Gucci, Armani, Fendi, Dior, Vuitton, Missoni, Loewe, Marni, Tod’s, Versace – it’s a roll call that sounds more suited to fashion week than to Milan Design Week. Yet these were the names on the attendees’ lips at the world’s largest and most influential interiors happening, better known as Salone del Mobile. No longer a side hustle, the home sector is becoming a bonafide category for many fashion brands and much fanfare was devoted to showcasing these goods during Salone and its satellite event network, FuoriSalone.

Unions with design luminaries often took center stage. Take Louis Vuitton, who transported their Objets Nomades (a collection crafted in collaboration between distinguished designers and in-house artisans) to Milan. Highlighted was Hong Kong’s own André Fu, founder of AFSO and André Fu Living, who imagined the most discerning and sophisticated client – a profile that sounded much like a like high-end fashion consumer – for his LV Ribbon Chair: “The chair is conceived with an end-user in mind – a person that is well-travelled, informed and seeking a more artistic expression in his way of living.” Similarly, Versace, always one for magnificent real estate, swung open all the doors of their Palazzo Gesu for the first time to show a series of high-octane home vignettes with NYC designer Sasha Bikoff.

For some houses, it was about creating a must-see partnership with the local Milan-based design personalities du jour instead of an international star – such as Fendi and Cristina Celestino, and Dimore Studio for Dior. However, just as many houses were interested in elevating handmade, artisanal skills as they were with linking to high-wattage firms. Artist Alessandra Roveda created a crocheted rainbow-scape playhouse for Missoni, while Loewe invited a variety of international artists and craftspeople to create a group of one-off leather baskets, and Marni tapped into their community of Colombian artisans to create a moon-inspired presentation. All week, the lines snaked around the streets of Milan for a chance to view the fruits of these collaborations.

Fashion e-tailers are taking note of this evolving symbiosis of fashion and interiors, thus affording shoppers readily-available global access. Along with stocking products already in the market, these sites have created exclusives perfectly curated to their customers. As it happens, Moda Operandi’s Chief Brand Officer Lauren Santo Domingo had always planned for Moda to enter the home arena, which launched last April. “To me, nothing is good until it is shared. I wanted to offer exquisite pieces that I love to a broader audience in a curated, thoughtful way,” says Lauren. “The Moda woman is a natural hostess, so tabletop pieces have been top sellers season after season. Moda’s initial foray into home started with a tabletop collaboration with Martina Mondadori Sartogo, Editor in Chief of Cabana magazine. Our customers responded so well that we extended the Trunkshow three times.” The art of entertaining runs deep in the DNA of the MO world. “Our biggest breakout hit? Ceramic potato bowls, made by Moda. Riffing off of Caviar Kaspia’s signature baked potato, I used them at a party during Paris Fashion Week and they were total Insta-bait,” Lauren shares. Amongst Moda’s homewares, Vladimir Kanevsky’s hyper-realistic porcelain floral sculptures – starting at a cool $25,000 HKD plus – top the list.

The MO model seems made for this expansion into interiors. Applying their concept of direct-from-the-runway to homeware, Moda is able to provide instant access to designers and brands just after – you guessed it – Salone del Mobile. The current post-Salone capsule includes a tabletop range by Idarica Gazzoni of Arjumand’s World, which was inspired by LagunaB’s signature Goto glasses – also sold on the site. Additionally, part of the program involves tapping into Moda’s stable of fashion designers to expand their offerings, and as Lauren puts it, by “encouraging them to try their hand at home and working with them to help translate their vision into full collections”.