Milan Design Week With Kia: How the Brand is Finding, and Creating Inspiration
Ferrari, Bugatti and Bentley star alongside Louis Vuitton and Gucci during this epic event.
Milan, Italy is a gorgeous city teeming with style on any given day. This is where Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” masterpiece lives, as well as fashion houses like Armani, Prada, and Versace. During Design Week, designer brands showcase houseware, furniture, and interior design in glorious settings all over town.
Design is All About Where, and How, We Live
The city of Milan is synonymous with the worlds of design and fashion, and automakers want to play a part, too. Some are no-brainers, like Bentley and Bugatti. Others may be a surprise, like Korean car brand Kia. But if you think about it, a car is a rolling living room in many ways. We drive our friends and family, load it up with things we love, eat in it, and wait at the school pickup line. It makes sense that the designers think about all the ways they can make a car a livable space, and art and furniture is a natural extension.
Kia goes glam in Milan
Kia was in Milan this year with public and private exhibits in its Opposites United theme. The “Eclipse of Perceptions” and “Transcend Journey” included work by artists Philippe Parreno and A.A. Murakami and spanned several rooms in the Museo della Permanente and Eastend Studios.
While Kia might not be the first car brand you think of when it comes to high fashion, the Korean brand understands the intersection of art and culture. One of its 2025 exhibits, The Cave, was created with a pool of water bathed in red light as robotic limbs dipped in and out, activating bellows that played sounds of ancient instruments. Beyond the Horizon was displayed just one next room over, featuring mechanical devices that emitted giant bubbles that morphed into clouds.
Bringing Design to All the Senses
In the reception area, skilled mixologists served up specialty drinks in the same theme. Smoke-scented orbs were formed from small bubble machines then gently caught on a waiting glass in the bartender’s hand. As the bubble popped, the aroma lingered at the top of the drink.
Kia has been lauded for its design chops, especially in the last five years. For instance, the EV9 was awarded 2024 World Car of the Year and the 2024 North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year. Senior Vice President and Head of Kia Design, Karim Habib is a pro, spending several years creating the design language for BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Infiniti before Kia. He also has probably one of the most international pedigrees we’ve ever seen: Habib was born in Lebanon, educated in Canada, and speaks an impressive five languages: Arabic, English, French, German, and Italian.
Bugatti makes supercar-level furniture to match its cars
Bugatti Home opened an exclusive design studio and exhibition space in Milan this spring to showcase its supercar-worthy home furnishings and its Configuration Studio. In the studio, customers can choose from various materials, finishes, and textures to create a custom interior to match the high-end DNA of their cars. Of course, the Bugatti Home Collection includes several pieces in Bugatti Blue, and it’s as vibrant and luminous as its four-wheeled creations.
The automaker compares the Configuration Studio to its Molsheim Design Studio, where those desiring a personalized Bugatti hypercar. While the Milan Atelier (the French word for studio or workshop) lets you choose tailor-made furniture, the car design studio specializes in its cars, the concept is the same, and only the sky’s the limit.
Bugatti’s Roots Run Deep In Design
Surprised to discover the Bugatti family is so multi-talented? You might not know that the original Bugatti, Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), designed lots of things in the home furnishing world, all the way down to sets of silverware.
Featuring stunning works like the TYPE_3 sofa (crafted with open-pore oak and brushed aluminum), TYPE_4 table (all angles and glass), and TYPE_9 mirror (wavy and elegant), Bugatti Home is an expression of luxury that extends from the garage into the home. My personal favorite was the TYPE_7 desk, made from aluminum and wood. One half of the desk looks like a typical modern table, while the other half curves around and encapsulates a suspended drawer. If budget allowed, I’d have one of these in my office.
Inside Bentley Home’s nature theme
On the Bentley side, the British automaker put its creative chips on display at its studio in Corso Venezia. Each room of the studio led to another one that was even dreamier, inspired by nature, flowers, and woods. In Milan, the event was intended to evoke the mood of a “luxurious English picnic” and the path to the outdoor space more than achieved that goal.
Strewn with earthy wood chips, moss, and flowers, the path led to a balcony overlooking the design district filled with the most comfortable patio chairs you can imagine, accompanied by leather wine carriers, impossibly fluffy blankets, and impeccably-crafted baskets. Second only to that gorgeous terrace was the Loftus couch, which is draped in leather and marble. Integrated side tables make it extra easy to love. Bentley’s Newent and Mere armchairs were also standouts.
But if I had to pick a favorite? The soft leather Elan Leather Home Bag is the tote I want to carry everywhere. Holding a bottle of Dom Perignon and a tin of caviar, of course.
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