Fico Debuts ‘Play’ at Palazzo Litta: A Joyful Manifesto of Form, Craft, and Movement
Within the storied halls of Palazzo Litta, a new voice in design emerges. Fico, the contemporary design studio making its debut at Milan Design Week 2025, introduces Play — an exhibition that redefines the boundaries of interaction, craftsmanship, and material exploration.
Presented as part of MOSCAPARTNERS’ Variations, Play marks Fico’s inaugural step onto the international stage. But this is no quiet introduction — it is a bold, joyful statement of intent. A celebration of tactile engagement, sculptural form, and cultural heritage, all woven into a spatial experience that invites both curiosity and contemplation.
Photography: Lea Anouchinsky
At the heart of Play are two standout collections: the Barbara series and the Ondine ottoman. Together, they express Fico’s signature language—spherical silhouettes, asymmetric lines, and a tension between stability and fluidity.
The Barbara side table and console are sculptural yet functional, their exaggerated forms teasing the line between object and art. Legs appear in rhythmic imbalance, creating a sense of movement even in stillness. By contrast, Ondine — a generous, versatile ottoman — embraces scale and softness. A centrepiece by nature, it is both grounding and dynamic, inviting the user to engage, sit, shift, and play.
Photography: Nathalie Krag
Where the Barbara and Ondine collections offer playful strength, the Woven Air installation introduces a delicate counterpoint. This series pairs finely structured wooden panels with translucent Jamdani textiles—an intricate handwoven tradition from Bangladesh, once reserved for royalty and crafted from the prized Phuti Karpas cotton.
Reimagined for Play, the Jamdani panels speak to fragility, sustainability, and cultural preservation. Each thread, painstakingly woven by master artisans, carries a story of vanishing luxury and environmental urgency. In this interplay between solid and sheer, Woven Air elevates textile into architecture and craft into commentary.
Fico explores the dynamic relationship between grounded forms and floating impressions throughout the exhibition. Materials shift between the robust and the ephemeral; surfaces are meant to be touched, explored, and felt. Movement is suggested through form and composition, creating a space where design transcends function and becomes emotion.
Photography: Lea Anouchinsky
Fico’s debut is more than a collection launch — it’s a declaration. Play captures the brand’s ethos of sophisticated irreverence, where joy and depth, heritage and experimentation coexist. It’s a call to reimagine the role of furniture not merely as utility but as a medium for storytelling, memory, and interaction.
In a design week often dominated by spectacle, Play stands apart for its sincerity, tactility, and vision. Fico doesn’t just present furniture—it crafts a new language of luxury: joyful, thoughtful, and always in motion.
Exhibition: Variations by MoscaPartners / Location: Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24, Milan / Dates: April 7–13, 2025 / Opening Hours: 10 AM – 8 PM daily
