(Eco)Design: the “Milanese” figures of the system

The clock is ticking and the Salone del Mobile is fast approaching. From April 21 to 26, the pavilions of Rho Fiera Milano will once again host one of the leading events for the world of furniture and design. But in 2026, in a city already under global spotlight due to the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the theme shaping the trajectory of the Salone is not only its economic dimension or its power of attraction. It is ecodesign. No longer an ancillary keyword, but a strategic axis. No longer a promise, but a measurable benchmark. This is the picture that emerges from the second edition of the Annual Report (Eco) Design System Milano, the research project promoted by Salone del Mobile.Milano together with the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano, which measures the industrial, cultural and urban impact of the event through data.

SUPPLY CHAIN FIGURES
After two years of normalization and a complex 2024, the wood-furniture sector closed 2025 with a signal that, although cautious, is unmistakable: growth. According to preliminary estimates by the research center of FederlegnoArredo, production turnover reached €52.2 billion, up 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is not a structural recovery, but it reflects solid resilience in a still uncertain macroeconomic context.
The result is mainly supported by the domestic market, which grew by 1.8% to €32.9 billion. Exports, which remain a strategic component, stayed stable at €19.3 billion, with a slight increase of 0.4%. The picture is that of a supply chain that does not accelerate, but holds steady, adapting to a context marked by geopolitical volatility, trade tensions and new competitive pressures.
The furniture macrosystem, the core identity of “made in Italy,” closed at €27.7 billion, essentially stable. Domestic sales grew by 2.1%, offsetting a slight decline in exports, which nevertheless remained above €14 billion and accounted for over half of the sector’s total value. The wood macrosystem, including trade, recorded a more marked increase, reaching €24.5 billion, with exports recovering (+3.8%) and the domestic market growing by 1.5%.
The wood-furniture supply chain – which in 2024 included 64,144 companies and nearly 297,000 employees – is going through a phase of normalization following the post-pandemic peak. In this context, sustainability is becoming a competitive lever. Exports account for 38% of total turnover in the supply chain and exceed 52% in the furniture macrosystem alone. In an international market shaped by geopolitical tensions and new tariffs, the ability to integrate circular economy, traceability and environmental impact reduction is increasingly crucial to maintaining presence in mature markets such as France, the United States and Germany, and capturing new dynamic areas such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Ecodesign, therefore, is not aesthetics. It is an industrial strategy.

(ECO)DESIGN
In 2025, sustainability was not a narrative framework but an operational infrastructure. The Salone confirmed ISO 20121 certification for sustainable event management, adheres to the United Nations “Global Compact,” and strengthened its green guidelines for the design and construction of sustainable exhibition setups. These are not just recommendations: the management system covers design, construction and dismantling of exhibition spaces.
The numbers show a concrete acceleration. In 2025, total electricity consumption dropped to 1,959,588 kWh, with the share of renewable energy rising to 67%, a significant increase compared to previous years. 80% of the directly controllable “minimum environmental criteria” were met, while the share of criteria influenced by the Salone along the supply chain is growing. No injuries were recorded and zero “near misses” in exhibition setups: safety also becomes part of the ESG dimension.
Perhaps the most significant shift, however, is systemic. During the 2025 edition, an agreement was signed between the Ministry for the Environment and FederlegnoArredo, initiating the path toward a future extended producer responsibility regime. This means shifting the focus from production alone to the management of the entire product life cycle, including end-of-life, recovery and material circularity.

DESIGN AND CULTURE: MDW
Alongside the production dimension, the Annual Report introduces in 2025 an unprecedented focus on cultural production in design. For the first time, the cultural infrastructure supporting the Milan system is mapped: 533 active entities and venues involved in design culture, of which 295 are classified as primary producers and 238 as secondary.
The network includes 210 archives (199 belonging to designers and 11 to companies), 56 museums, 60 publishers and magazines, 88 foundations and cultural associations, 37 schools and universities, and 31 galleries and exhibition spaces. A system that preserves memory, produces research, disseminates knowledge and builds identity.
This is not marginal. In 2024, culture in Milan generated a turnover of €542 million. Cultural production in design contributes directly and indirectly to this economy, intertwining manufacturing, creativity and cultural activism. Exhibitions, installations, talks, digital archives, house museums and festivals are not side events, but structural components of an ecosystem that makes Milan globally recognizable as the Capital of design.
In this context, trade fairs act as catalysts. During Salone 2025, 302,786 attendees from 160 countries were recorded, with 68% international operators. The event is not only a commercial platform but also a cultural device. The cultural program – from large-scale installations to international forums – strengthens the dialogue between industry and research, between design and critical thinking. Design becomes a collective language, not just a product.

DESIGN AND TERRITORY
But what is the impact of the Salone on Milan and Lombardy? In 2025, the economic spillover generated by the event and Design Week was estimated at €278 million, up from 2024. During design week, 412,500 overnight stays were recorded in the city of Milan and 543,565 in the metropolitan area, marking increases of 19% and 23% respectively compared to the same week of the previous year.
Metro usage reached the highest levels of the year, with a 39.6% increase over average levels. Digital spending hit an annual record (+18%), while the city’s program included 1,667 events, up 25.7% compared to 2024.
For one week, Milan changes scale. Flows redistribute, neighborhoods transform, and the transport network is pushed to its limits. The 2025 report also introduces mobile network data analysis, thanks to collaboration with Fastweb and Vodafone, offering new insights into urban behavior, co-visits between districts and flow density.
For the 2025 edition of the report, field observation – conducted by the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano – involved 100 students in a participatory ethnographic study, integrating desk mapping and on-site data collection. A total of 1,093 initiatives were identified; 861 were observed, representing 51.6% of the total events in the Milano Design Week 2025 program recorded by the Municipality of Milan.
At an urban level, the research portrays a city that behaves during Design Week as a widespread exhibition stage, characterized by strong concentrations and new spatial hierarchies. Duomo and Brera emerge as dominant hubs, accounting for 53% of observed events: 323 initiatives in the former and 257 in the latter, with densities reaching 138 and 157 events per square kilometer respectively, compared to a city average of six events per square kilometer. An increasingly polarized geography, capable of attracting audiences, brands and investment, but also exposing certain areas to growing pressure in terms of saturation and intensity of use.
The distribution of locations confirms the hybrid nature of Milano Design Week, suspended between cultural production and commercial offering. 47% of 2025 events took place in showrooms and commercial spaces, while 37% were hosted in museums, foundations, galleries, historic buildings, universities and former industrial areas. Alongside key institutions – such as Triennale Milano and ADI Design Museum – redeveloped spaces active year-round are playing an increasingly central role, confirming an ecosystem where urban regeneration and cultural design are closely intertwined.
Another distinctive element is the extraordinary opening of normally inaccessible places. In 2025, 257 events – 33% of the total observed – were held in professional studios, historic buildings and former industrial spaces opened exceptionally to the public. An urban mechanism that, year after year, reveals otherwise hidden parts of the city and reinforces the experiential and ritual character of Design Week.

COMPANIES AND “MILANESE” FIGURES
According to analyses by the Symbola Foundation and the Tagliacarne Institute based on Istat–Asia data, 7,360 active entities operate in design activities in Milan and its province, including companies, sole proprietorships, freelancers and specialized self-employed professionals. This figure is up 8.4% compared to the previous survey, confirming the vitality of the sector.
Specialized design companies – meaning corporations and sole proprietorships – number 2,333, the highest value ever recorded. Long-term growth is significant: since 2009, the number of companies has increased by 70.5%, indicating a progressive strengthening of the entrepreneurial fabric linked to design.
The new Ateco 2025 classification allows for a more precise observation of the sector’s territorial distribution. Of 2,556 geolocated companies, about 74% are based in the Municipality of Milan, while the remaining 26% are spread across the metropolitan area. The concentration is particularly high in the historic center and the intermediate urban ring, confirming Milan as the main hub of Italian design: one out of every two Lombard design companies and one out of seven nationwide operates here.
Alongside established companies, the more innovative component is also growing. Milan hosts 34 design startups and innovative SMEs, accounting for over 70% of the Lombardy total and about a quarter of those in Italy, although they still represent only 1% of the startups active in the city. Supporting this ecosystem is also a training supply chain composed of 42 institutions – including universities, design schools and Afam institutes – attended by over 17,000 students, feeding the sector’s talent pool each year.

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