Salone del Mobile Postponed Until September

The news, announced on the Salone del Mobile website, is the latest postponement of the event that draws interior designers, furniture makers, and the design press from all over the world. At the end of February this year, Salone del Mobile.Milano was moved from April until June. But just one month later, on March 27, it was announced the 2020 fair would be cancelled, resuming its typical schedule in April 2021.

Italy has been the European country hardest hit by COVID-19, first in the spring, when daily deaths were well over 500, and now in the fall, as cases have skyrocketed and deaths have reached the same spring numbers. Given the second wave hitting the country, as well as the virus raging across Europe and other parts of the world and the likeliness of widespread vaccination by April uncertain, it's definitely prudent to delay the fair until next fall. 

But is it a sign of things to come for the Venice Architecture Biennale, which is scheduled to open on May 22, 2021? As of right now, the Biennale is moving forward as planned, releasing "sneak peeks" of the exhibition in the months leading up to it.

"Being able to hold the Salone next year is an absolute priority for all those of us whose lives revolve around design. We believe that moving the fair to September will leave enough time for the ongoing acute phase of the pandemic to subside and that this will provide a real chance to kickstart design at global level. We all need the Salone in Milan. Over the last few months, clients and designers from all over the world, and the press that follows us at international level, have been asking us constantly to confirm the dates for this edition. We'll be there, and we'll be even more attractive and more motivated, just as motivated as the companies working to design and manufacture the best possible products. After such a lengthy period of physical and social distancing in every sphere, we would like to be able to see the Salone as an opportunity for actual meeting and discussion, and a chance for us all to share our excitement with a city buzzing with new ideas."