Out and About in San Gregorio DOCET // MILANTRACE2015.

San Gregorio DOCET, also known as “Distretto ristretto” (the restricted district) returned for the second year during Milan Design Week 2015. The area was imagined and created by Claudio Loria, founder of Leclettico, with strong support by Wallpaper* magazine.

Situated around via San Gregorio, stretching from Porta Venezia to the Central Station, a selection of international brands and designers were invited to revitalise the area and exhibit in spaces that had been long abandoned. This year, Leclettico opened the doors to its eclectic universe with a World of Wonder exhibition that took the visitors on an emotional, and at time visually bonkers journey.

The district also hosted exhibitions by iconic brands such as Memphis and Gufram as well as established names including British designer Lee Broom, USM, SCP, Droog, AfghanMade, Dubai Design District, Wallpaper* Handmade, Emeco and Brand New World.

In what was the area highlight, Lee Broom transformed a street of defunct shops on Via Alfredo Cappellini to create ‘The Department Store’, his largest exhibition to date with the launch of over 20 new products. Encompassing furniture, lighting and accessories, the collection incorporated traditional manufacturing techniques in innovative ways to produce an original body of work, all of which were presented in a dramatic series of interconnected department store-inspired vignettes.

The Department Store invited the visitor on an immersive journey through a cinematic pastiche of a store across two floors; moving from scene to scene through the exhibition, with each environment representing a surreal take on 12 different departments – including The Perfumery, Ladies Accessories, Gents Fitting Room, Book Store and Haberdashery. Each department acted as a backdrop, finished in Lee Broom signature grey to accentuate the colours and materials of the new pieces.

Wallpaper* teamed up with AfghanMade Carpets to showcase a new collection of handmade rugs from Afghanistan, including works by Scholten & Baijings, Junpei Tamaki, Christophe Pillet and Fredrikson Stallard. The exhibition, curated and designed by Wallpaper*, features contemporary pieces from eight rug companies: Christopher Farr, Amini Carpets, Nodus, Nanimarquina, Dandelion, Ignacio Larrain Alfombras and Wool & Silk Rugs. Through expert training, AfghanMade Carpets has brought contemporary designs to Afghanistan, challenging local craftsmen to reproduce lines, shapes and concepts completely new to them.

With an overarching topic “Eat me! Drink me! Tell me that you love me!” Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition was this year taken to new heights. Called on to celebrate gastronomy and the art of entertaining, some of the world’s finest creative minds, designers and manufacturing talents created a feast of mouthwatering marvels.

BRAND NEW WORLD (BNW), produced by Vesna and Jovan Jelovac, presented exiting design works in one of Milan’s most elegant showrooms – DUŠAN. BNW brought together key international studios who epitomise the new concept of Designers – Makers – Entrepreneurs, those who are rethinking the entire business and their creative model. The line-up included DANTE – GOODS AND BADS, STUDIO DRIFT, TOM STRALA, STUDIO APPETIT, ADRIEN ROVERO, BURO BELEN, REINIER BOSCH & CAROLINA WILCKE, and ILAN GARIBI FOR GAL GAON COLLECTION.

This year Droog presented their smallest exhibition ever, focusing on the tiniest parts of furniture and functional elements that are usually not noticeable and often invisible – the hardware. “Our screws, hinges, nuts, nails, brackets and other hardware are super functional – in some cases we even extended their function – but they also add value, character and a richer narrative.” The collection of 210 hardware items was presented in its natural habitat, an ordinary hardware store.