his Moon chair at the Moroso showroom. Called ‘Twilight’, the installation involved artificial smoke which filled the space with beams of light streaming through. Very celestial, very Tokyjin. In fact, you may notice some similarities bewteen this, and his installation for Swarovski Crystal Palace last year – you can check out my old post here. Oh, and that’s the man himself giving an interview in the middle left photo. Star-struck.

‘Garden Party by MissoniHome’ at Missoni showroom featured new outdoor products and tableware. This is a beautiful sun-filled space in a stunning Milanese courtyard.

Ahhh, once again Boffi showroom (designed by Piero Lissoni) made my heart bleed with beauty and sadness of knowing that I cannot afford to own such beauty. Dammit.

Boffi displayed a number of stunning bathrooms (top set of images) and kitchens throughout their slick showroom.

More from Boffi. I was practically hyperventilating in anticipation of seeing the famous display apartment (remember my MAJOR excitement from last year?) It was interesting to see the same apartment in a conceptual-art-installation version which was completely different from last year. I still really loved it a lot. Installation furniture by Living Divani – ‘Family’ chairs and ‘Drop’ tables designed by Junya Ishigami.

Ok, I know I should totally be moving on from Boffi, and that this is way to much attention to give to one place in a major area round-up such as this one, but I couldn’t resist these detail photos from the display apartment. (How excellent is Husband? Is it just me or are his photos really good?)

Nodus Rugs at Il Piccolo featured rugs by a number of really interesting designers such as Studio Job,Nika Zupanc, Formafantasma, Matali Crasset etc. Bottom image shows ‘Pantheon’ rug by Studio Job. (Sorry, I can’t remember others now. Bad.)

Hermès‘ debut furniture collection was one of the most anticipated this year, and it was definitely one of the highlights. This event took place at La Pelota on Via Palermo (check out photos of La Pelota right here – seriously amazing setting!) Photo above is of the entry, which is where my photos stop and press images take over below since we weren’t allowed to take any shots, even though I asked really nicely, and told them I was from this super important blog and people needed to see this thing! Anyway, they just gave me a press kit and told me to go away. Great. Thanks.

Hermès temporary exhibition space was designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, and it was made out of cardboard tubes woven with paper. How amazing, right?

Photos © Santi Caleca via Yatzer.

This debut furniture collection was created by Hermès artistic director, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, in collaboration with top international designers including Antonio Citterio, Enzo Mari, Denis Montel and Eric Benqué. That canary-yellow plush velvet sofa literally made me squeal with excitement – way too much beauty in one small space (although I did find a lot of the other pieces reasonably unexciting.)

Photos © Santi Caleca via Yatzer.

I fell in love with FAVN sofa designed by Jaime Hayon (it’s JH again!) for Fritz Hansen. Favn is a contemporary reinterpretation and adaptation of the iconic Egg and Swan chairs with it’s hard shell and soft fluid forms. This sofa is a future classic and it was really beautifully presented by Fritz Hansen – there were 10 sofas in total which were upholstered in 10 released colourways. Each one was paired with an Egg or a Swan in matching upholstery and veiled with a corresponding curtain screen. Cool-town.

Paola Lenti event was technically not in Brera, but let’s just pretend it was cause I really wanted to share it with you and I didn’t know here else to fit it in. Cool? Great, I knew you’d understand.

Incredible interiors (how about that ceiling in top images?) and luscious courtyards of Chiostri dell’Umanitaria, former 15th century monastery was a truly impressive venue for Paola Lenti‘s beautiful outdoor furniture range.

Wow. Stunning. (If you’d like to see more, click here and here.)

Image via Paola Lenti website.

Dodici showroom showcasing beautiful new bathroom products from Agape.

This made my day! Seletti, producer of high end household products, had a cheeky little set up on the side of the road, which made it look like they were selling cheap designer knock-offs, complete with African men with suitcases. Tongue-in-cheek, brave and hilarious.

Ok. That about sums it up people. Phew – another monster post. Hope you guys are finding this Milan series interesting, informative and useful, cause these suckers are seriously taking a lot of time and effort. Oh well. Serves me right for taking so many photos and wanting to share so many of them with you. I am way too enthusiastic for my own good. See you again tomorrow!

[Unless otherwise noted, all images © yellowtrace.]