In the run-up to 2022, here are all the figures for supersalone, which has just drawn to a close

“supersalone”, the special 2021 Salone del Mobile.Milano event, opened with an “unscheduled” speech from the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, and concluded with an extremely positive outcome, thanks to the powers of attraction and great appeal of an original, cross-cutting format which the companies embraced wholeheartedly. It all took place with a guarantee of maximum safety for professionals and visitors alike, thanks to the Green Pass checks and testing hubs at the entrances, allowing them to work at and visit the fair in a risk-free manner.

425 brands showcased their wares, 16% of which from countries other than Italy, with an additional 170 young design students from 22 countries and 39 independent designers. In terms of visitor flows, over 60,000 presences were recorded over six days, 30% of them from 113 countries. Over half were trade operators and buyers (47% from outside of Italy). Almost 1,800 accredited journalists attended from all over the world.

The new Salone del Mobile.Milano digital platform also played a decisive role, amplifying the event during “supersalone” by launching a new approach and seeing unprecedented uptake by visitors both at the fair and remote users. Companies and products told their stories, many of the figures present had a chance to speak, information was exchanged and direct contacts multiplied. The figures up to Thursday, 9th September provide a snapshot of a dynamic and growing community, with 50% Italian and 50% international logins, responding to all the initiatives on offer.  

The QR code was scanned 22,000 times through the new App. 1.5 million web pages were viewed by an average of 90,000 users a day. The new Salone del Mobile.Milano TikTok account, onto which 19 videos were uploaded during the first 5 days of “supersalone,” had more than 630,000 views in total, while the first three episodes of the Super! Podcast were streamed 2,000 times, immediately making their way into the Top 100 Italian Apple Podcasts. The social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter), registered 15 million impressions, 25,000 interactions and 50,000 video viewings.

The figures bolster the desire to harness every possible digital channel to continue to broadcast the live voice of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, 365 days a year.

“We are closing this edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano with great satisfaction and huge emotion. It was important to take that first but decisive step, to make our presence felt and send a signal to the country as a whole. We did it. Thanks to all the hard work everyone put into it: the companies who hedged their bets on it, the curator Stefano Boeri and all the team of co-curators, and the organisers, the riggers, the designers and the cultural and communication professionals who all believed in this event, together. Particular thanks go to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella who assured us of the support of the institutions. Deciding to go ahead with this “supersalone” took a good dose of courage and meant taking on a lot of responsibility – for the system as a whole and for the entire supply chain, which needed a physical and concrete occasion, not just symbolic and digital, to press the accelerator for a restart which – as we saw this week – is already in gear. We also had to guarantee the best possible conditions in terms of safety for our visitors,” said Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano “We invested and planned, with the focus on quality, sustainability and the digital dimension, and the upshot has been that our enthusiasm has been clear for all to see, our ability to create a system and look beyond business yet again in order to provide a global experience, albeit in a different form, at which what really counted was innovation, commitment and cohesion. We lit the fuse and sparked a chain reaction that has involved the entire international design community, the city of Milan and the sector as a whole. We are now looking to the future, with a renewed appreciation of the value and the history of this collective heritage, keen to embrace the new challenges by getting straight to work on the 60th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, which will be held from 5th to 10th April 2022,” she concluded.

The presence of many government and institutional figures was also testament to the importance of the Salone del Mobile.Milano as a financial driver of the country. The concrete support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs through SIMEST and the Italian Trade Agency ICE was confirmation of the international importance of the event, and the support of the Lombardy Region testifies to the central role played by this particular part of the country for our sector. Equally vital is the close collaboration with Fiera Milano, which contributed to the success of the event.

“Less than four months ago, it was confirmed that the 59th edition could go ahead, followed by the appointment of the architect Stefano Boeri, and now the final figures have exceeded all expectations, decreeing the success of “supersalone.” Three steps that summarise the chronological history of an event that has all the flavour of a bet taken and won, thanks to the courage and willingness of our entrepreneurs to have a go, keen to show the world what they’ve produced over the last 18 months, seizing a great opportunity to be involved in a valuable experiment. It’s proved to be a “supersalone” in name and deed, successfully bringing together an innovative format driven by the exceptional times, design, sustainability, quality, research, innovation, culture and food. In other words, the jewels in the crown of the business fabric of our country which, thanks to “supersalone” all ‘played’ in unison, demonstrating the ability of all the public and private actors involved to create a system. Our supply chain has managed to prove its sectoral leadership from the Rho Fairground pavilions, attracting Italian and foreign buyers, professionals and others, and netting major coverage in the national and international press. Most of all, I believe, recognition is due to the wood-furnishing sector entrepreneurs, represented by 425 brands, for having gone above and beyond, taking responsibility for providing a banner, a container, a home, I’d like to say, for the restart of the entire country. Who better than the design community could have conceived it, coming up with a successful format within the space of just a few months. Our companies have never lost the desire to innovate, and having been able to organise such a successful “supersalone” has been a tangible way of telling the world that Italy has really got going again. I would like to thank everyone for believing in us, even working through August and devoting their efforts and time to a higher purpose: I’ve always thought that producing “supersalone” was the right thing to do, and now after six intensive days, to have this confirmed is the best possible satisfaction, repaying all our efforts and propelling us towards the April 2022 edition with energy and enthusiasm,” said Claudio Feltrin, President of FederlegnoArredo.

The Lost Graduation Show was a huge hit with the public and also drawing critical plaudits from the many designers and architects who visited the show, as was the packed public programme featuring 40 illustrious voices (including architects, innovators, visionaries, businesspeople, artists and politicians). Many of the talks were booked out, a sign that the desire to meet again and discuss fundamental design themes and the social and environmental value of design is more alive than ever. Droves of visitors also lined up at the four Identità Golose Food Courts, areas dedicated to gourmet cuisine from leading names in Italian gastronomy.

“Just last June we promised you a “supersalone” – i.e. an unmissable and special event, that would be capable of drawing in the entire design and furnishing world for a week. Today we can say that we did it, thanks to the faith that the Salone del Mobile.Milano put in us, to the availability of the companies and to the extraordinary efforts of a team of curators - Andrea Caputo, Maria Cristina Didero, Giorgio Donà, Anniina Koivu, Studio Folder (Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual) and Lukas Wegwerth – who showed the world where the future of large exhibitions could lie. Open to the public, to digital interaction and to purchasing, with a clear exhibition format capable of valorising the products, with totally recyclable and dismountable display materials, and the blend of courage, passion and clarity in pursuing the objectives is a lever that could change the world,“ affirmed the architect Stefano Boeri, curator of “supersalone.”

Echoes of agreement also come from the city. Over the last few days, there have been 35,000 visitors to Triennale Milano, which is hosting the exhibition il Salone / la Città, an exhibition devised by the Italian Design Museum at Triennale Milano for the Salone del Mobile.Milano. It has been so successful that it has been extended for another week, until 19th September.

See you at the next edition in Milan from 5th to 10th April 2022.