

Weirdcore living trend: The weirdest furniture at Milan Design Week
Just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder, new lamps, home accessories and furniture I saw at Milan Design Week convinced me otherwise.
The most memorable of all debuts at the last Milan Design Week combined unusual shapes, whimsical jewellery elements and explosions of colour. This could be a quiet protest against minimalism or simply a plea for more diversity. But it certainly shows that designers seem to see the core of cosiness in weird home accessories and furniture. So the platform Pinterest was right when it announced Weirdcore as the megatrend of 2023 at the beginning of the year. Because the pieces on display were edgier than ever. See for yourself:
1. Chained
Normally, chains come around the neck. Lindsey Adelman makes them the decorative connecting piece of her mobiles. The New Yorker recently founded a new platform called "LaLAB", which is primarily dedicated to fantasy and presented the first work called "Fantastical Illuminated Works" in Milan. It consists of three new lamp series - Cages, Mobiles and Rock Lights - which, like a mobile, are made up of different components. Among other things, they consist of crystals, ceramic balls and hand-knitted chains. And that's not all: the lamps hang from the ceiling and dangle down almost to the floor. At most, a futon can lie underneath.
2. Let's get physical
The artist Stef Fusani has shown two objects in Alcova that are composed of anthropomorphic forms. The standing legs, for example, are reminiscent of feet. Another part, from which water flows, resembles a hand. Yes, you read correctly. Not only body parts flow together in the objects, but also water. It gently ripples from one basin to the next.
3. Neither fish nor bird
Elisa Uberti wanted to get away from the fashion industry and standardised shapes. That's why today she creates sculptures and lamps that are at the intersection of art and design. She has just presented some objects in Milan. Her formal language is inspired by nature, nomadism, architecture and the poetry of space, as Uberti says. The many mentions explain why the objects seem so extraterrestrial and cannot really be assigned to any motif.
4. Fun
The design studio Indefinito believes in change through experimentation and wants to create innovative products that will please for a long time. It showed a first example of this at the Salone Satellite event: the modular sofa "Millebolle". Like LEGO, it is meant to invite you to assemble and stay, adapting to its users and the environment. Its spherical modules are connected to each other by simple laces. Will it hold? Yes, at least during the trade fair ;).
Foto: Pia Seidel
5. Please fasten your seatbelts
Tavinho Camerino is a trained architect and since 2017 also a designer. He also staged his experimental lamp "Rebenque Light" at the Salone Satellite event. It is partly composed of traditional leather whips that can usually be found at street markets in the hinterland of Alagoas, a small state in northeastern Brazil. For the Brazilian, this lamp is an example of the human ability to transform seemingly simple materials into something extraordinary. Indeed: with its appearance, the design caught my eye right away.
Foto: Pia Seidel
6th Big Brother
The new chair from the "T4" collection by furniture brand Uma Objects is reminiscent of the 90s - but in a good way. It was designed by design consultancy Holloway Li. With its cute marshmallow shape, the lush, modular seating furniture made of lacquered fibreglass and linen fabric exudes a lot of optimism. The inspiration for it comes from the automotive industry - and reality TV. In fact, according to Uma Objects, the design is based on the aesthetics of the "Big Brother" houses.
7. A memorial
Milan Pekař takes everyday objects or architectural elements and replicates them with ceramics. In doing so, he often ignores their primary function. This time he presented his columns called "The End of Civilisation" at the Triennale. They are inspired by ruins from antiquity. However, the ceramist has given them a coat of paint. Instead of white or beige, they are pastel. In addition, they literally look a bit slanted and resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
How to pull off a memorable interior trend
You want to bring the trend home? Then get yourself some design pieces that are a bit ironic, reminiscent of body parts or comic characters. The main thing is that they at least make you frown at first glance.
Titelfoto: Pia Seidel«There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. I believe in the latter.»
– Albert Einstein