‘Abito’ Exhibit Links Fashion & Design History

MILAN — Fashion lovers might have another reason to visit Salone del Mobile.Milano this year.

To usher in the 64th edition of Salone del Mobile.Milano, running April 21 to 26, organizers tapped design firm Palomba Serafini Associati to curate an exhibit that places objects of design and furniture alongside fashion.

In a nutshell, the exhibit named “Abito,” Italian for “dress,” draws a correlation between the way women have adapted to furniture and inhabited spaces and how this is telling of how their place in society has transformed over time.

“It’s really about women and their place in society and how that evolved over time,” Serafini told WWD on the sidelines of the Salone del Mobile.Milano press conference Wednesday at Milan’s Triennale Museum. Serafini noted that women in Italy only achieved full voting rights in 1945. “That’s when everything changed for women inside and outside of the home.”

A Female Evolution

Palomba Serafini Associati was founded by Serafini and Roberto Palomba. For the greater part of 30 years, the award-winning duo has designed everything from home collections for Versace Home and Fendi Casa to lighting for Foscarini and Artemide, in addition to envisaging hotels, homes and even the interiors of yachts for the future. 

The development of the exhibit, which includes photos shot by Palomba himself, encouraged him to see design through a new lens, he explained.

“The exhibit was a wonderful discovery because those of us who work in design discovered just how much connection there really is between the different periods and changes, the evolutions and how women’s fashion — serving as a mirror of an evolving female society — developed in parallel with furniture and living spaces,” he said, adding that he found that corsets from the 19th century, which shaped women into rigid shapes, positioned them in a secondary role in society.

“These corsets forced women to adopt seating positions that had to be stiff because they couldn’t breathe properly otherwise,” he noted.

In 1919, it was Italian furniture-maker Poltrona Frau that designed the first lounge chair because women were abandoning corsets and waist cinching. “[Poltrona] Frau created this beautiful image — a woman lounging and smoking — a scene that, 20 years earlier, would have been scandalous. It was fascinating to observe how this shift in ergonomics also symbolized the renewal of society,” Palomba added.

To illustrate this phenomenon, Palomba and Serafini selected historic dresses from 1905 and 1922 respectively to dialogue with some of Poltrona Frau’s early furniture creations, like the Chester chair designed by Renzo Frau.

Items on show chronicled more than a century of iconic fashion and design pieces that have had an impact on both industries. Among the pieces on display will be a Gucci look from 1997 by Tom Ford, alongside a sketch of the Ferro table from 1994 by Italian furniture-maker Porro. There will also be a fall look by Giorgio Armani from 1980 alongside the pop-culture Carlton shelf designed by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis in 1981.

Elsewhere, the design duo illustrate the onset of modernity — a great leap forward that spanned the 1960s and 1970s. The cultural shifts of the 1960s are illustrated through Fiorucci’s flower-adorned jeans and a sketch of the Zanotta Sacco chair, both from 1968.

“Consequently, women gained an equal role, making it acceptable for them to lounge on beanbag chairs in more casual ways, changing ergonomics altogether,” Palomba added.

Cross-pollinating Design With Related Industries

Under president Maria Porro, Salone del Mobile.Milano has embraced scenographic installations that blend design with related industries. In 2025, organizers tapped Academy Award-winning director Paolo Sorrentino to design a site-specific installation to greet visitors. Named “La Dolce Attesa [The Sweet Wait],” it was envisaged as a timeless “waiting” area created with set designer Margherita Palli and centered around the idea of “meeting one’s destiny.” In 2024, Salone del Mobile.Milano showcased the work of late film director David Lynch, who debuted “Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room,” which was designed by Lynch and his team and incorporated a narration and reflection on the production of interiors.

Salone del Mobile.Milano is the anchor event of Milan Design Week and attracted more than 300,000 visitors in 2025. More than 1,900 exhibitors are expected to showcase their latest designs at Fiera Milano Rho trade grounds. “Abito” has been promoted and supported by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Following its Salone del Mobile.Milano debut, “Abito,” which was ideated as an itinerant fair, will travel to key cities around the world.