Milan Design Week starts next week, and we look forward to these three exhibitions. On our route through the city, we will stop by Issey Miyake’s TYPE-XIII Atelier Oï to see the delicate textile lamps.
Muji’s Manifesto House, a tiny house that shows an essential way of living, is also on our list. We will also stop by the Particulaire wallpaper introduction by Stephen Burks Man Made and Calico Wallpaper. Inspired by his global travels and collaborations with artisans, the wallpaper combines objects, stories, and traditions, presented in the courtyard of the Istituto dei Ciechi.
Chain Reaction
The fashion supply chain, from raw materials to retail, reflects a complex network of production, labour, logistics, and branding decisions that each contribute to the final price tag. With tariffs set to take effect tomorrow on "Liberation Day," brands are bracing for increased costs that will disrupt the pricing chain, leading to a redefinition of what consumers are willing to pay and for what quality.
A complex issue that will lead to new re-routed supply chains and properly less transparency and the question of who pays, will it be passed down or up the supply chain? Read more here
World Happiness
This year’s World Happiness Report focuses on the power of caring and sharing to boost individual and collective wellbeing. The report shows that people are kinder than we think and that our happiness increases when we recognize this.
An increasing number of young adults report having no one to count on, 19% in 2023, a 39% rise since 2006, highlighting the growing impact of loneliness on well-being. Finland maintains its position as the happiest country for the eighth consecutive year, the United States dropped to its lowest rank ever at the 24th place. Read more here
Intelligens, Natural, Artificial, Collective
The 19th International Architecture Biennale, curated by the architect and engineer Carlo Ratti, will be held from May 10 to November 23, 2025. As climate extremes outpace our predictions, it’s time for architecture to do more than mitigate and design for future-ready adaptation.
This means rethinking architecture as a collective, interdisciplinary effort that draws on all forms of intelligence to shape a future world. Venice will not just host the Biennale, the city itself will become a living laboratory too. Read more here
Replacing Roles
H&M’s latest campaign features AI-generated digital twins of real models developed in collaboration with models and their agencies. These virtual replicas will appear in ads and social media, with the original models retaining ownership and receiving compensation for their digital selves.
While this approach introduces new efficiencies and cost savings, it raises questions about automation and replacement. What happens to the stylists, photographers, and set designers whose roles are displaced? Could this principle of being replaced but not erased extend beyond modelling? Should Uber drivers share in the profits of self-driving fleets? Should a “robot tax” support those displaced by the very technologies designed to replace them? Read more here
A Crafted World
The winning projects from Loewe’s annual Craft Prize exhibition, including chairs designed as “sculptural objects” and lamps previously shown at Milan Design Week, will be shown in the A Crafted World exhibition in Tokyo.
Divided into seven different sections, the Crafted World exhibition also lets visitors explore the fashion house’s many collaborations, including its multi-year partnership with Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli. Crafted World Tokyo is on show from the 29th of March to the 11th of May 2025. Read more here
Milan Design Week, happiness and replacing roles
Milan Planning
Milan Design Week starts next week, and we look forward to these three exhibitions. On our route through the city, we will stop by Issey Miyake’s TYPE-XIII Atelier Oï to see the delicate textile lamps.
Muji’s Manifesto House, a tiny house that shows an essential way of living, is also on our list. We will also stop by the Particulaire wallpaper introduction by Stephen Burks Man Made and Calico Wallpaper. Inspired by his global travels and collaborations with artisans, the wallpaper combines objects, stories, and traditions, presented in the courtyard of the Istituto dei Ciechi.
Chain Reaction
The fashion supply chain, from raw materials to retail, reflects a complex network of production, labour, logistics, and branding decisions that each contribute to the final price tag. With tariffs set to take effect tomorrow on "Liberation Day," brands are bracing for increased costs that will disrupt the pricing chain, leading to a redefinition of what consumers are willing to pay and for what quality.
A complex issue that will lead to new re-routed supply chains and properly less transparency and the question of who pays, will it be passed down or up the supply chain? Read more here
World Happiness
This year’s World Happiness Report focuses on the power of caring and sharing to boost individual and collective wellbeing. The report shows that people are kinder than we think and that our happiness increases when we recognize this.
An increasing number of young adults report having no one to count on, 19% in 2023, a 39% rise since 2006, highlighting the growing impact of loneliness on well-being. Finland maintains its position as the happiest country for the eighth consecutive year, the United States dropped to its lowest rank ever at the 24th place. Read more here
Intelligens, Natural, Artificial, Collective
The 19th International Architecture Biennale, curated by the architect and engineer Carlo Ratti, will be held from May 10 to November 23, 2025. As climate extremes outpace our predictions, it’s time for architecture to do more than mitigate and design for future-ready adaptation.
This means rethinking architecture as a collective, interdisciplinary effort that draws on all forms of intelligence to shape a future world. Venice will not just host the Biennale, the city itself will become a living laboratory too. Read more here
Replacing Roles
H&M’s latest campaign features AI-generated digital twins of real models developed in collaboration with models and their agencies. These virtual replicas will appear in ads and social media, with the original models retaining ownership and receiving compensation for their digital selves.
While this approach introduces new efficiencies and cost savings, it raises questions about automation and replacement. What happens to the stylists, photographers, and set designers whose roles are displaced? Could this principle of being replaced but not erased extend beyond modelling? Should Uber drivers share in the profits of self-driving fleets? Should a “robot tax” support those displaced by the very technologies designed to replace them? Read more here
A Crafted World
The winning projects from Loewe’s annual Craft Prize exhibition, including chairs designed as “sculptural objects” and lamps previously shown at Milan Design Week, will be shown in the A Crafted World exhibition in Tokyo.
Divided into seven different sections, the Crafted World exhibition also lets visitors explore the fashion house’s many collaborations, including its multi-year partnership with Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli. Crafted World Tokyo is on show from the 29th of March to the 11th of May 2025. Read more here
OvN book club, adolescence and the future of the Internet