Milan mosaics and takeovers
Architect Massimiliano Locatelli is installing ceramic mosaic murals across a three‑storey cocktail bar called SiMa Townhouse — complete with pecking chickens and tropical cocktails for Milan Design Week. The week also features fashion house activations — Wallpaper notes a Marni takeover of an iconic Milan café and Loewe released a new fragrance called Aire Sutileza Elixir described as a reinterpretation of a house classic (wallpaper.com) (wallpaper.com) (wallpaper.com).
Milan Design Week is turning brand takeovers into the main event, from a three-storey mosaic bar by Massimiliano Locatelli to fashion-led café and fragrance launches. (wallpaper.com) Wallpaper reported this week that Locatelli is remaking SiMa Townhouse in central Milan as “SiMa Glazed Bar,” covering the space with ceramic mosaic murals and imagery including pecking chickens and tropical cocktails. SiMa Townhouse sits on Corso di Porta Vigentina 12 and already operates across three floors. (wallpaper.com) (simatownhouse.com) Locatelli’s own studio describes Si Ma Townhouse as “the most narrow townhouse in the center of Milan,” a 2020 project built around three floors for drinks and dining. Wallpaper said the 2026 intervention revives mosaic murals, a craft once common in Milanese interiors and entryways. (locatellipartners.com) (wallpaper.com) The bar installation lands as Fuorisalone and Salone del Mobile return to Milan in late April. Fuorisalone’s official preview says the citywide program runs from April 20 to April 26, 2026, alongside the fair. (fuorisalone.it) Wallpaper’s Milan preview said 2026 is also defined by newly opened venues and temporary occupations of familiar addresses. Its roundup of first-time locations described Milan as a city that “opens its doors” during design week, from swimming complexes to private apartments. (wallpaper.com) Fashion labels are pushing further into that format. Wallpaper reported that Marni is taking over Pasticceria Cucchi, a Milan café founded in 1936 by Luigi and Vittorina Cucchi, for a three-month pop-up created with RedDuo Studio. (wallpaper.com) Loewe used the same week to release Aire Sutileza Elixir, which Wallpaper called a reinterpretation of the house’s Aire Sutileza fragrance. Loewe’s official perfume site says the new eau de parfum comes in a 50 milliliter bottle priced at $210 in the United States and uses notes including pear, bergamot, lemon, orange flower, jasmine sambac, magnolia, vetiver, sandalwood and musks. (wallpaper.com) (perfumesloewe.com) That mix of interiors, hospitality and product launch has become a standard Milan Design Week playbook. By April 2026, guides from Fuorisalone, Wallpaper and Designboom were all framing the week as a citywide circuit of installations, pop-ups and brand experiences rather than a trade fair confined to exhibition halls. (fuorisalone.it) (wallpaper.com) (designboom.com) In Milan this month, that means a cocktail bar can double as an architectural surface, a pastry shop can become a fashion set, and a fragrance launch can sit inside the same calendar. The common thread is takeover: brands are borrowing the city’s rooms, then asking visitors to experience them as temporary worlds. (wallpaper.com 1) (wallpaper.com 2) (wallpaper.com 3)
