Soft Power: Salone del Mobile 2025 Embraces Emotion, Craft, and Quiet Luxury

Photography: Nicolò Panzeri

At this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, the world of design shifted its focus inward. The 2025 edition of the global fair championed a softer, more emotionally attuned approach to living — where sustainability, tactile pleasure, and quiet luxury set the tone.

Cassina impressed with Treflo, a sculptural new table collection by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, where bold lacquered finishes and architectural lines struck a balance between elegance and confidence. Nearby, Poltrona Frau made its debut in bedroom systems with DressCove, a modular wardrobe clad in supple Pelle Frau® leather — refined, flexible, and unmistakably crafted for living.

Moroso leaned into mood with Normal / Non-Normal, a conceptual showcase that paired Patricia Urquiola’s meditative Sedona bed with the plush, faux-fur Me-Time sofa from Garcia Cumini — a retro wink with thoroughly modern intent.

Kettal blurred the line between indoors and out with Antonio Citterio’s Tilos collection, defined by soft modular forms and a vision of hybrid spaces that invite both calm and connection.

Meanwhile, CC-Tapis continued to push boundaries in textile design. Their poetic WAYS OF SEEING installation reimagined the act of viewing, while HYPERCODE, a collaboration with Roberto Sironi, traced the evolution of graffiti from ancient carvings to street culture.

Across the fair, designers embraced recycled materials, emotional storytelling, and timeless restraint — a quiet revolution in how we shape the spaces that shape us.