Milan, when it brings together its finest energies, still knows how to surprise. At the ADI Design Museum, the first edition of Opera Buona brought together architecture, design, cuisine, and writing in a single collective device, conceived to support Opera San Francesco per i Poveri. A project that does not limit itself to the form of the event, but seeks to transform it into a concrete gesture, through the collaboration of different languages and the curatorial direction of Alessandro Guerriero, a figure we have come to associate with this way of understanding design culture, also through many initiatives he has promoted and that have often found a home in the spaces of Superstudio.

There are evenings that do not need to be told as events, because they already function as narrative in themselves.

Sometimes an exhibition is also an invitation to see a city with different eyes. This is the case of the retrospective dedicated to Arnaldo Pomodoro at the Gallerie d’Italia, which becomes the starting point for a small Milanese journey all the way to his fascinating Labyrinth in the Tortona District. Two places, one single narrative: that of an artist capable of transforming matter, space, and imagination.

There are exhibitions that tell the story of an artist, and others that make you want to follow their traces across the city. That is exactly what happened to me when I visited the Arnaldo Pomodoro exhibition at the Gallerie d’Italia in Piazza della Scala. The exhibition retraces his long career through sculptures, drawings, and archival materials, going beyond the most well-known image of his iconic bronze spheres.

A new company joins the Superstudio family: Metsä Board arrives at Superstudio Più, bringing to Milan its vision of sustainability and innovation linked to the world of forests and future materials.

Via Tortona confirms its position as one of Milan's most interesting locations, where design, research, and business naturally converge. Metsä Board, a Finnish company that has transformed the theme of sustainable packaging into a broader reflection on the relationship between industry, nature, and innovation, arrives at Superstudio Più.

While the city was still breathing the energy of the Winter Olympics, Milan Fashion Week unleashed creativity, colors and meanings in an edition capable of going far beyond the runway, transforming itself into a true space for meeting and dialogue. Among the events that captured attention during the week of shows, Fashion Proryv, a side event featuring the experimental and strategic proposals of Ukrainian designers, stood out for its strong message: transforming fashion into a language that speaks about war and post-war realities, cultures, young talents and diverse communities. Superstudio, which for years has supported the Ukrainian community in Milan, was there. In the front row was Gisella Borioli in the role of patron.
The presentation of Fashion Proryv at the end of Milan Fashion Week was not a fashion show, but an event that highlighted ideas, projects and visions born in Ukrainian fashion schools and developed together with Italian mentors and Milanese fashion cultural centers.
A project created with the aim of doing fashion beyond fashion – understood not only as clothing, but as a search for answers to the needs created by the ongoing war and as an expression of shared values. At the heart of Fashion Proryv there has always been collaboration between Italian and Ukrainian students, who this year brought fresh ideas and effective solutions, telling stories of culture, tradition and belonging, but above all reminding us of the inhumane conditions that the ongoing conflict has created: wounded people, amputees, darkness, cold, limited time, disillusionment and hopes. And the strength of a population that wants to continue believing in life, despite everything.
The final closing of fashion week came on February 28 with a narrative made of fabrics and silhouettes: stories of resilience, creativity and cohesion. A dialogue that crossed linguistic, political and artistic borders to remind us that fashion, when it wants to, can be a platform for peace.
Despite the many difficulties faced, the young designers who worked in collaboration with Italian academies – whose epicenter was Brera – managed to present interesting, original collections rich in personality, created in conditions of constant instability.
In the end, Fashion Proryv showed something greater than a simple fashion event. It was a meeting place for different identities – Ukrainian, Italian, but also Venezuelan, Kurdish and beyond – with a common thread: the idea that creativity and community can be tools of global connection.
Photo: VECTA Collection of the Institute Bila Tserkva Vocational College of Service and Design