Marni plates and Mollino's table
Milan Design Week programming included a Marni collaboration at Pasticceria Cucchi—complete with branded plates, milk jugs, and sugar sachets—and Zanotta announced it had acquired the Carlo Mollino archive and is unveiling the 'Vertebra' table on April 15. Those moves show fashion and furniture leaning on sensory, object‑level experiences this season. (dezeen.com) (wallpaper.com)
Marni is turning a Milan pastry shop into a branded design set, while Zanotta is using Milan Design Week to put a Carlo Mollino table into production for the first time. (wallpaper.com 1) (wallpaper.com 2) At Pasticceria Cucchi on Corso Genova 1, Marni’s three-month takeover runs from April 20 to July 15, 2026, with RedDuo Studio designing the space and co-branded plates, milk jugs, sugar packets, takeaway cups, textiles and staff uniforms. (dezeen.com) (wallpaper.com) Cucchi was founded in 1936 by Luigi and Vittorina Cucchi, and Wallpaper reports the café is now being re-established by the Monti family, heirs to restaurateur Giacomo Bulleri. Marni’s installation is open through the day, from cappuccino service to aperitivo. (wallpaper.com) (dezeen.com) Zanotta said on April 15 that it had secured, through an Italian state public tender, the exclusive license to produce 30 Carlo Mollino works and access an archive of original drawings and sketches. (zanotta.prezly.com) (wallpaper.com) The first release under that license is the Vertebra table, which Zanotta is unveiling during Milan Design Week 2026 after the design had never been realized through industrial production. Zanotta said Mollino’s professional archive at the Polytechnic University of Turin includes nearly 17,000 graphic plates, technical drawings and sketches, plus about 15,000 photographs. (zanotta.prezly.com) (wallpaper.com) Milan Design Week itself runs from April 20 to April 26, 2026, around the Salone del Mobile fair and a citywide program of exhibitions, talks, workshops and brand installations. Fashion labels are a visible part of that calendar this year, with Prada, Marimekko and Issey Miyake also listed in design-week programming. (dezeen.com 1) (dezeen.com 2) The split between the two announcements is the point: Marni is working at the level of cups, sachets and café rituals, while Zanotta is turning archival rights into new furniture manufacturing. Both are using Milan before the fair opens to frame design as something handled, collected and consumed in everyday settings. (wallpaper.com) (zanotta.prezly.com) (dezeen.com) Mollino’s name also carries a market history that helps explain Zanotta’s move. Wallpaper said only two examples of the Vertebra design had previously been produced, and Zanotta said the table reflects the anatomical, almost skeletal language that runs through Mollino’s work. (wallpaper.com) (zanotta.prezly.com) By April 20, visitors in Milan will be able to test both ideas in person: a pastry shop where brand identity sits on the table, and a furniture company betting that an archive can still generate new product. (dezeen.com) (wallpaper.com)
