DUBAI: Moroccan-Italian model Malika El-Maslouhi spent the weekend exploring Milan’s Salone del Mobile, the largest furniture and interior design trade fair in the world, where Lebanese designer Elie Saab decided to showcase his homeware line this year.
The model treated her 48,000 Instagram followers to a tour of the boundary-pushing design fair by way of a carousel of photos. El-Maslouhi highlighted a couple of futuristic armchairs and other high end, quirky furniture pieces she found at the fair.
“Here some of my favorites from salone,” she captioned the post about the event, which wraps up on June 12.
The Salone del Mobile furniture fair this year featured 2,100 exhibitors spread across 20 halls in the Rho Fiera, as well as a string of installations and debuts across the city in what Architectural Digest called “unquestionably the industry’s biggest event of the year.”
For its part, Elie Saab Maison showed off an array of modern design pieces, with geometric glass chandeliers and ultra-luxurious padded beds wowing industry insiders at three separate locations in Milan.
The world-famous Beirut-born designer added furniture, lighting, rugs and home accessories to his portfolio in 2020.
“We’ve been working on expanding our business into luxury living for home and hospitality projects,” shared Elie Saab Jr., the designer’s son who became brand director in 2013, previously told Arab News.
In line with the brand’s evolution into a full-fledged lifestyle label, Elie Saab also partnered with Dubai real estate giant Emaar Properties to design one-to-four-bedroom luxury apartments long the city’s beachfront.
The designer’s range of furniture and home accessories are manufactured in Italy.
Although El-Maslouhi did not stop by Saab’s showcase, the 23-year-old model made sure to take in the latest in furniture and interiors trends at the 60th edition of the fair.
The catwalk star, who was born in Milan to an Italian mother and a Moroccan father, stopped by Prada Frames — a symposium organized by the luxury fashion label to explore the complex relationship between the natural environment and design.
Prada described the symposium as having a “scientific, educational and didactic approach.” The panels were hosted by leaders in the fields of design, science, architecture and activism, including Indian author Amitav Ghosh, British Israeli architect Eyal Weizman, British design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn and Brazilian architect Paulo Tavares.