Made in Milan | Part II – The Art of Experience

At Salone Milano 2025, luxury brands demonstrated how design is increasingly extending beyond products to create immersive lifestyle experiences. Through storytelling, craftsmanship and sensory environments, brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermès and Loro Piana showcased a new approach to connecting with audiences through emotion, identity and atmosphere. We spoke with Emma about the key shifts emerging from this year’s event.

What was one of the most interesting trends you observed among luxury brands during Salone Milano?

Emma: One of the most interesting things we observed during Salone Milano was how luxury brands are evolving far beyond their traditional categories. Luxury brands are no longer simply presenting products; they’re creating complete lifestyle worlds built around emotion, storytelling and immersive experience

How did brands bring those experiences to life?

Emma: What stood out across brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermès and Loro Piana was the way each translated its identity into a physical environment.

Gucci transformed its installation into a dreamlike garden experience layered with archival references and craftsmanship. Louis Vuitton approached the space almost architecturally, reinterpreting heritage pieces through contemporary design and immersive presentation.

Christian Dior explored sculpture, light and woven textures inspired by Christian Dior’s fascination with gardens, while Loro Piana created an incredibly tactile and sensory environment centred around fabric, texture and comfort.

Even brands like Hermès and Aesop focused less on product itself and more on materiality and emotional feeling, creating spaces that felt instantly recognisable to the brand.

Why do you think this approach is resonating so strongly with audiences today?

Emma: What became clear is that people connect with brands through feeling and experience just as much as through the physical product itself. Consumers today are looking for more than something to purchase. They’re looking for a lifestyle, a sense of identity and an emotional connection to the brands they engage with.

What broader lesson does Salone Milano offer for brands looking to build stronger connections with their audiences?

Emma: What experiences like Milan reinforce is that the strongest brands are evolving beyond what they sell to create entire worlds around how people want to live. It’s about creating environments and experiences that feel considered, aspirational and memorable shaping not only how people interact with a brand, but how they remember it long after the experience itself.