It was very busy in Milan. Whereas a lot of fairs saw their visitor numbers drop in recent years, the Salone del Mobile broke its record with 361,417 visitors. The city was also immensely crowded. FuoriSalone had 1,125 events listed. And it was not always the best design presentations where long lines were queuing, but well-known names such as IKEA, Porsche or Google, with Milanese curiosity seekers and less design professionals. Alcova headed 25 kilometers outside the city. Everyone was curious. Those who wanted to visit the two villas had to queue up to five hours at the busiest times.

At Baranzate Ateliers, fortunately, there was no need to queue, although the professional audience was there. Baranzate Ateliers and Belgium is Design were in a lot of lists among the must-sees of Design Week, with especially a lot of collectible design. Between the objects, dancers improvised. And of course, we had the best party.

1. Bent Fierens is a young product designer. He thrives on solving worldly or personal issues, offering tangible solutions that meander between practicality and artistic expression, reflecting his internal dialogues. Loops represents a liberating journey, an escape from self-imposed limitations and the discovery of new, creative dimensions.

2. Nortstudio, founded in Antwerp in 2016 by Jef De Brabander and Kathleen Opdenacker, creates and manufactures furniture and accessories with colorful, graphic volumes, blurring the line between dimensions. Their project Fold introduces lamps made of cut and folded steel, with each lamp reflecting different colored light based on its placement. In the process, a two-dimensional graphic composition is translated into a three-dimensional object.

3. Chateau Resort is a brand specializing in custom, visually impactful elements such as landscape curtains, textiles and scenography, manufactured in collaboration, for both professionals and individuals. Sea, swallow me is a custom designed, colored curtain with a wide spectrum of colors dyed into the fabric, crafted with a bourdon stitching technique.

4. Studio Minimètre is a Brussels-based 3D printing studio specializing in bio-sourced materials and waste recycling. The studio redesigns its machines for eco-friendly 3D printing, as illustrated by projects such as Foti, a zero-waste lamp, and Trapezi, a collection that combines tradition and innovation in 3D-printed ceramics.

5. KRJST uses colors to express what words cannot describe: they paint with weaves imaginary landscapes of a poetic, calm and yet tormented realm, the chaos where emotions are born. Their work is a reconciliation of traditional, ritualistic and experimental modern techniques.

6. Middernacht & Alexander is a Dutch-Belgian design duo. They often look for materials that have volatile properties, that oxidize or decay if left untreated, and try to hold them back. This creates tensions that connect back to what they experience as human beings.

7. Designer of the Year Julien Renault was invited by Keiji Takeuchi to Walking Sticks & Canes at the Triennale di Milano. The aim of the expo was to raise general awareness of this essential tool. Julien named his design Cadorna, after the subway and train station located near the Triennale.

8. Spanish fashion and accessories label Loewe has been organizing the Loewe Crafts Prize for years. It invited a number of artisan designers to create a lighting design at Palazzo Citterio in Brera, including Ann Van Hoey. She transformed her well-known ceramic pleated forms into a leather chandelier. Only one example of all the lamps was produced.

9. Muller Van Severen developed for Barcelona Design a new version of the Pillow Sofa, originally designed for Kassl Editions. The Bridges cabinets for the same brand are colorful, versatile, functional but also sculptural and even architectural objects. By using different bases with varying heights and unique cutouts, you get different silhouettes, supported by legs that playfully dance with space and light. On display at the Spazio Maiocchi.

10. Maniera was a somewhat hidden in the garden of the Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. Too bad for those who didn't discover this, because it was definitely one of the highlights. They presented Junya Ishigami there. His designs are elegant, delicate, understated and seemingly simple. But the apparent simplicity and austerity of Ishigami's designs is deceptive and hides the structural complexity and efforts of the design team. The collection includes dining chairs and rocking chairs, a low Zaisu-chair, a studio table, a dining table, a glass table, two partitions and seven lamps.

11. Behind DWA Design Studio are Milanese Belgians Frederik De Wachter and Alberto Artesani, scenographers of the Wallpaper exhibition Class of '24, who designed the booths at the CC Tapis and Pedrali fair, for which they also created the Twiny. Fenix invited them, among other design duos, for Design Duo Double Feature. Theia is both lamp and shelf, inspired by Greek mythology.

12. Designs by Xavier Lust and Maarten De Ceulaer were featured at Nilufar. Maarten's new Superquadric collection are functional cabinets based on rhythm, repetition and balance. Also, several new pieces in the Stained Glass series, colorful lighting made of mouth-blown glass.

13. Andrei Clontea is a self-taught artist who has moved seamlessly from the world of architecture to the realm of ceramics. He divides his time between Luxembourg and Brussels. His work manifests as sculptural forms that draw inspiration from the elegance of nature, such as his work Athari. The story of this lamp unfolds as a story of a wounded heart, seamlessly inspired by the mysteries of nature. On display at Isola's Design Gallery.

14. Montjoie Institute consists of an international group that met at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. After school, they moved together to Brussels, in a house on Montjoie Avenue. They adapt it to their purposes as they search and work, balancing between burn-out and bore-out. They figure out what to do in a world of infinite urgencies where individual happiness always seems to lean on the exhaustion of countless others. They take fragments of stories of friendship, dinners, bricolage, 400 coups through the Brenner Pass; from Eindhoven to Brussels and from Brussels to Milan, in the via Tortona. Temporary solutions that have become permanent and specific findings that may be useful elsewhere.

15. An outsider at Belgian Furniture was undoubtedly AP Collection. Their story begins with two visionary souls, (A)lexis and (P)auline, whose deep connection transcended geographical boundaries. In their quest to bridge the physical gap, they exchanged endearing stuffed animals — a touching symbol of affection that transcended the limitations of space and time. After reuniting, the two embraced their shared drive for originality. The hallmark lies in the uniqueness of each creation. The delightful poses and expressive facial expressions of their chairs charmed and delighted, evoking a tapestry of emotions from tenderness to amusement and even poetry.

16. Alain Gilles' Edge collection for Milla & Milly is based on a dialogue between opposites. On the one hand, the humanity and softness of the curved lines of the tablets, on the other, the rigidity, minimalism and architectural feel of the legs. This juxtaposition creates a visual tension within the pieces that makes them very recognizable and iconic. We had already seen this at Maison&Objet, but bring it again here because we have never seen a Belgian designer so big on a poster in the Rho metro!

17. The Daydreamer relax, which Jori launched in 2019 in collaboration with German designer Joachim Nees, has become a great success, according to the design brand. In Milan, it is the figurehead of Jori's ecological footstep in the form of a limited edition collection: five colorful and durable versions thanks to the combination of the recycled, soft and wash-friendly fabric 'Mumble' and the supple, grained nubuck leather of the backrest.

18. Flemish Umbrosa and Karim Rashid redefined the concept of shade. Shade is an umbrella that not only provides protection from the sun, but also gives outdoor spaces a pink flair. They believe that outdoor spaces can be both sophisticated and contemporary, and the Karim Rashid parasol perfectly embodies this philosophy.

19. Bulo presented a lot of novelties. Their sister company Bosq recently launched 'WoodSaver', an innovative technology to join veneer wood pieces that were previously considered waste. In the new version of the H2O, the table top clearly shows the details of the finger jointing technique applied to the veneer.

20. Jeffrey Huyghe has been designing for Modular for a long time, as well as for numerous other companies. For Joli, he worked on a completely new Arcs table. The curved structure of this table reflects old architectural styles and is the source of its name. The graceful curves of the aluminum legs harmonize perfectly with the ceramic table top and provide essential stability.