Salone Raritas – Photography is by Saverio Lombardi Vallauri, courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano.
Design. Curated by Annalisa Rosso and given visual form by Formafantasma‘s exhibition design, Salone Raritas arrives at just the right moment — one in which a growing global appetite for unique, considered pieces is reshaping the market for discerning collectors.
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about Milan Design Week 2026 on Archipanic.
Draga & Aurel x Salviati.
Milan’s design ecosystem — home to a thriving constellation of galleries and platforms, including Rossana Orlandi, Nilufar, Alcova, and 5Vie — now finds itself in conversation with a global circuit that is quietly redefining its destinations. Miami, Paris, Dubai, and Mexico City are all part of this evolving map, and Raritas aims to position Milan firmly at its centre.
Zaha Hadid Architects x Neutra.
As Annalisa Rosso put it: “we wanted to create a direct bridge between the offer of rare furnishings and objects and the business-to-business segment, responding to the ever-growing demand from visitors to the fair for special pieces, capable of bringing not just economic value but also containing cultural and identitarian values.”
Nilufar.
Archipanic’s Editor in Chief Enrico Zilli selected twelve showcases from the Raritas floor. Nilufar Gallery, already present across Milan with its city-centre exhibition and depot space, brought a carefully edited showcase featuring a chandelier by Maximilian Marchesani, a table by Andrea Mancuso, and more.
Gallerie Mitterand.
From Paris, Galerie Mitterrand presented works by Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne. Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis presented her pale-pink Plume — crafted from polymer resin and silicone oil — a quietly mesmerising piece that captures how air moves through liquid to produce endlessly shifting, soothing forms.
Studio Sabine Marcelis.
Several exhibitors shared with Archipanic that the British craft scene is under real pressure — rising costs and a difficult economic climate taking their toll. After London’s Collect fair, Max Radford Gallery joined Raritas with a solo collection by designer Lewis Kemmenoe, whose patchwork chairs — assembled from multiple European timbers — carry an almost camouflage-like quality that is quietly arresting.
Max Radford Gallery.
Materiality ran as a thread throughout. Galerie Philia, a familiar presence across Milan during the design week, presented a showcase built around aluminium, stainless steel, and silver tones. Matter appeared “both dense and elusive. The choice of a single chromatic register is not aesthetic reduction, but rather an attempt to intensify perception: to allow form, light and surface to become the primary vectors of experience.”
Gallerie Philia.
Matera, a design project by Manuela Rotta and Stefan Scholten, debuts its first collection of collectible objects made from responsibly sourced marble and other natural stones. The pieces were created in collaboration with internationally acclaimed designers and artists such as Ronan Bouroullec, Joep van Lieshout, Stefan Scholten, Job Smeets, and more.
Matera.
Parasite 2.0 explored the dialogue between materials and technologies with Bianco67. Their Secunda Natura showcase focuses on sustainability by transforming industrial production waste into structural and narrative design elements. Light itself became a medium in the hands of Draga & Aurel, whose Affinity in Light — developed in collaboration with the historic Murano furnace Salviati — extended their ongoing research into transparency, tracing the quiet dialogue between glass and illumination.
PARASITE 2.0 X Bianco67.
Elsewhere, the boundaries between architecture and design continued to blur. “I grew up in a world where architects designed everything from towers to door handles,” reflected Marta Sala, who presented furniture by Herzog & de Meuron. Design brand Neutra, meanwhile, demonstrated its mastery of stone with the Erosion collection by Zaha Hadid Architects — a showcase where material knowledge and architectural vision are, quite literally, carved into one another.
Marta Sala Editions.
Raritas also casts its gaze well beyond Europe. Dubai-based Mouromtsev Design Edition brought a table drawn from the visual language of American candy dispensers, alongside the Gentle Panther — a furry, synthetic black carpet — and a seat developed in collaboration with Gufram, whilst Mercado Moderno offered a focused lens on Brazilian Modernism.
Mouromtsev Design Edition.
All photos are by Saverio Lombardi Vallauri, courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano.
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about collectible design on Archipanic.
Mercado Moderno.
