Elton Group reports back from Design Mecca—Salone del Mobile. Often seen as a barometer and testing ground on where the design world is at, this year the focus was firmly on material innovation and thought leadership. Elton Group’s longtime, Milan-based partner and key supplier, ALPI, exemplified the intersection between artisanal craft, innovation and collaboration. Across events in the Brera Showroom and on the stand at Rho, ALPI presented four new additions to the Designer Collection.
Marking the first collaboration with Japanese design studio nendo, ALPI has introduced two striking new veneer ranges—Kasumi and Futae—as part of its 2025 Milan Design Week presentation. The collection reimagines timber through the lens of Japanese minimalism and material innovation.
Unveiled at Salone del Mobile 2025, ALPI Agreste is the latest veneer release from Estúdio Campana – an evocative surface inspired by the cracked, sunbaked terrain of Brazil’s Caatinga desert. Designed by Humberto Campana, the new veneer channels a deeply personal connection to the desert landscapes of Northeastern Brazil.
Rounding out ALPI’s 2025 releases is a bold addition: Sottsass in Pink. This striking new colourway is faithfully recreated from Ettore Sottsass’s original notebooks, dating back to his 1980s collaboration with ALPI. Using archived sketches and Pantone swatches, the team has crafted a shade that stays true to Sottsass’s original vision.
ALPI unveiled two new veneer collections by Piero Lissoni at Salone del Mobile 2025—String and Warp—which draws subtle inspiration from the pages of school notebooks. “I imagined the wood just as my pen began tracing a line on a blank sheet,” says Lissoni. “It made me think back to the lined paper and graph paper I used for schoolwork.”
Elton Group joined the creative current of Salone del Mobile, reconnecting with Australian and international collaborators, experiencing and discovering emerging ideas—all while celebrating design at its finest.
Elton Group’s ALPI collection took centre stage at Salone del Mobile – and the design media took notice. Two of Australia’s most respected publications, Yellowtrace and est living, captured the launch in detail.
