GUCCI

Just as eclectic and extravagant as its fashion counterpart, Gucci Décor’s updated catalogue was brimming with over-the-top offerings. Unveiled at a temporary duplex store at 19 Via Santo Spirito, the collection bedecked the space with the grand ambience of an abode. The decorated, panelled doors; the coffered ceiling over the first floor; and the marble fireplace were brought to life with Gucci-patterned wallpapers; hanging blankets and more. The latest rendering saw Gucci’s familiar motifs repurposed into a number of furniture pieces and decorative items. Its iconic floral embroidery was reworked onto shell-shaped armchairs inspired by ’50s Hollywood; its wildlife elements injected into the vinyl, paper or silk wallpapers; and the star patterns revisited in the porcelain mugs, tea cups and candle holders. New designs in line with creative director Alessandro Michele’s aesthetic for the house were also introduced — in the forms of a teddy bear cross-stitch motif on velvet cushions and the “Hypnotism” imagery on metal folding tables, among others.

MIU MIU

Not everyone is that privileged to be sitting on the front row at the Miu Miu shows. That is why the M/Matching Colorstool was one of the hottest commodities at the recent Fuorisalone. Referencing the décor at its Autumn/Winter 2018 fashion show — comprising largely of painted stools lining the space — Miu Miu teamed up with M/M (Paris) to piece together the transformable seat. Fashioned from linden wood, the M/Matching Colorstool boasted a perforated surface waiting to be custom-decorated with 300 oversized matchsticks in 12 different colours — kind of like Shape Sorter for adults. The three-legged stool introduced at Milanese cultural landmark Teatro Gerolamo or better known as Piccola Scala was dressed in patchwork banners bearing cubist hieroglyphs. It will be sold exclusively at the Miu Miu flagship on via Sant’Andrea in bespoke packaging and as there are only 300 of these, get your skates on or risk sitting this one out.

VERSACE

While Milan Design Week was definitely not under-endowed with throwback collectables with designers picking up elements that alluded to brand legacies, no one was quite as focused as Versace. Even with diverse collections in its register, the brand managed to ground its roster — with Medusa. Traces of the ancient Greek mythological figure could be found (almost) everywhere. There were the gold-toned Medusa-shaped legs on the Technicolor Baroque sofa (Rhapsody line); metal Medusa embellishments on the leather armchairs (Logomania range); three-dimensional Medusa motif on the laminated glass cube (Pop Medusa collection) and many more. All these novelties were propped against fancy, candy-coloured sets by American interior designer Sasha Bikoff — one of the collaborators handpicked by Versace for this edition. Canadian artist Andy Dixon, conversely, flew out his Look at This Stuff Isn’t It Neat exhibition from New York and tweaked his installation of a hand-painted, 9×7 feet Versace shirt with two new prints.