Design perspectives
Wicker Returns to Contemporary Homes
What Milan Design Week suggests about bringing woven materials into a contemporary home.
Understand what has changed
The renewed interest in wicker is more than a nostalgic decorating cycle. Azure’s review of Milan Design Week 2026 noted that woven wicker appeared alongside the wood, steel and leather usually associated with new furniture launches. It showed up in showrooms, in statement chairs and in larger architectural installations. For someone renovating a home, the useful question is not whether wicker is “in”. It is how a woven surface can add airiness, evidence of making and a less rigid rhythm to a room. Treating it as a material language makes it easier to test against the available light, furniture proportions and the way the household actually lives.
It does not belong to one style
Wicker is often associated with coastal retreats or rustic rooms, yet the Milan examples point to a wider use. A woven surface has a clear warp-and-weft structure that can echo timber, linen and stone, while also creating a counterpoint to a metal frame or a dark cabinet. In a renovation, look at the hard finishes and upholstery already present before deciding whether the woven material should sit in the background, act as a focal point or remain a small accent. Used this way, wicker does not force the room into a theme. It becomes a middle layer between texture, light and colour.
Start with a chair
A chair is often the most controlled way to test this direction at home. For example, Vincent Van Duysen’s chaise longue for B&B Italia wraps rattan around a bronzed-nickel frame, offering a clear study in how weaving and metal can feel light while retaining structure. Gervasoni’s reintroduction of a Vico Magistretti design is another example of a recognisable cane-era outline returning to a contemporary collection. These references suggest that a wicker piece should be judged through posture, overall volume, frame colour and the breathing room around it, rather than through a generic idea of rustic charm.
Craft can become spatial language
At Milan Design Week, weaving moved beyond small furniture. At Alcova, students from the University of the Arts Bremen worked through workshops that included harvesting materials and making objects ranging from stools and vessels to hats and boots. In Brera, a pavilion with a latticed timber structure drew on vernacular yurt construction. These examples show why the material matters: it can connect where a material comes from, how it is made and how a space is assembled. A home does not need to copy an exhibition. It can borrow the underlying idea by allowing one woven piece to respond to a wall texture, a light direction or the route to a balcony.
Bring it into a living room
Begin with one defined position: a reading chair by a window, a single seat beside the sofa or an extra chair at one end of a dining table. If the room already contains a lot of timber, a darker metal frame can give the woven surface a sharper outline. If the palette feels cool, the warmth of wicker can bridge upholstery and a rug. A high-back Cassina chair that combines a leather cushion with handwoven willow around vertical rattan inserts is one useful example of material contrast. The point is not to copy a brand arrangement, but to let a textured piece answer the room’s light, circulation and daily use.
Check proportion and care
Before committing to wicker, separate the decision into three checks. First, does the weave density and silhouette suit the scale of the room? Second, is there enough breathing room around it, or will another strong texture make the composition feel crowded? Third, do the seat, back and edges suit the household’s routines? Ask the supplier for the care, cleaning and placement guidance for the exact model; experience with another woven piece is not a substitute. A trend becomes useful to renovation when it is translated into a piece whose dimensions, touch and maintenance have all been considered.
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