6 Design 'Trends' That Aren't From Salone
Salone baloney.
Hello lovelies,
If you are even vaguely immersed in the design world, then you know that everyone young, cool, attractive, and edgily dressed is at Salone del Mobile, the annual Milan design fair that people love to call over-hyped and performative, but is in fact a BIG DEAL. Perhaps I am naive, but to me, it seems awesome, and I experience great FOMO about it every spring, because I tend to feel like I don’t fully understand the ideas and trends presented there. (Anyhow, read
’s coverage; because in the words of Carly Simon, nobody does it better.)Here at Schmatta, we don’t throw around the term “trend” lightly because:
A) Most so-called trends aren’t actually being adopted at any kind of national or global scale.
B) Most of them are...boring. Dispiriting, even.
So here are my highly subjective, questionably rigorous qualifications for what I consider a real design trend:
It must make me go, “Ooh! Huh!”
It must spark the tiniest dopamine blip — just a whisper of serotonin, a secret little smile.
I must be able to envision a realistic application in my life.
And if it costs more than $1,000, it better make me feel like a genius for spending the money.
Here are the things I’m seeing/liking at the moment that have nothing to do with the trade and edgy Italians: