About a couple of months ago I was sitting on the Circle Line on my way to the Design Museum for a meeting when I was literally sitting next to Daniel Charney without noticing it. Only when I was getting off at Tower Bridge I noticed he was getting off at the same stop, he was on his way to the Design Museum too. So, while walking over Tower Bridge (it’s still exciting to walk across that bridge, even after 18 years in London) he told me about a project he was workingon with the British Council, a newspaperduring the Milan Furniture Fair called The Incidental. He asked me to contribute so for any of you who might have missed it: here are the installments:

Day 1:

It’s a strange feeling! For the first time in oh, 15 years, I haven’t got a plane ticket to Milan for the annual Circus that is the ‘Salone del Mobile’. I’m on Expedia, Opodo, Easy Jet and Ryanair websites daily and know the prices and times of flights in and out of Milan almost by heart…yet, I simply can’t commit myself to pressing that ‘CONFIRM’ button just yet. The invites are coming in by mail, E-mail, facebook and every other possible way but I am still resisting (for now).

Maybe it’s because I don’t actually like Milan that much (I have lived there for a couple of years many many moons ago) or because I feel they should just do the whole thing only once every two years, like Euroluce. After all (I’m getting all eco warrior on you) we should try and be a little more considerate about the amount of stuff we produce, and we all know that Milan, while being full of good design, is also full of crap!

Day 2:

I have found a new obsession: The Weather. It is beautiful and sunny here in London and I hear it’s beautiful in Milan too, but according to the BBC, that’s it with the nice weather for Milan. I can cope with the rain in London, but Italy in the rain, or worse, Italy in cold rain, terrible. What does amuse me though is the sight of Italians in the rain, especially Italian men. Never a hair out of place, immaculate suit, nice brown shoes…and rain. Well, it makes me smile!

It’s quite in the office, the phone doesn’t ring, very few E-mails coming in. It appears the world has come to a standstill. Is it possible that EVERYBODY is in Milan and I am not?

So, I went out at lunchtime yesterday to get myself a nice big umbrella. I looked completely stupid, bright sunny day, people in shorts & T-shirt and me with an umbrella.

Should I stay or should I go?

Day 3:

I am weak and I’ve given in…I’m in Milan, but since my flight was now twice as expensive as it would have been had I booked it weeks ago I will now have to do these few days on a very strict budget. After all our Great British Pound is just not what it used to be and thanks to our good Chancellors budget yesterday, I just go 2.5cents per pound less.

My first stop will be the local supermarket where I stock up on prosciutto, formaggio, pomodori and a bit of pane, I mean how difficult can it be to make a simple Panino and that’s what I have been living of for the last 10 years in Milan anyway. I always wondered what Italians would eat if they didn’t have wheat, cheese or tomato. Not much!

One other option was to bring sealable bags and just fill them up at various events. There are always a few Parmesan Cheeses and Salamis lying around…I’ll just have to be subtle, but that should be no problem, ‘subtle’ is my middle name!

Should I stay or ….sono qui!

Day 4:

I think I got myself a suntan yesterday. So much for the BBC weather forecast of heavy rain in Milan. I think this is the last time I will consult the BBC website for that. Useless!!

Now that I’m actually here, I’m glad I decided to come. In response to the usual ‘So, what have you seen so far that’s good’ question you ask everyone you come across in Milan, someone said ‘I think this year is not so much about the products, it’s more about the people’. Good answer I thought and on reflection, hasn’t it always been about the people? Obviously Design is why we are all here, but is it Design that makes us all come back year after year.

We all know that it’s tough to make it in our industry but one thing we all have in common is the honest passion we share for what we do and Milan is a great excuse to leave our daily routine behind and enjoy ourselves.

Haha, I’ve come over all philosophical now, well, before I think too much I think it’s time to hit the town!!

See you next year