MILAN -- In the run-up to its 64th edition (April, 21-26, 2026 Rho Fiera Milano), the Salone del Mobile.Milano, a global benchmark for design and furniture, is returning to India to renew synergies and strengthen ties with a growing market of great interest to Italian companies. India's presence at the event continues to grow, reaching tenth place among the 160 countries of origin of visitors, with over 4,490 professionals attending.
Italy is the second largest EU country in terms of furniture exports to India and one of the few to have a trade surplus — between January and October 2025, Italian exports far exceeded imports from India — demonstrating the competitiveness of our companies.
Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano, had this to say: “India's true potential lies not only in the figures we see today, but in the trajectory it is charting. It is a young, rapidly changing country, with stakeholders who display a marked feeling for design, quality, tailor-made solutions and services with a high cultural content. Here, design is not simply perceived as a product, but as a tool for identity, vision and value. As the Salone del Mobile.Milano, we are in India to build long-term relationships, share perspectives and accompany Italian companies on a journey that looks to the future. Being here today means investing in a common future, based on mutual respect, creativity and the ability to interpret change. During the India Art Fair in New Delhi, we are presenting Salone Raritas, a project devoted to collectible design, which naturally dialogues with a society attentive to the symbolic, material and artistic value of objects. In Mumbai, we delved into the heart of major projects to showcase Salone Contract, an experience designed to offer concrete answers to a rapidly expanding sector that requires systemic vision, integrated skills and the ability to operate on a global scale. This is a long-term project, its masterplan entrusted to Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA, which interprets Contract not as the sum of individual products, but as a complex ecosystem in which design, industry and services must interact in a structured way. With Salone Contract, we are aiming to accompany companies through a profound transformation of the market, offering tools for interpretation, relationship building and international positioning in an increasingly integrated and competitive scenario.”
H.E. Antonio Bartoli, Italian Ambassador to India and Nepal, said: “I am delighted to welcome the Salone del Mobile to India, to Delhi and Mumbai, for the second year running. India is already the fourth largest importer of furniture globally. It is also a regular presence, in terms of visitors and exhibitors, at the Salone in Milan. But we can and must do more in a sector that will exceed €50 billion in India by 2029. Furniture and design are the image of our know-how and a lifestyle admired around the world."
New Delhi. Salone Raritas blends cultures and identities through art, design and materials
Within the context of India Art Fair, one of the leading platforms for contemporary art and creativity in India, the Salone del Mobile.Milano has chosen to present Salone Raritas. Curated icons, unique objects and outsider pieces, a new curatorial platform dedicated to unique pieces, limited editions, high craftsmanship and sought-after design, which will debut at the 64th edition of the trade fair with the aim of connecting the world of collecting with the professional design system, from architects to interior designers, from developers to hospitality and contract professionals.
Annalisa Rosso, Editorial Director and Cultural Events advisor for the Salone del Mobile, explained how Salone Raritas was conceived as a meeting place for design, manufacturing excellence and cultural narration. This dialogue resonates powerfully with the Indian public, which has always had a keen eye for materials, craftsmanship and the meaning of objects: “Collectible design represents a new area of dialogue between Italy and India. Salone Raritas was created to give voice to a production that combines identity, research, cultural value and new business prospects, bringing unique pieces, limited editions, high craftsmanship and antiques to the Salone del Mobile for the first time. The Indian market, where manufacturing expertise, collecting and a new generation of interlocutors are redefining the value of design, has a natural affinity with this new venture.”
During the talk Next Design Perspectives between Milan and New Delhi, Andrea Anastasio, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in New Delhi, Greg Foster, Artistic Director of Jaipur Rugs and the Aspura gallery, and Gunjan Gupta, designer and cultural author and one of the most influential figures in contemporary Indian design — moderated by Annalisa Rosso, Editorial Director and Cultural Events Advisor of the Salone del Mobile.Milano — shared their thoughts on the cultural and symbolic value of design, comparing approaches, sensibilities and practices that originate in different countries and contexts but are now increasingly in dialogue with each other. The discussion highlighted how collectible design, at the heart of the Salone Raritas project, can be a tool for storytelling, identity and relationships, capable of connecting different creative worlds through craftsmanship, materials and shared visions. It was an opportunity to explore the affinities between design practices
which, despite starting from distant perspectives, find common ground in research and meaning.
Mumbai. Salone Contract as a meeting ground between Italy and India for major projects
From Delhi to Mumbai, a city that symbolizes India's economic dynamism, the Salone del Mobile.Milano turned the spotlight on the contract sector, an area in which Italy and India increasingly find common ground in terms of quality, architectural vision and attention to detail. The aim was to bring together the expertise of the Salone exhibitors with the needs of a rapidly expanding market, opening up new prospects for collaboration at a time when Contract is playing an increasingly strategic role in real estate and hospitality development processes. Within this context, there was a presentation of the design and market platform Salone Contract, due to make its debut in April at the trade fair. It is designed to interpret the complexity of contemporary Contract and offer companies tools for guidance, networking and international positioning. 2026 will represent a key phase of construction, with opportunities and pathways of in-depth analysis, thematic forums and a structured program of incoming international professionals, intended to facilitate the coming together of qualified demand and the Italian production system. A structured, long-term initiative, the masterplan for which has been entrusted to Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten (OMA), which approaches Contract not as a sum of products, but as an integrated ecosystem in which design, industry, services and operating models converge.
The first full edition of Salone Contract in 2027 will take the form of a dedicated event: an evolution that will strengthen the role of the Salone del Mobile.Milano as a cultural and operational infrastructure, capable of reading the transformations of global markets and translating them into concrete opportunities for manufacturing and the design system as a whole.
“India is undergoing a phase of strong development in real estate and hospitality,” Andrea Vaiani, Director of Events at the Salone del Mobile.Milano, emphasized. “It is a context in which increasing attention is being paid to design quality and the ability to integrate different skills, visions and cultures. In this scenario, the Salone del Mobile.Milano is a platform for meeting and collaboration, devised to encourage dialogue between Italian companies, designers and local professionals, and to build lasting relationships in a dynamic and constantly evolving market."
The Mumbai event, entitled Shaping Luxury Spaces: Italian Design for India’s Real Estate & Hospitality Market, opened with institutional greetings from the Consul General of Italy, Walter Ferrara and the Director of the ITA – Italian Trade Agency Office in New Delhi, Antonietta Baccanari, and continued with a preview of the 64th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano and Salone Contract and with the presentation of the report From Heritage to High-End: Made in Italy Furniture for India's Luxury Projects, curated by ITA Agency and entrusted to Ashutosh Pandey, Research Head at Chromatus. The report provides an up-to-date snapshot of opportunities for Made in Italy in India’s contract segment: a rapidly growing market, driven by the development of high-end hospitality, luxury residential projects and growing demand for tailor-made solutions.
Antonietta Baccanari, Director of the Trade Promotion Office at the Italian Embassy in New Delhi, commented: “Italy and India share a solid and constantly evolving relationship in the furniture and design sector. The most recent data show a period of adjustment in trade, confirming the importance of increasingly targeted and structured joint work. To this end, ITA Agency is strengthening its commitment to promoting dialogue between the two production ecosystems, encouraging collaboration initiatives, discussion on sector definitions and shared projects. We aim to support new growth opportunities in the medium to long term through platforms such as the Salone del Mobile.Milano and dedicated programs, promoting the excellence of Italian-made products and building lasting partnerships based on quality, innovation and mutual trust.”
There was then a panel discussion involving Anca Florescu Abraham, interior and landscape designer, Co-Principal of Abraham John Architects; Federico Fraternale, designer and co-founder of Tarocollective, a studio operating in Italy and India; Ekta Parekh, architect and Founding Partner of reD Architects – Research and Enquiry into Design, a multidisciplinary studio in Mumbai and Sanjay Puri, Principal Architect at Sanjay Puri Architects, one of the most award-winning studios in India and internationally. Moderated by Alessandro Giuliani, Managing Director of Bocconi Asia and President of the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it kicked off a collective reflection on the role of design as a meeting point between creativity, technical expertise and sustainability, in line with the vision of Salone Contract as a platform dedicated to large-scale projects and complex contemporary living systems. The discussion highlighted the pivotal role of architects and interior designers in shaping new standards for living and hospitality spaces in India. Topics included the growing focus on sustainability, the centrality of customisation and the value of 'know-how' as a common language between Italy and India. In this sense, the Salone del Mobile.Milano — and Salone Contract in particular — is not only a commercial and service platform, but a genuine cultural infrastructure capable of connecting industry and market.
A bridge between cultures, a long-term vision
The trip to India was testament to the Salone del Mobile.Milano’s approach, which is not to export a model, but to build relationships. India is not just a market, but a strategic partner with which a vision of the future based on beauty, innovation and culture can be shared. A dialogue that is strengthened through initiatives such as Salone Raritas and Salone Contract, designed to intercept profound transformations and accompany Italian companies in increasingly complex and interconnected international scenarios. As Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, remarked: "Being in India means strengthening a shared vision, making the Salone del Mobile.Milano’s role as a benchmark platform between the Made in Italy system and a rapidly evolving market increasingly concrete. We are here to initiate qualified dialogues, read the changes taking place and build structured relationships over time. We engage with interlocutors who are looking for design, expertise and vision: elements that the Salone and Italian companies powerfully express. The goal is to create contexts for encounter and development capable of generating real value for the supply chain as a whole."