DESIGN PRIDE, the most democratic party of the Milan Design Week, realised in collaboration with Gufram, Havaianas, Radio Deejay, Treatwell and Wallpaper*, invaded the city with more than 3.000 people. The colourful parade inaugurated the launch of the webpage designpride.org, an actual opportunity for young creatives to transform their ideas into objects to be sold on YOOX.
On Wednesday, April 5th, more than 3.000 people invaded the streets of Milan joining the DESIGN PRIDE, the street parade dedicated to design and promoted by design brand Seletti, by the non-profit association Wunderkammer and YOOX, the world’s leading online lifestyle store for fashion, design and art.
The parade was realised in collaboration with Gufram, the brand which made radical design famous around the world, Havaianas, the most iconic Brazilian brand, Radiodeejay, the wellness website Treatwell and Wallpaper*, the global authority on design and lifestyle.
The colourful parade of floats, banners, music and performances left from Piazza Castello (corner of Via Minghetti) crossing the 5VIE district and ending its route at Piazza Affari with a big final party.
Besides being an event open to all, the DESIGN PRIDE highlighted the new aspect to this edition: the project has become a larger platform to support creativity, while at the same time looking at the dialogue between designers, students, universities and companies.
Through the designpride.org webpage, designers from all over the world are invited to present a project that stresses the traditional craftsmanship of their country of origin; thanks to the efforts of YOOX, who supports young talents since its very beginning, among the projects that will reflect all the characteristics of the announcement, the best ones will have the opportunity to directly enter the market – with worldwide distribution – through one of the biggest online channels.
DESIGN PRIDE, thus, becomes a platform capable of developing a virtuous circle showing the good side of globalization, offering a real opportunity to young designers and practical support to local talent and craftsman.
The street parade
The procession was opened by an old Mini topped by the L.O.V.E. sculpture by Maurizio Cattelan, already the symbol of DESIGN PRIDE, followed by YOOX’s Milanese employees invited to participate and party, plus students from Universities and Design Schools from around the world carrying their projects on their back inside transparent “capsules”, metaphorical chests containing their ideas
The army of students will be followed by Gufram, who invaded the streets of the city with its irreverent spirit; Havaianas marched with a colourful and playful wagon; Radio Deejay made the public dance with the Shorty deejay set all along the route and at Piazza Affari, inviting passers-by to join this huge public party; then Treatwell with its message of beauty and finally Wallpaper*, whose fleet of bikes featured the magazine’s imagery and the slogan ‘Fewer Walls, More Wallpaper*’.
Once again, this year, many designers paraded with projects representing their creativity. The group, led by Studio Job and its Banana Car, saw the participation (amongst others) of Antonio Aricò, BBMDS, Cristina Celestino, CTRLZAK, H! FIVE, Ilaria Innocenti, Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba, Gio Tirotto, Alessandro Zambelli, Zaven.
Music played a crucial part: singer Gaia Gozzi opened the procession with a performance; Stefano Fontana made the participants dance the whole time and Banda d’Affori gave the tune to the march.
Moriss and the PIC (Emergency Services Clown) involved the audience with their joy.
With this new format, DESIGN PRIDE aims to engage with an ever-increasing audience, becoming an international project and travelling to some of the most interesting design events in the world (Festival, Design Week).
DESIGN PRIDE is part of “5 VIE Art + Design”, sponsored by the City of Milan, transforming the oldest and most historic area of Milan into a new district focused on design and innovation.
DESIGN PRIDE is supported by the Triennale di Milano, ADI – the Italian Association for Industrial Design, and the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni.
The Set-Design was curated by the Archivio Personale studio who organized the set up and production of the floats participating in the parade.
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