Julie Malamute, Associate Director
This week I was very fortunate to attend Salone del Mobile.Milano and bring along two UK journalists on behalf of our client Gaggenau. Last year over 300,000 people attended from around the globe and this year expectations were high with a sold-out show. The show is buzzy and busy, the stands are beautifully designed, so much so that you stop in your tracks to admire the creativity and passion that went into building them, and that’s before you even get to the product the brand is showing.
For Gaggenau, the company is celebrating its 333rd anniversary this year and visitors to the stand were transported in time to the brand’s beginnings in 1683 where a blacksmith forged nail after nail. And the guests continued their travel through time, viewing close up the key moments in Gaggenau’s history – such as when the blue enamel entered the picture, now an iconic feature of the brand. Their journey ended in the future at the very centre of the booth – a white, misty room where you couldn’t tell where the walls stopped and the ceiling began. There Gaggenau’s future icon, the EB 333, the 90cm wide oven, was unveiled alongside all other products which visitors could open doors and push buttons. The journey was an amazing immersion into the Gaggenau difference!
Also exhibiting within the BSH portfolio was Bosch with live cooking demonstrations, with chefs preparing mouth-watering dishes amongst the array of Bosch product. Over at NEFF, visitors were treated to a very impressive Stomp-like performance at the dining table with people playing the table settings like musical instruments. A view of the future was what Siemens had in-store for visitors with Oculus Rifts allowing them to step into the Siemens home of tomorrow.
My home was Hall 9 for EuroCucina over the couple days, so I wasn’t able to go exploring – next show I’ll leave more time to venture into the other halls. I did get to explore the city a bit and highly recommend Ristorante Daniel (http://www.ristorantedanielmilano.com), it has exceptional food, and is the perfect place to unwind after a busy day at the fair. Plus the choir nearby who were singing Tu Vuo’ Fa L’Americano with the window open was bellissimo!
