In 2020, the nasty corona virus made affairs go out of whack. Lots of industries in many countries faced severe problems, and the production of Italian luxury furniture was no exception. In spring 2020 Bellavista Collection brand had to cease production due to the quarantine, so lots of customers had to wait for months until the items they wanted to purchase became available. But that wasn’t the only challenge.
Ever since 2010, when the brand came into existence, Bellavista Collection first demonstrated its newly designed pieces at Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, and only after the event new collections appeared on the company’s website. In other words, real pieces were presented to the public before their images replenished the brand’s online product catalog. It was so for a decade – until the winter of 2020.
The pandemic turned lots of things upside down. Most of large-scale trade events were cancelled all over the globe. So was the 59th edition of Salone del Mobile – for the first time ever since 1961.
That’s why in 2020 Bellavista’s anniversary collection first was shown online, on its website and corporate accounts in social networks and online communities (Bellavista Collection has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Houzz), not to mention the catalog, published in 2020. Customers got the opportunity to see newly created pieces live only in autumn, when the brand’s showroom was re-opened and restocked.
Luckily, there is a chance that 2021 will turn the world right-side up. The next edition of Salone del Mobile, which will mark the sixtieth birthday of this trade event (it’s been held annually since 1961) is scheduled to take place from September 5 to 10, 2021.
Actually, first it was announced that the exhibition would be held between April 13 and 18, 2021, but the dates were changed a bit later. The reason was pretty clear. Alas, there is little chance that the pandemic is completely over by April, so hosting the biggest trade fair in the industry (together with a bunch of collateral events) becomes too risky. That’s why thousands of future participants and hundreds of thousands of attendees will have to wait till September.
However, the exhibition by all means will worth the long wait. The 60th, anniversary, edition of the Salone is going to be extraordinary indeed. For the first time ever, it will host all the annual and biennial collateral exhibitions at the same time!
Along with the main event, on the same grounds there will also be such fairs as Workplace3.0, International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, S.Project and the SaloneSatellite. In addition, the exhibitions which usually take place in odd years, like International Lighting Exhibition (Euroluce), devoted to the lighting systems, will be held near to the ones scheduled for even years, like EuroCucina/ FTK (Technology For the Kitchen) and the International Bathroom Exhibition (Salone Internazionale Del Bagno).
But that’s not all.
A Digital Rehearsal: The Upcoming Project from Salone del Mobile
Well, quarantines and lockdowns of 2020 taught us a lesson. People from all walks of life got used to doing lots of things remotely – working, studying, communicating. Design professionals also had to adapt to the changed circumstances, and Salone del Mobile is going to extend a helping hand to them pretty soon.
In April 2021, the Salone will launch a new digital platform, aimed at future participants of September’s trade event. The companies who are planning to present their exhibitor booths at the 60th edition of Salone in September, will benefit a lot from this platform, and so will the global design community.
The upcoming project will become an interactive online space where exhibitors can present their products, learn news, and share ideas and insights with reputable trade professionals. The platform users will be able to get acquainted and communicate with one another before the event, where they will be able to meet one another in person.
Users who register for the Salone del Mobile, will be granted free access to a variety of extremely handy services, which will help them make appointments, plan their week at the future Fair, etc.
The special tools from this platform will facilitate communication among the users, which in its turn will provide business opportunities to enterprises all over the world.
Webinars, virtual eventing, and video services will enable companies not only to present themselves and showcase their new products online, but also to get valuable feedback from other platform users. So, the profile at the platform will serve as a kind of an online rehearsal of the September trade exhibition itself. Getting in touch with other participants of the fair beforehand will help the future exhibitors make the most of their participation in the live event.
What is more, the platform won’t be just a temporary web resource. Nothing of the kind: it is intended to work all year round, serving as an online meeting place for numerous design professionals and businesspeople to mutual satisfaction and benefit.
Needless to say, the brands are already looking forward both to the launch of the platform and, of course, to the live event. Bellavista Collection also anticipates the opportunity to present its 2020-2021 collection to the public and get in touch with prospective business partners, talented designers, and interesting people from all over the globe.
Such meetings, be it online or in person, always bring new ideas and insights; that’s why the project from Salone Internazionale del Mobile is going to stimulate the development of a bunch of industries, helps thousands of professionals find one another, arrange meetings, exchange thoughts, and conclude agreements.
So, there is no doubt that in a few months, hundreds of businesspeople will write to one another something like “See you from 5 to 10 September 2021 at the 60th anniversary of the Salone del Mobile!”
