Start with the right question
Every year, around September, brands and designers start looking for a space at Milan Design Week. It’s one of the biggest opportunities in the design calendar – and one of the easiest to get wrong.
The question I’m asked most often is “how do I find a space?”. But that’s rarely the real question. Exhibiting well at Milan Design Week isn’t about renting square metres: it’s about knowing what you want that space to do for you, and making a series of decisions – the audience, the area, the budget, the timing — long before the week itself.
Over more than thirty years following the Fuorisalone, I’ve seen what separates a presence that pays off from one that fades the moment the doors close. Here’s the map.
What to think through before you exhibit
1. Set your goals before you start your research
Finding a space is the second question. The first is what you need it to achieve.
2. Who do you want to reach
Press, buyers, architects, general public — they don’t come on the same days, or to the same places.
3. The character of an area
Every district has an identity, and it shifts over time. Choosing by yesterday’s reputation is the most common mistake.
4. Choosing the space itself
Visibility, venue appeal, context and the practical constraints that surface too late.
5. A plan for the contacts
Getting people in is half the job. Not wasting the ones who come is the other half.
6. The real budget
Rent is only 30–40% of it. The rest is what gets underestimated.
7. Timing and logistics
The invisible deadlines, from the printed guides to customs clearance.
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Working on a project?
These notes help you ask the right questions. For a project to build – at Milan Design Week, at another design week, or at any design event – I work with fairs, institutions, brands and designers to plan and shape their presence, on my own or with a team of collaborators when needed.
Learn more about the advisory services →
Roberta Mutti
Architect, design journalist and advisor
Write to roberta@designweekguide.com
