Over 2,000 exhibitors from 37 countries. The 2025 edition of the Salone, at Fiera Milano, Rho from 8th to 13th April, is reinforcing its role as a strategic accelerator of sectoral excellence driving change. Inspired by the visionary approach of Pierre-Yves Rochon, Paolo Sorrentino and Robert Wilson. The first International Forum on Light. Five days of Talks and Round Tables.
The countdown to the 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano (8th-13th April, Fiera Milano, Rho) has begun. Once again it promises to be the industry’s leading international event with more than 2,000 exhibitors (38% from abroad), 148 brands including first timers and returnees, ranged over 169,000 square metres of totally sold-out net exhibition space, including over 32,000 square metres given over to the eagerly awaited return – following the success of the 2023 edition The City of Lights – of the Euroluce Biennial (more than 300 brands, from 25 countries). Not to mention SaloneSatellite, with 700 designers under 35 and 20 international schools and universities.
These figures summarise the result of intense scouting and promotional activity for an event that, every year, gains the trust of a national and international supply chain that recognises the role of the Salone as a strategic platform for business, sustainable innovation and internationalisation, thanks to its ongoing commitment to intercepting an increasingly broad and profiled audience of professionals from all over the world (more than 370,000 from 146 countries in 2024).
A snapshot of the size of the exhibition is provided by one figure: 9,238,429,199 euros. This is the total turnover of the Italian brands exhibiting in April, equal to 34% of the turnover of the entire national Furnishing Macro System (over 21,000 companies). To which 6,989,984,073 euros of foreign brand total turnover should be added, confirming the upward trajectory of the evolutionary path of the Salone model, an ecosystem that supports growth, promoting an innovative, sustainable, future-oriented business model.
Once again, new visions will fuel a Cultural Programme of the highest level with 3 site-specific installations, at the Salone and in the city: Pierre-Yves Rochon. Villa Héritage (Pavs. 13-15), Paolo Sorrentino. La dolce attesa (Pavs. 22-24), Robert Wilson. Mother (Museo Pietà Rondanini – Castello Sforzesco). A multidisciplinary focus on lighting design, the absolute protagonist of the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum (10th -11th April, The Forest of Space Arena by Sou Fujimoto, Pav. 2); the Drafting Futures Talks and Round Tables that will bring together some of the brightest minds on the contemporary scene; and lastly a communication campaign – Thought for Humans. – reminding us how every project must respond, in the name of emotional intelligence, to the needs of human beings.
Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say: “We closed the 2024 edition with record numbers: over 370,000 professionals from 146 countries. This year the Salone will yet again open in April with totally sold-out exhibition area, despite the uncertainties of the global scenarios. A result that illustrates our constant commitment to improving the visitor experience, services to the public and exhibitors, promotional activities abroad, and the creation of new formats that have enabled us to forge new strategic alliances over the past year in the United States, China, and – not least – to sign a Memorandum this January with Saudi Arabia, which will open up new opportunities for Made in Italy in a market in which sectoral exports are up 22.8%. Our mission has always been to turn the international spotlight on the sector’s excellence. In Milan, and throughout the world.
The percentage of Italian and foreign exhibitors attending the last 10 editions of the annual exhibitions is 59.4%. A figure that, in the overall context of international exhibitions, is testament to the success of the Salone in its dual role as business accelerator and content producer. As always, every year the Salone reinvests heavily not only in the trade fair, but also in a leading Cultural Programme. In an ever-changing world, we are all called upon to become part of a broader vision that enables us to interpret the environmental, cultural, social, and technological transformations. For the Salone, investing in culture means investing in the future of companies, strengthening their competitiveness in the long term. Taking part in the Salone means exhibiting, connecting and producing value, as well as actively contributing to the evolution of the sector, as part of a platform that fuels debate on scenarios and visions for the future.”
Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo, said: “It is the highest expression of our industrial manufacturing and an indispensable asset for companies in search of new markets and new audiences; it is the international showcase at which a year’s work on research and innovation allows brands to ‘explode’ in all their magnitude. And it is thanks to the strength of exhibitors and products that the Salone del Mobile.Milano continues to set trends and lead markets across the world, like the Oscars for film production. Over the years, the event has evolved, renewed itself, but it has never lost its natural centre of gravity as the most attractive and important business fair for the design industry. There is no more powerful tool than the Salone del Mobile.Milano for tackling the industrial challenges facing the sector, and indeed it becomes even more so in tough economic times such as the present, in which the Salone becomes an instrument of industrial policy.”
After the 2023 success of The City of Light, expectation is running high for the return of Euroluce with over 300 exhibitors, 46.5% of whom will be from abroad. Once again, the Biennial promises to be the international platform of reference for lighting design, thanks to its high-quality exhibition content, its ability to provide a clear picture of the sector’s progress, driven by technology, sustainability and innovation, intelligent systems, AI integration, biophilic design and greater control by users, enabling them to create atmospheres and tailor-made environments.
New for 2025 is the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum (10th-11th April, Pavilion 2) with two days of masterclasses, round tables and workshops. Under the heading Light for Life.Light for Spaces, it will feature more than 20 international speakers including lighting designers, architects, artists, set designers, scientists, biologists, anthropologists, astronomers and psychologists, invited to share visions, insights, research and design practices in a bid to stimulate a deeper understanding of the future of lighting through a multidisciplinary approach. The venue will be the Forest of Space Arena, an exceptional space designed by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, author of the metallic cloud at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion (London, 2013) and of the Arbre Blanc residential tower, a purist masterpiece.
Carlo Urbinati, President of Assoluce, commented: “Following the success of the renewed 2023 format, Euroluce 2025 promises to be an edition of the highest level, seeing a wide uptake from sectoral companies, both large and small, and a significant return of foreign brands, confirming the Salone del Mobile.Milano as a strategic event, especially for a sector such as lighting with export quotas accounting for almost 80% of its production. The Salone and Euroluce thus confirm their global leadership as an unmissable business opportunity, especially at a time like the present, in which some European markets are struggling badly. Attracting qualified visitors allows the Salone to confirm its role as a key platform for strengthening the positioning of companies on the international markets. The Euroluce International Lighting Forum also aims to attract a huge audience of designers, architects and lighting designers, fundamental interlocutors for building the future of the sector by forging direct relationships between exhibiting companies and decision-makers.”
Central to Euroluce 2025 will be two days − Light for Life.Light for Spaces − with twenty international speakers, including Robert Wilson and Kaoru Mende, reflecting on the impact of lighting design. Hosted in the architect Sou Fujimoto’s Arena The Forest of Space.
Light will take on an increasingly central role in the integrated and sustainable design of public and private spaces, putting the quality of life and the future of our planet at the centre. From this standpoint, we set out to imagine the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, a hub of knowledge and innovation for the future of lighting design, conscious that the trade fair must pay attention synergistically to both the commercial offering and to the educational, informative and visionary demands and needs of professionals within the sector. This new international event dedicated to the culture of light will champion a broader reflection on the role of lighting in our daily lives and the spaces we inhabit through a multidisciplinary approach.
Carlo Urbinati, President of Assoluce, had this to say: “The interaction between light, architecture and wellbeing in an integrated and multidisciplinary design perspective, in which the element of light not only makes things appear, but creates atmospheres and depth, becomes an interpreter of spaces and itself becomes a material with enormous potential. It is through conscious design that light creates added value, wellbeing and even safety: not a mere commodity, but a common good that can help create more comfortable, healthier and even safer environments. These are the assumptions that, as Assoluce of FederlegnoArredo, have made us want to organise an international, dedicated forum, The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, during the week of the Salone, geared to strengthening the ties between the sector we represent and those who work and study light from multiple angles. It will enrich all its participants both personally and professionally, knowledge that they will take with them and that will decree the success of the format.”
Thus, the event marking the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum − directed by Annalisa Rosso with the collaboration of APIL – will stimulate the exchange of ideas and promoting innovation in the lighting world. A two-day event (April 10th and 11th) split into 6 masterclasses, 2 round tables and 2 workshops, hosted in The Forest of Space Arena (Pav. 2), designed by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, one of the most on-trend architects of the last decade, creator of the Grand Ring, a wooden structure with a 2km circumference that will surround the national pavilions of the countries attending the Expo 2025 Osaka. In the same way, under the heading Light for Life, Light for Spaces, there will be masterclasses, panel discussions and workshops, led by twenty international speakers including lighting designers, architects, artists, set designers, scientists, biologists, anthropologists, astronomers, and psychologists invited to share visions, insights, and research and design practices geared to stimulating a deeper understanding of the future of lighting.
Light will, thus, be addressed not only in terms of its technological potential, but also through anthropological and philosophical reflection to understand what will guide its design in tomorrow’s inhabited space.
