Style Edit: Loro Piana explores the art of plaid at Milan Design Week 2026
An exhibition at the maison’s headquarters places 24 patterns under the spotlight in an exploration of fibre, craft and contemporary design
At Milan Design Week, it can sometimes feel as though every brand is vying to launch the biggest installation or exhibition in town.
Much of the action centres on the Brera district, where its showrooms, galleries and installations draw a steady flow of designers, buyers and style enthusiasts. At the same time, the area’s courtyards and heritage buildings can become intimate counterpoints to the buzz of the main fair, offering visitors a chance to slow down and experience design at a more human pace.
As its name implies, “Studies” approaches design through case studies, each dedicated to a specific object, function or use. The first instalment focuses on plaid, a pattern that has been central to Loro Piana since the mid‑1980s, when plaids, alongside scarves, were among the brand’s first finished products. From the outset, plaid served as a testing ground for materials and weaving techniques – a place where new blends, constructions and finishes could be explored before being scaled up into wider collections.
Visitors move through a sequence of 24 plaids, each treated as an individual study and differentiated by technique, construction, pattern and finish. Together they reveal how shifts in fibre, structure or surface transform both function and mood.
Finished pieces are shown alongside the raw materials they spring from, such as fibre and yarn – elements that sit at the core of Loro Piana’s identity. Processes are also made visible, so the plaid appears not just in its final form but as the outcome of a precise, repeatable practice. Selected materials – from vicuña and baby cashmere to cashmere, Loro Piana Royal Lightness and linen – are set in dialogue with more innovative fabrics such as Cashfur, Wish wool and Pecora Nera wool.
Techniques on show range from embroidery and appliqué to handloom weaving, needle punching, patchwork and screen printing, each filtered through Loro Piana’s vision. Historic symbols and graphic elements sourced from the archives reappear as contemporary motifs, while variations in colour, pattern, texture and construction demonstrate the depth of the brand’s savoir faire.
Seen in the context of a week that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to scores of events, Loro Piana’s measured, research-driven approach underlines how Milan Design Week has evolved into a platform not just for new product launches, but for investigations into process, material and use.