Salone del Mobile.Milano has unveiled A Matter of Salone, the official communication campaign for its 2026 edition, which will take place from 21 to 26 April 2026 at Fiera Milano, Rho. The new campaign continues the fair's ongoing reflection on the meaning of design, shifting the focus from the human-centred approach of 2025 to a deeper exploration of matter as both physical substance and symbolic origin.
© Salone del Mobile.Milano
Following Thought for Humans, devised by American photographer Bill Durgin, the 2026 campaign proposes a more elemental starting point. Matter is presented as something that can be touched, interpreted and transformed, carrying memory while concealing future potential. The campaign asks a central question: what meaning can design take on today? Its answer lies in matter understood not only as material, but as origin, memory and latent possibility.
The concept plays on the dual meaning of the word "matter", referring both to physical substance and to what truly matters. Design is framed not simply as form or function, but as a process in which the tangible is transformed into value. Matter becomes "what generates meaning".
A Matter of Salone is a collective, multidisciplinary project conceived by Motel409, involving six contemporary creative figures: photographers Charles Negre, Eduard Sánchez Ribot and Alecio Ferrari, alongside set designers Studio Végété, Laura Doardo and Stilema Studio. The result is a layered visual system shaped by multiple perspectives, where each contribution amplifies a shared vision. The imagery balances concreteness and abstraction, using matter, light, gesture and transformation to express the complexity of the concept.
The campaign centres on four material objects, each representing a fundamental design principle. Stone symbolises origin and simplicity, reinterpreted through excavation and deconstruction. The petal expresses sensuality and innovation, enhanced by techniques such as laser cutting and ink dye. Wood, described as a living material, conveys function and continuity between humanity, nature and construction. Sponge, with its mutable volume, represents reinvention, capable of being folded, compressed and reshaped into a visual icon.
As Federico Grassi, Creative Director of Motel409, explains: "We asked ourselves what happens to matter when seen through the lens of design. This question informs A Matter of Salone: a work by several different hands, in which the energy of the materials blends with the vision, the gesture, the image. We didn't want to illustrate design, but to evoke it. To experience it visually and sensorially, letting the material itself tell the story – and the Salone was, as always, the space in which this transformation could take place."
The narrative unfolds in three acts: an initial close-up of material textures, followed by archetypal forms, and finally the intervention of human gesture through hands and tools. The campaign positions design as an embodied thought, restoring depth to the act of designing and inviting audiences to see matter not as a surface, but as a voice and a shared horizon for the future of design.
More information:
Salone del Mobile.Milano
www.salonemilano.it
