Go Inside the Collection From Poliform That Heralds Design’s Future

This article is featured in our Fall 2026 print issue, available soon.

This year, Milan Design Week seemed to be larger and more intense than ever. One of the globally minded, locally based Italian brands that has been a part of the festival practically since its inception is Poliform, which today is known for its svelte residential furniture, resplendent closet systems, and slick kitchens from designers such as Jean-Marie Massaud, Emmanuel Gallina, and the duo Yabu Pushelberg, as well as an army of internal creatives. I often see houses such as Poliform as bellwethers of the state of Italian design. When combining their presentations this year with the headlines about the booming wealth of Italy’s fashion and cultural capital, one can see how confident and enterprising the scene has become.

As the week died down, I was ushered past a velvet rope to the brand’s first café, which is in the heart of town inside the Piazza della Scala. I was there to sit down with Laura Anzani, a longtime friend of The Grand Tourist who is the daughter of one of the founders and the head of Poliform in the Americas. We discussed the bold moves for 2026 that signal a new day for the company: a departure from the Salone del Mobile fairgrounds, this unexpected adventure in hospitality, and a youthful spirit—both in family management and products—that’s energizing their latest collection. Thankfully, the coffee was strong and the you-must-try-everything assortment of pastries was as tasty as it was fetching to look at.

So, we’re speaking today at the height of Milan Design Week, which feels like an eternity this year.

It feels longer than ever! But when the world comes to Milan and comes to see you, it’s so precious. It’s exhausting, but it creates such great energy that lasts us for the rest of the year. We are lucky to have this week. This year, Poliform started on Sunday, two days before Salone del Mobile started. We’re no longer part of Salone—we decided to start walking on our own two feet. But the world came to us regardless.

How did you come to choose Palazzo Clerici to debut your 2026 collection?

It’s a very important year for Poliform. Just a few days ago, we opened a beautiful store neighboring the Teatro alla Scala here in Piazza della Scala. Palazzo Clerici, 300 steps away, is one of the city’s most beautiful pearls. Built in the 1700s, it’s a real Milanese home with a secret garden, fantastic spaces, and rooms the Clerici family commissioned Giovanni Battista Tiepolo to paint in the mid 1700s. It’s gorgeous by itself. The challenge was to stage the Poliform products to showcase the evolution of what Poliform does—not just putting our pieces in beautiful homes, but showing off the craftsmanship. Those rooms were able to do that for us. The harmony between Poliform and the rooms elevates our products.

What struck me about the Palazzo was its dimensions. As you said, it was a real home, and so the proportions are very human. Why is this kind of staging important to you?

First of all, we’re talking about contemporary and modern furniture. It’s sometimes difficult to think about these collections in a traditional villa—you tend to always follow the architecture, choosing and placing your product to be consistent with it. In this case, we put in something that is so beautiful and so not modern.

When we developed the new Lanai bed with Yabu Pushelberg, we were thinking about the dimensions of that room; it’s grand, the bed can fill it. I was there on Sunday morning when George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg saw the installation for the first time. They’ve been working with Poliform to develop the collection for a few years and when they finally saw the bed installed, they were smiling from ear to ear. The bed’s headboard is also the back of a sofa, so it fills the space quite beautifully. When you look at it from one side, you don’t see the sofa. From the other side, the bed is hidden. Their joy brought us a lot of joy.

What have your clients been looking for recently, and how does this new collection respond?

In the past few years, we’ve established brand awareness all over the world. Our products are very consistent. Every year, we make small additions that are very important to our Systems collections, filling the gaps. The beautiful Savoy sofa by Jean-Marie Massaud we’re presenting this year, for instance, has been very well received. Engineering-wise, it’s a fantastic product; technique and choice of the right fabrics produced a fantastic sofa. 

We have elements that can fill every type of room, including curved ones, but at a different price point compared with what we presented last year. This is to show how we can extend our collection. It’s done not only from a design point of view but also a price point of view. We are presenting products that can reach a younger crowd. For example, the Auguste chair, a reinterpreted director’s chair, and the cushioned Attimo chaise longue, both of which are by Jean-Marie Massaud, have a younger feel and have had a great response.

We’re sipping some espressos today in the new Poliform Café near the Teatro alla Scala. Why a café?

A new challenge. With Poliform’s founders, who remain very active in the company, giving the reins to the next generation this year, it was time for the brand to begin new adventures like moving the flagship to Milan after so many years, as well as our adventures in town, outside of the Salone del Mobile. So why not start a hospitality experience for our guests? It’s something that we can do; Poliform Café is one of many boutique cafés that we’ve created, but this is our very own because we designed it. It opens to the public soon and will have service from breakfast to aperitivo hour. Our clients and friends, as well as those who aren’t aware of what Poliform does, can sit and enjoy the Milanese lifestyle here in a beautiful restaurant that we designed and produced. Hopefully, it will be just one of many that we’ll open.

Bring one to New York, please.

Well, in New York, we’re going to reopen our Madison Avenue location in late summer. It will be a grand reopening—we’re adding two more floors to the store we opened 10 years ago. Similar to what you saw here in Milan, but with a New York twist. It is a fantastic showcase of how our expertise can cover the entire world and every market.

Which piece in the new collection would you place a bet on doing the best in the US?

The Savoy sofa—the size and comfort is what Poliform was missing. The new Neo Concorde table from Emmanuel Gallina is also a fantastic addition to the collection. It’s a revision of the Concorde table that we did 17 years ago, which is still our best-selling table. We made it larger. With its structure and engineering, it can be made infinite—slabs of marble or wood can be added to extend the tabletop—and seat hundreds of people. The Victoria chair gives a good twist to the collection. It references the 1970s and 90s, and has a glossy lacquer that shows the wood grain underneath.

Where are your designers like Massaud and Gallina getting inspiration for these different shapes and products lately? Are you noticing any trends?

When our designers—we call them our extended family—bring their sketches to us, most of the time the company is already asking to go in that direction. It’s a beautiful exchange of ideas. There was a moment of modern and very sharp design. Everything was super sharp, metal, glossy lacquer, black or white. Now it’s the moment of the curve. It’s influenced by how people live. You want your nest, your home, to be very comfortable. You can be a traveler and see the world, but when you come home you want your space to be very cozy. The curvy shapes help, almost like an embrace. 

The installation at Palazzo Clerici, designed together with Studioutte, is an example of a new direction for the brand. The young designers, based here in Milan, developed an urban forest at the entrance to the palazzo. It’s a multisensory experience—they wanted to welcome Poliform guests into this forest with sounds, scents, and light that changes through the day and night. The forest welcomes you into a space where you can start to relax, like entering a home. We inserted the Poliform outdoor collection; our products, in white, are hidden throughout this very dark forest. It’s like a discovery. That to us is art. This is unusual for Poliform. It’s the first time that the brand has done an art installation. 

And I hear you have a new CEO?

We do, Marco Spinelli. It was an organic choice for us. He’s one of us, one of the sons of the founders. He’s been in charge of product development for the past few years, and has been amazing developing Poliform’s new collection, but also has a great financial background. With Spinelli as the leader of Poliform, we really are in a great spot to push forward and grow together.

Shall we have a croissant?

We should. I’ll have the one you’re not having. We can always order more.