For a week, Milan gazed out at the sea. It didn’t do so merely through the now-familiar lens of spectacular installations or Fuorisalone displays. It did so in a deeper, almost instinctive way. As if a salty breeze had swept through the city’s streets, hidden courtyards, showrooms, and terraces overlooking the rooftops. Milan Design Week has just come to a close, and never before has it left such a distinct marine scent in the air. Thanks to the fine weather, an almost summery light, and the city’s natural disposition to transform itself—for a few days—into a grand theater of design, the sea became a pervasive presence. Sometimes explicit, other times merely hinted at. In some cases evoked by materials, colors, and surfaces; in others transformed into a narrative, a performance, an immersive experience. It was not a decorative theme. Not a simple “postcard blue.” Rather, a way to speak of freedom, lightness, technology, craftsmanship, the future. The sea as a physical and mental space. As a promise of movement. As a new territory of design.
Ferrari
Hypersail, when Maranello designs the wind
Inevitably, Ferrari stole the show. The Prancing Horse chose Design Week to unveil the livery of Hypersail, the Scuderia’s sailing yacht. An almost unexpected presence, and precisely for this reason, a powerful one: Ferrari leaving the asphalt, looking toward the ocean, and bringing its imagery into a new dimension. In designing the livery, the Ferrari Design Studio sought a balance that was anything but simple: holding together the drive toward the future and the brand’s aesthetic heritage. Hypersail was not meant to look like a Ferrari “resting” on the water. Rather, it was meant to be a Ferrari born to fly over the sea. The first clue comes from the color. Fly Yellow is not an incidental choice, but a fragment of history. It is the yellow associated with Fiamma Breschi, widow of driver Luigi Musso, and with the first yellow Ferrari, the 275 GTB. A shade that over the years has become part of the brand’s less obvious but more fascinating identity: not the red of legend, but a luminous, vibrant, almost aerodynamic yellow. In the case of Hypersail, the name itself seems to bring things full circle: “fly” becomes an allusion to flight, to the boat’s ability to rise above the water, to defy gravity. Contrasting this is Hypersail Gray, a new color variant linked to carbon, the project’s central material.
Here, gray is not just a color: it is structure, lightness, performance. The interplay between Fly Yellow and Hypersail Gray creates a clean, functional, and recognizable livery. The yellow runs along the cabin, the foils, and the lines of the hull, evoking the stylistic cues of the Prancing Horse’s cars. The reference to the 512 BB, the first example of an “integrated” livery, adds depth to the narrative. Just as the Ferrari logo on the sail signifies the increasingly prominent visual presence of the “long F” within the brand’s universe. Hypersail, after all, is not just a boat. It is a manifesto. It tells the story of how Ferrari is striving to expand its horizons without losing its identity. And it does so by choosing the sea as its new testing ground. During Design Week, Hypersail wasn’t confined to technical narratives. From April 22 to 26, Ferrari created a true urban journey: on one end, the Ferrari Flagship Store in Milan; on the other, the lighthouse installation on the main terrace of HIGHLINE Milano, overlooking Piazza del Duomo. The idea of the lighthouse is intriguing because it shifts the project from the realm of performance to that of symbolism. The lighthouse guides, beckons, and points the way. And in this case, it seems to suggest that the future of ocean navigation also lies in a new concept of design: no longer simply form applied to function, but a language capable of making technology visible. In a Milan far removed from the sea, Ferrari brought a nautical signal par excellence. And transformed it into an urban icon.
Moncler
Puffy Summer, the marine universe in a pop version
While Ferrari chose the sea as the setting for its technological challenge, Moncler approached it from the opposite angle: that of play. Puffy Summer is one of the lightest and most immediate interpretations of this marine-themed Design Week. Not because it lacks substance, but because it chooses irony as its entry point. The brand starts with its most recognizable signature—puffy padding—and takes it out of its natural habitat. Winter gives way to summer, protection becomes lightness, and layering becomes almost transparent.
The result is a wardrobe designed for warm days, made of soft textures, vibrant colors, and relaxed silhouettes. Bringing this vision to life are the inflatable “sculptures” conceived by set designer Andy Hillman: an octopus, a whale, a lobster, a seahorse, a crab, and even a flamingo. Sunny, slightly surreal creatures that seem to have emerged from a summer seen through a child’s eyes, yet translated into the sophisticated language of fashion. The pop-up at 10 Corso Como transformed this fantasy into a physical presence. A giant octopus, the campaign’s mascot, wrapped its tentacles around the façade and interior. An effective scenographic choice, because Moncler didn’t simply display a collection: it built an environment, a small urban aquarium where summer became soft, colorful, and puffy.
Buccellati
Aquae Mirabiles the submerged silver
With Buccellati, the sea shifts gears once more. It becomes memory, myth, a cultured narrative. Aquae Mirabiles, an immersive installation curated by Federica Sala and designed by Balich Wonder Studio in collaboration with Luke Edward Hall, is perhaps one of the most refined examples of how a brand can use water not as a backdrop, but as a narrative device. At the center is the Caviar silverware collection, with its microsphere motif. But around that object, Buccellati constructs a universe. The spaces adjacent to the headquarters on Piazza Tomasi di Lampedusa become a contemporary nymphaeum, a sort of water theater where the visitor slowly enters a suspended dimension.
Outside, Roman mythological figures designed by Luke Edward Hall appear: Neptune, the Naiads, Tiberinus, the sirens. These are presences that prepare the way. Crossing the threshold means immersing oneself in an imaginary Atlantis, where history, fantasy, and Italian tradition overlap. The first room is dedicated to the depths of the sea, featuring silver sturgeons and creations from the Marina collection. It is an environment of shadows, reflections, and rarefied surfaces. The second space, the heart of the installation, instead houses a submerged banquet. A table shaped like a wave hosts the entire Caviar collection, while around it unfolds a narrative that traverses ancient Rome, papal cookbooks, Renaissance painting, and even Milanese legends linked to Leonardo da Vinci. Here, Buccellati achieves something rare: transforming silver into a landscape. The sea is no longer merely an evocation but becomes a fluid archive of stories, symbols, and glimmers.
Exteta x Riva
La Dolce Vita Takes to the Terrace
There are collaborations that work because they stem from obvious affinities. The one between Exteta and Riva is one of these. On one side, outdoor expertise; on the other, the quintessential Italian nautical legend. In between, the desire to bring the charm of life on the water into living spaces. The second chapter of the Exteta x Riva collection, once again designed by Massimo Castagna, consistently carries this vision forward. The essence is that of La Dolce Vita, but the language is contemporary. Sapelli mahogany and stainless steel become the foundational elements of an elegant and recognizable aesthetic. These are materials that belong to the Riva legacy, but here they are reimagined for gardens, terraces, hospitality, and, of course, yacht decks. The collection spans living and dining areas, encompassing seating, upholstered pieces, tables, accessories, and lamps. Among the new additions, the Angular Sofa introduces a concept of generous yet compact comfort, almost sculptural in nature. The pouf, featuring a mahogany and stainless steel frame, can serve as an informal seat or a footrest.
The Foldable Chair reinterprets a classic nautical piece, while the Swivel Stool evokes the elegance of traditional yachts and the pleasure of time spent on deck. The Bitta coffee table is also very interesting, resembling a small sculpture more than a simple accessory. Crafted from mirrored stainless steel, it draws inspiration from the essential form of a nautical bollard, transforming a technical mooring element into a luminous and sophisticated object. The new Riva Deck finish brings the story full circle in the most direct way: a hand-finished mahogany top featuring the signature maple stripes of Riva’s decks. It is a detail, but also a statement of identity. Because this collection is not about imitating the boat, but about bringing its atmosphere ashore. In Milan, the line was presented at the Exteta flagship store on Via Turati. In the small square, sealing the connection to the water, a splendid Riva Iseo Super from the Riva Casarola dealership. An almost cinematic appearance: the boat as an object of desire and as the key to understanding the entire project.
Zuccon International Project x Cadorin
MON, the threshold that becomes a surface
The sea, at times, does not appear in a literal sense. It can be an idea of crossing, of passage, of depth. It is in this direction that MON moves, the wooden cladding system presented by Zuccon International Project and Cadorin at the Salone del Mobile. The project stems from the Japanese ideogram 門, meaning door, threshold, passage. A simple yet powerful symbol that becomes the generative principle of a laser-engraved wooden surface. Through modular geometries, variations in rhythm and depth, MON transforms a two-dimensional wall into a perceptual device.
The surface remains flat, yet the eye perceives an additional space. Bernardo Zuccon explains it precisely: “MON stems from the desire to transcend the idea of the surface as a passive element. It is a device that activates the gaze, suggests depth, and introduces an intermediate dimension, where the boundary of two-dimensionality disappears and space is not defined but continuously interpretable.” It is a reflection that also speaks to the nautical world, though without stating it openly. Those who design yachts are well aware of the value of thresholds, transitions, and surfaces that separate without closing off. MON works precisely on this: it does not impose a space, it suggests it. Rita Cadorin, Art Director at Cadorin, emphasizes instead the value of collaboration as a space for research, where wood is “reinterpreted through design” and becomes a vehicle for a sensibility capable of uniting aesthetics and innovation. In a Design Week so permeated by water, MON introduces a more meditative note. It does not bring the sea onto the stage, but shares an essential quality of it: the ability to change form depending on the gaze.
Kora Marine x Azimut
Beyond the Sea(ty), the sea enters the city
The title is a play on words, but the project is very serious. With Beyond the Sea(ty), Kora Marine, the exclusive dealer for Azimut Yachts, chose Design Week to open a dialogue between boating, architecture, and contemporary culture. It did so in the spaces of m²atelier, the studio founded by Marijana Radovic and Marco Bonelli, who designed the recent projects for Azimut’s Grande Series. The event succeeded in presenting the yacht not as a distant object, but as an evolved form of living. At its core was the concept of barefoot luxury: a less formal, freer, more personal kind of luxury. A way of life on board where light, spatial continuity, materials, and the relationship with the environment become fundamental elements. “Our goal is to translate the sea into architecture,” say Radovic and Bonelli. “We don’t simply design interiors, but experiences: spaces to be lived in naturally, where every element contributes to creating balance, continuity, and freedom.”
It is a phrase that aptly summarizes one of the strongest trends in contemporary yachting: the shift from the boat as a status symbol to the boat as an emotional space. No longer just power, size, and prestige. But atmosphere, intimacy, naturalness. Francesco Montanella, founder of Kora Marine, confirms this: “With Azimut and m²atelier, we share a clear vision: to focus on how the space on board is experienced, in relation to the sea and nature. Design Week is the ideal setting for this narrative.” For the occasion, the studio’s courtyard was transformed into a nautical landscape, featuring three lounge areas dominated by wood. A multisensory performance, blending harp music and sound design, created a suspended atmosphere. Inside, a virtual room allowed guests to explore the interiors of the Grande Series through headsets and projections. Here, the sea was not just a theme, but an experience. A way to convey, even far from the water, that nautical design today increasingly dialogues with architecture, interiors, and lifestyle.
Trussardi Casa x Confindustria Nautica
The boat as a new home
The relationship between boating and lifestyle was also at the center of the “Nautica & Lifestyle” talk, hosted at the Trussardi showroom on Via Burlamacchi. The occasion marked the announcement of the collaboration between Confindustria Nautica and Trussardi Casa, alongside the presentation of the seventh edition of the Design Innovation Award. Here, the sea entered Design Week not through a spectacular installation, but through dialogue. And perhaps precisely for this reason, the theme emerged with great clarity: the nautical sector is increasingly becoming a space of cross-pollination, where interior design, fashion, lifestyle, and architecture converge. Alberto Racca, CEO of Trussardi and the Miroglio Group, spoke of two core values in the brand’s history: “kindness” and “Italian elegance, understood not as ostentation but as a profound, recognizable quality.” Values that Trussardi Casa will bring to the journey it has embarked upon as a lifestyle partner of the International Boat Show. Piero Formenti, President of Confindustria Nautica, identified in the Trussardi showroom a sensibility very close to the world of boating: “an elegance that is never ostentatious, but perceived, and a great attention to the relationship between design, spaces, and quality of life.”
This is precisely the point on which a significant part of yachting’s evolution hinges today: bringing form, function, and experience together. Massimo Lorusso, Brand Manager of Trussardi Casa, used a particularly effective expression when speaking of the positive “domestication” of the nautical world. The home enters the boat, making the interiors more welcoming, more livable, and closer to contemporary sensibilities. Comfort, materials, colors, and quality of life become central even on board. Aleks Tatic, designer and member of the Design Innovation Award jury, added another perspective: in nautical design, there is a shift “from a more expressive and opulent aesthetic to a more essential experience,” where the design emphasizes the relationship with nature and reduces superfluous elements. A direction that seems destined to gain momentum. In this sense, the Design Innovation Award, launched in 2020 and now in its seventh edition, increasingly appears as a privileged observatory. Not just an award, but a place to interpret the sector’s changes. Marina Stella, General Director of Confindustria Nautica, defines it as “an observatory of innovation in nautical design and emerging languages.” The award ceremony will take place on October 2 as part of the 66th Genoa International Boat Show. But the message sent from Milan is already clear: the nautical world is no longer a separate realm. It has become part of the broader discourse on contemporary design.
Polo Ralph Lauren
Atmospheres in perfect New England style
The iconic American brand couldn’t miss out either; for Design Week, it added a nautical touch to the windows of its flagship store on Via della Spiga. The sailing-themed set design, anchored by a mainsail and a wooden boom, and the boutique’s interior spaces, dressed for the occasion in a nautical style, evoked the elegant atmospheres typical of East Coast yacht clubs. A cruise along the route of style with a pleasant maritime flavor.
A city with a view of the water
The most interesting thing, in the end, is that Milan didn’t try to pretend to be a seaside city. It did something smarter: it embraced the sea as a design metaphor. It let it enter the languages, materials, and narratives of the brands. Ferrari transformed it into extreme performance. Moncler in summer play. Buccellati in submerged myth. Exteta and Riva in lifestyle. Zuccon in perceptual threshold. Kora Marine and Azimut in the experience of living. Trussardi Casa and Confindustria Nautica in reflection on the future of nautical design. The result is a Design Week permeated by a new concept of water: no longer merely a backdrop, but a cultural element. A fluid element capable of uniting technology and poetry, craftsmanship and innovation, aesthetics and function. For a few days, Milan set sail. And perhaps, precisely because it is far from the sea, it was able to tell its story with unexpected power.
Matteo Zaccagnino
