Fringe Design on Stage
Plinio Il Giovane, GTDESIGN and Fringe Milano OFF give life to a multidisciplinary project that celebrates authentic creativity and the culture of Made in Italy
Milan, February 2025 – Milan Design Week 2025 marks a return to the roots of the Fuorisalone , rediscovering its original vocation as an open platform for independent creativity. In this context , Plinio Il Giovane and GTDESIGN, two historic names in Italian design, together with the founders of FringeMilano OFF, the Off-Theatre and Performing Arts Festival held in Milan since 2016 in both conventional and unconventional locations, have created “Fringe Design in Scena ,” an innovative project that blends design, theater, and craftsmanship into a unique experience.
The term Fringe, literally “fringe”, entered the world of theatre in 1947 with the first festival in Edinburgh (there are now over 250 Fringes in the world) and is today used to represent independent activities, outside of institutional circuits.
This Design Week initiative is inspired by the fringe and tradition of art workshops , bringing together young designers, master craftsmen , and artists who will engage in dialogue through site-specific theatrical performances. For the first time, actors will animate Milan's design hubs with performative abstracts , creating a bridge between material and narrative.
The protagonists of this new chapter of the Fuorisalone are Deanna Comellini , founder and art director of GTDESIGN, Mario Prandina , founder and designer of Plinio Il Giovane, as curators together with Francesca Vitale and Renato Lombardo, founders of Fringe Milano OFF . With their combined long experience and a shared vision focused on sustainability and material culture, they bring to life a project that celebrates the authenticity and value of Italian know-how.
Performance dates:
- Monday 7th April – 19,00pm: “No leaning inside” by and with Alice Gagno
- Tuesday 8 April at 19,00pm: “night time” by and with Peter de Nova and Maurizio Zucchi of company the Million
- Wednesday 9th, Thursday 10th and Friday 11th April – 19,00 pm: “Chess game” with Alex Gezzi and Elena Pavoni di Science Theatre
- Saturday 12 April – 19,00 pm: “The Genesis of Regeneration” by and with Beppe Allocca
Each performative abstract created in the theatre-showroom of Plinio Il Giovane in via Cernuschi 1 in Milan will be enriched by installations and unpublished objects made by the artists-designers involved including the artist Matthew DiCiommo, the designer and carpenter Gabriel Tarricone and the designer Moon Silingardi, which will transform design into a sensorial and narrative experience within an unconventional theatre.
With “Fringe Design in Scena” , the Fuorisalone 2025 reclaims its original spirit, bringing research, experimentation and the value of artisanal culture back to the centre , in response to an audience increasingly attentive to the quality and authenticity of design.
