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Keeping an eye on the future while firmly anchored to the expanding horizons of the zeitgeist, the Tortona Rocks district, of which STIR is a media partner, kept its promise of enthralling the design discerning eye with its choicest offerings at the Milan Design Week 2025. As the district turned 10 this year, the presentations, pegged on this edition's theme, Unframed Design, put a spotlight on the subliminal innocuousness and authenticity that underpin a design concept, seeking to unpack the latent potential of narratives shaping our collective tomorrow. The 2025 edition saw the coalescing of the physical and the digital, domesticity and workspace, fashion and furniture design and interior design and material exploration. The presentation ranges from the reissue of four rare furniture pieces by an unsung design icon of the 20th century to a series of outspoken outdoor furniture collections, an immersive exploration of vertical mobility and a multi-faceted exhibition celebrating democratic design. From international creatives and Italian multidisciplinary studios to fashion brands, homeware giants and design centres, this edition had something in store for everyone.
Amidst a variety of spatial projects and installations— some of which STIR recently highlighted in a curated selection—the following five compelling product design offerings from Tortona Rocks stood out for us.
Life Shapes Space by MIDJ
The collaboration between the furniture company MIDJ and several leading Italian designers culminated in a presentation that is made to be lived."Like nature. Like life". Life Shapes Space, by the 1987-born family-run company from Cordovado, Italy, showcased new pieces and additions to its former furnishing collections befitting the residential and corporate domains. The offerings include the Yak modular sofa by Milanese craft-led designer Nicola Bonriposi, new coffee tables and the former Plisse table line by design luminary Paola Navone and the Leo table by MIDJ founder Paolo Vernier.
Saint Laurent - Charlotte Perriand
A rare set of furniture pieces, whose design credit belongs to pioneering 20th-century Parisian-born industrial designer Charlotte Perriand, took up space at Tortona’s Visconti Pavilion. The project, presented by Saint Laurent, under the creative direction of the French luxury fashion house’s creative director, Anthony Vaccarello, Saint Laurent – Charlotte Perriand , unveiled four objects that "existed only as prototypes or sketches until now". The collection on display constitutes the bookcase Bibliothèque Rio de Janeiro (1962) that Perriand crafted for her second husband, Jacques Martin, to accommodate both books and artworks, and the Fauteuil Visiteur Indochine (1943) armchair that reminisces her time in Vietnam, where she served as the director of Crafts and Applied Arts of Indochina. The third piece, a five-seat sofa titled Canapé de la Résidence de l'Ambassadeur du Japon (1967), was originally designed for the home of Japan’s ambassador in Paris. The final piece, named after the French pastry of ‘a thousand layers’, was known only through a small maquette found on Perriand’s desk. Titled Table Mille-Feuilles (1963), the piece, which originally didn’t come to fruition, perhaps due to its sheer complexity and limited technical know-how at the time it was conceived, has, for the first time, been designed on a full scale.
The exhibition inspires with its free-spirited dialogue between a design icon who never received due recognition in her heyday and a brand that continually exerts effort to bring important artefacts of design culture—previously hidden in inaccessible conditions—to the wider audience.
Stockholm 2025 collection by IKEA
Over 96 pieces, constituting furnishing and homeware accessories by IKEA, were platformed at Tenoha, Via Vigevano 18, to celebrate the tenets of democratic design—a distinguished value revered by the Swedish brand. Solid wood, textured textiles, linen, leather and rattan weave a rich tapestry of pieces that reflect the urban and natural landscape of Stockholm. The collection includes sofas, handwoven woollen rugs, mouth-blown glass vases and ceramic tableware. The presentation also encompassed a gift shop where some of the pieces were available for purchase.
Tartan by Paola Navone OTTO Studio for Braid
Reflective of Milanese designer Paola Navone’s unquenchable curiosity for new forms, materials and stories is her new outdoor collection, Tartan, for the Italian furniture brand Braid. Chairs, armchairs, sofas and loungers find an ‘explosive mix of classic and contemporary’ in the collection, whereas the furnishing’s aesthetic—characterised by intertwining lines and colour—draws from the look and feel of houndstooth, tartan. The forms, true to the unexpected nature of Navone’s works, are shaped in finishes that appear drippy, much like an exercise in intentional irregularity.
Caleo Collection by SNOC
A series of modular furniture pieces—ideated for both indoor and outdoor spaces—was presented by the Turkish company SNOC. The showcase, titled Design Meets the Raw Beauty of Nature, sports sleek bespoke pieces in refined ash and natural teak wood frames designed by international multidisciplinary studios, such as Studio Rotolo, Anthony Spon-Smith, Junpei & Iori Tmaki, Patryk Koca and Lualdi Meraldi Studio. The modular lounge series, as per the brand, prioritises comfort and adaptability, ‘allowing each piece to seamlessly adapt to different environments’.
Keep up with STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2025, where we spotlight the most compelling exhibitions, presentations and installations from top studios, designers and brands. Dive into the highlights of Euroluce 2025 and explore all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5Vie, Brera, Isola, Durini and beyond—alongside the faceted programme of Salone del Mobile.Milano this year.
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