The Salone del Mobile kicks off: over 2,000 brands on display

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Decades seem to have passed and instead it was just four years ago when the gates of Fiera Milano opened to welcome the latest Salone del Mobile of what we now all define as “the pre-Covid era”. Because today, in fact, is another era. And the 61st edition of the largest international furniture-design fair could not return to its traditional April dates without taking into account the many profound transformations that have taken place. In the world. In the industry. In communications. In big events.

The new Salon

So here it is, the new Salone del Mobile, which opened this morning in the presence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. New in layout, format, content. But not in quality, with all the most famous Made in Italy brands present at the fair: over 2 thousand brands (including 550 under 35 designers at the Salone Satellite), of which 34% from abroad, above all Europe, the United States and Brazil.

The visitors

And there is also great expectation on the visitor front, with the return of China, but also many arrivals from the United States, Brazil, France and Germany. But numbers are not the main objective, explains the president of the Salone, Maria Porro: «We want to bring more and more quality to the fair, with selected and profiled buyers, and this is what we have done thanks to painstaking promotion work on the main markets in the last months”.

The wood

The numbers that count, on the other hand, are those of the wood-furniture supply chain that has its showcase in the Salone: ​​268,000 companies that in 2022 achieved a record turnover of 56.5 billion euros (+12.7% compared to 2021) , of which almost 29 made by the furniture sector alone. «Experimental, innovative and traditional at the same time. This is how the 61st edition of the Salone del Mobile presents itself today to the public, stakeholders and institutions, once again confirming all its strength and leadership as the most important sector fair in the world – says the president of FederlegnoArredo Claudio Feltrin -. And the one on stage in the pavilions of Rho Fiera I like to imagine as a sort of dress rehearsal which has its maximum representation in Euroluce and which continues the path of change and evolution started with the Supersalone. Where will all this take us? It is still too early to say, but I admit to thinking that the Euroluce script could be the canvas on which to draw, together with associates and exhibitors, the possible Salone of the future».