Is Bed Rotting the Biggest Trend to Come Out of Milan?

I’m slightly wary of what I’m about to write. After all, the last time I talked about a design trend reflecting our collective desire to escape, we plunged, not a month later, into the pandemic — which was certainly an exit from contemporary life of sorts. But while scrolling through Instagram during this month’s Milan furniture fair, I began to notice an inescapable trend along those same lines: Beds were absolutely everywhere. At Marimekko’s installation with Laila Gohar, several beds had been pushed together into one big undulating lounge, and guests were invited to unwind, John Chamberlain–style, on or under the covers. At a presentation for The Row, new cashmere blankets were shown off in the most minimal boudoir of all time; at Dimore’s installation for Loro Piana, a round, chrome-and-velvet bed with silky sheets was its diametric opposite, all maximalist, ’70s-era desire. Carl Hansen & Son showed its Spherical Bed, a curved, graceful Kaare Klint design from the 1930s that, for the first time, is being offered as a double. Garance Vallée debuted a wengé wood and shag bed as part of her furniture collection for Monde Singulier. Even Faye Toogood’s new squishy Butter sofa for Tacchini has modules that can to link to form a single, uninterrupted surface.

When we talked about this trend in 2020, the vibe was hopeful, almost aspirational — more “let’s live in a castle” than “let’s bury ourselves in bedding.” But I genuinely can’t tell: Does this year’s theme reflect something more primal — the urge to revert to our childhood selves, when things were less worrisome and staying in bed represented an indulgence rather than a vanishing act? Or is the impulse more carnal, what with all the eating in bed, messy sheets, and literal mohair duvets? (See my texts with an anonymous design source on the subject, below!) It’s easy for design journalists to pretend they know where the winds of change are headed, but in this case, I’ll be under the covers, watching things unfold along with the rest of you.