MILAN — The “Salone Effect” continues to generate revenue for the city, in addition to bringing innovative design ideas from all over the globe.
The second Milan Design (Eco) System report by design trade show organizers Salone del Mobile.Milano and the Department of Design of Milan’s Politecnico University said Milan Design Week in 2025 generated revenue inflows into the city of 278 million euros, up from 275 million euros in 2024 and up 15 percent compared to 2023. The report was presented Friday morning at the Piccolo Teatro Melato in Milan.
“The figures for 2025 confirm Salone as a major international attraction for a growing ecosystem that is more international, more complex and increasingly interdependent with the territory, its resources and its services. For Salone, this commitment has one objective: to provide the city with a tool for awareness and joint work on the future,” said Salone del Mobile.Milano president Maria Porro in a statement.
Salone del Mobile.Milano is the anchor event of Milan Design Week and next year will run April 21 to 26 at the Fiera Milano Rho trade grounds.
The Salone del Mobile.Milano Annual Report provides an in-depth view, with facts and figures, of how Milan is evolving as the design sector is ever more imbued into its economic, urban and cultural infrastructure.
Milan’s Duomo Cathedral.
Getty Images
Overall, the report showed that Salone del Mobile.Milano registered a decline in visitors to 302,000 in 2025 from 370,824 visitors at the 2024 edition. Organizers said foreign representation, however, rose to 68 percent from 54 percent from last year.
The number of exhibitors at the fair rose to 2,103, up from 1,950 in 2024, and hailed from a total of 37 countries. During Milan Design Week in April 2025, a record level of 1,188,570 passengers were handled at all Milan airports including Malpensa, Linate and Milan Bergamo. This total was up 5.3 percent compared to 2024. Digital spending around the city was up 18 percent.
Overnight stays were up 11.4 percent, totaling 412,500 in the city, with the average stay in Milan increasing from 2.81 to 3.03 nights.
A Matter of Salone is the campaign theme for Salone del Mobile.Milano.
Courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano
Salone del Mobile’s 64th edition will unfold under the theme of “A Matter of Salone,” a campaign that asks the question: what meaning can design take on today?
“A Matter of Salone” will come to life as a collective project involving six contemporary creative figures: photographers Charles Negre, Eduard Sánchez Ribot and Alecio Ferrari, and the set designers Studio Végété, Laura Doardo and Stilema Studio.
“This campaign is an invitation to see design not just as a result, but as a collective process, which takes shape in the dialogue between hands, knowledge and visions. This is how the Salone continues to narrate its own time: starting from what really matters,” Porro said.
During the creative process, Negre said the aim was to evoke emotion with the latest campaign.
“Every material has its own energy, and all we need to do is to know how to channel this energy, through images, in order to get through to the public. We should never lose sight of emotion, otherwise it all becomes pointless,” Negre said.
Among the main attractions to the upcoming fair will be the debut of the Salone Raritas exhibition, organizers’ response to the growing appetite for collectible design around the globe.
The space will be designed by Milan- and Rotterdam-based design studio Formafantasma and will include limited editions of design antiques and fine craftsmanship. Salone del Mobile.Milano explained that Salone Raritas will highlight icons, unique objects and “outsider pieces.”
A render of Salone Raritas, an exhibition designed by Formafantasma.
Courtesy of Formafantasma
