On the occasion of the Fuorisalone, the most important district for promoting design on an international scale reaches its 16th edition, offering a rich calendar of events.
During Milan Design Week, scheduled from April 7 to 13, Brera Design District reaches its 16th edition, embracing the theme “Connected Worlds” proposed this year by Fuorisalone.
Brera Design District 2025: The Multifaceted Soul of a District that Became a Brand
The theme reflects the multifaceted soul of a district in the city that has become a unique brand in its own right, as well as an international reference point due to its commercial offering and identity. This identity is a blend of craftsmanship, art, culture, lifestyle, food and wine, and hospitality. The same intertwining of interpretations and perspectives, as well as colors, shades, materials, and graphic signs, can also be found in the project “Orizzonti”: the new exhibition at the Brera Design Apartment (via Palermo 1), curated by the Zanellato/Bortotto studio.
Brera Design District Returns with Professionals and Brands Already Present in the Area
A design manifesto that reflects the soul of the Brera district, developed through chromatic and material experiments applied to products and surfaces crafted by true artisan masters. Brera Design Week returns with the professionals and brands already present in the area: 204 permanent showrooms, including 10 new openings. In addition, as every year, investors, sponsors, and temporary exhibitors—over 170 confirmed to date—will enrich the event schedule, confirming the Brera District as the place to be for Fuorisalone, with a total of more than 300 initiatives expected.
The Platform for Communicating the District
Brera Design District, a registered trademark of Studiolabo, offers a platform of services and tools designed to communicate the district and all its protagonists. In addition to the Brera Experience newsletter—sent biweekly and organized into sections (news, curiosities, calendar, discovery)—and the Instagram profile—which currently boasts 120k followers, thanks to an editorial plan aimed at promoting weekly guides, thematic paths, new openings, and cultural events—it also includes a website. The website features a news section and a daily-updated calendar with unmissable events and appointments in Brera, selected for its community.
“Thanks to its ability to blend tradition and innovation, Brera Design District enriches the Milan Design Week program. During the week, the district comes alive with artistic installations, interactive exhibitions, and engaging events, creating a vibrant and stimulating atmosphere. Professionals, artists, and enthusiasts gather to explore sustainable solutions and creative approaches, while the historic streets of Brera transform into an inspiring stage. This synergy between past and future makes Brera Design District a symbol of the continuous evolution of design, further strengthening Milan’s reputation as the global capital of the sector,” says Alessia Cappello, Councillor for Labor and Economic Development with responsibilities for Fashion and Design in the City of Milan.
“Connected Worlds” — The Style of Zanellato/Bortotto Studio
Designed as a meeting place for companies and professionals, Brera Design Apartment offers an informal, typically Milanese environment, meticulously curated in every detail, to discuss topics related to design, communication, and the culture of the project. Located at Via Palermo 1, the apartment spans 100 square meters and provides a unique atmosphere in an intimate and private space, nestled in one of the most iconic courtyards of the Brera Design District. From the collaboration with Daniele Bortotto and Giorgia Zanellato, the idea was born to create a new exhibition for the Brera Design Apartment, which had long carried the signatures of various designers over the years. The challenge was to develop a project that could represent the theme “Connected Worlds,” thus speaking of contamination, visions, and connections, in line with the stylistic approach of the Zanellato/Bortotto studio.
“When you invited us to rethink the interiors of the Brera Design Apartment, we asked ourselves how to tell something about us on the walls of this house. We did so by retracing a journey made up of several stages, stories of places both near and far, each different from the other. Connected worlds, therefore, through our experience, where the horizon becomes, time and again, a portal between an Italian rural landscape and an African desert. Where, through creativity and imagination, there is no real distance between horizons faded by the Venetian ‘caigo’ or by the steam from the ashes of Mount Etna,” explain Daniele Bortotto and Giorgia Zanellato, who have been working together for 12 years on design projects, surfaces, and interiors.
Each of the five rooms in the Apartment, all custom-designed and inspired by a chosen vision or suggestion, becomes part of a journey that spans places and experiences both distant in space and time. The result is a well-balanced narrative that unfolds in a blend of shades, surfaces, and graphic signs combined with the goal of staying true to a story and a connection with the worlds that inspired the narrative of the new Brera Design Apartment, room by room. All of this is directed by an excellent conductor, Artecasa, a Milanese general contractor who, as the main partner, made the project possible by coordinating its realization and curating every detail. As main partners, we also mention Botteganove and Bolzan, both prominent with their products and applications present in all the rooms of the apartment.
As partners, we find Agape, Davide Groppi, Del Savio 1910, Ethimo, FenixNtm®, Fischbacher 1819, Lunardelli Venezia, Moroso, Rezina, Saba, Sikkens, Wall&Decò, who contributed to Orizzonti by working hand-in-hand with the Zanellato Bortotto studio to identify innovative solutions and collaborate on the development of site-specific products and applications. Participating as technical partners and supporters are Alpes, Cc-Tapis, Galleria Delle Piane, Lanerossi, Radici Carpet, and Samsung The Zanellato/Bortotto studio also asked Galleria Luisa delle Piane to select pieces from its collection to create further narratives and explore new horizons within the apartment. Orizzonti is a project that not only anticipates the Milan Design Week but will continue afterward, animated by talks, dinners, and meetings—all strictly by appointment”.
The Images by Marta Signori
The images for Brera Design Week 2025 come to life thanks to the work of Marta Signori, who interprets the district through animated illustrations in collaboration with motion designer Valerio Di Mario. The illustration is born from a highly contrasting palette, featuring brick red and shades of green, transitioning to cornflower blue and lilac. This results in sharp, essential forms in intense pastel colors that stand out against a light background, creating a visually striking, dynamic, and contemporary image. “I wanted captivating colors that would allow me to create compositions of shapes, with figures that could convey elegance and modernity, using only a few carefully calibrated details,” says Marta Signori.
Marta Signori, originally from Bassano del Grappa and a Milanese by adoption, is an illustrator born in 1990. After training in the editorial team of IL from Il Sole 24 Ore, she collaborates regularly with Italian and international journals and publishing houses.
