Design Anatomy
Welcome to Design Anatomy, where we examine the world of interiors and design. With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, Bree Banfield and Lauren Li are excited to share their insights and inspiration with you.
YouTube channel launching soon.
Design Anatomy
Top 5 Design Moments: Insider's Guide to Paris & Milan
Have you ever been moved to tears by the curve of a chair or the light on a Parisian street? We have—more than once. In this episode, we’re sharing our Top 5 most unforgettable design moments in Paris and Milan—the kind that leave you breathless, inspired, and maybe a little emotional.
From the tucked-away ateliers in Paris’s 6th Arrondissement to navigating Milan’s sprawling Salone del Mobile like a pro, we reveal the secret spots, time-saving strategies, and soulful experiences that turn a simple trip into a true design pilgrimage.
But here's what really surprised us: the magic isn’t only in the showrooms or famous installations. It’s in the shared gelato-fueled conversations, the clink of champagne glasses after a long day of discovery, and the unspoken understanding between people who just get why a lamp can change your life.
This episode is also your first look at our 2026 Paris & Milan Design Tour—crafted for just eight guests to preserve that special intimacy of a small group. We’re talking private studios, invitation-only events, and behind-the-scenes access you won’t find on your own.
Whether you're planning your own trip or dreaming of joining us, this is your insider guide to experiencing Paris & Milan like never before.
Information will be sent out today to those on our original waitlist & it's not too late to join below - don't miss out!
https://designanatomytour.wixsite.com/ciao-milan
Thinking about joining Bree & Lauren in Milan 2026?
Jump onto our wait lists below & be the first to know when all these amazing tours are happening!
Paris + Milan Tour 2026 Waitlist link
https://designanatomytour.wixsite.com/ciao-milan
Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment.
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Welcome to Design Anatomy, the interior design podcast hosted by friends and fellow designers.
Speaker 2:Me, lauren Lee and me, Brie Banfield, with some amazing guest appearances along the way.
Speaker 1:We're here to break down everything from current trends to timeless style.
Speaker 2:With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled and lived-in spaces. We're excited to share our insights and inspiration with you spaces. We're excited to share our insights and inspiration with you. Now places are open for our Paris and Milan design tour 2026, and do we have an incredible design experience in store for you? We're taking a small group of design lovers on a once-in-a-lifetime tour through Paris and Milan, and this is not your average design itinerary.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, brie. It's so exciting. It was the best, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:I can't wait to do it all again.
Speaker 1:I know I think, with writing my book the New French Look, it introduced me to some truly inspiring designers, artists and makers and on this tour I'll be opening their studio doors to you. It's exclusive home tours, private viewings and an invite only experience to see these amazing showrooms that you know, even spaces that were featured in my book we get access to, so amazing.
Speaker 2:I think that was almost the best part was seeing those places in real life. It was incredible and for me, after more than a decade of attending Milan Design Week, I've really come to know exactly where the magic happens and what not to see. So you'll get early access to the best events, private Milanese home tours and a curated path through Salone to avoid all the overwhelm.
Speaker 1:And together we have designed this tour to immerse you in beauty, creativity and connection, from intimate dinners in Parisian bistros to behind-the-scenes visits during Milan Design Week. Your heart may skip a beat. The beauty might even move you to tears and I have to say, embarrassingly enough, I was crying walking down the street of Paris when I first landed there. So embarrassing, I always cry.
Speaker 2:I always cry at some moment. Yeah, of course it's so beautiful and also, you know, it is really about connection. One of the things that we both realised on this tour you know within a couple of days and how amazing our group was and something I just didn't even think about is how great it was to connect with all these beautiful, like-minded people, and we had these moments at lunches where everyone's sharing their amazing stories. Where I went oh my God, this is actually one of the best parts. It's not all the stuff we spent all the time curating and, of course, those experiences are amazing, but it was those personal connections that were made on the trip that made it so special, I think.
Speaker 1:I agree, and I also didn't think about how much joy that I got from seeing people experience some of these spaces as well for the first time and one of our friends, mel, on the trip. Her camera, her phone, I don't think left her hand. She takes the best photos, but seeing the joy that she got for experiencing Paris for the first time, I found that just such a cool thing. It just was beautiful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we're both people who absolutely love to share things that we love and get so much joy when we see other people feel the same way about them. So the spaces are really limited. We only take eight people. We won't take any more than that. We really like to keep it small, um and special. So if you are dreaming of a design tour that goes beyond, just like the surface itinerary, this is your invitation. You can check your inbox. We will have released that today and that's the 7th of september, correct?
Speaker 1:we're actually august. Is it the year's flying by we?
Speaker 2:don't know where we, we will know what date is when we leave to go there.
Speaker 1:So I think between the both of us.
Speaker 2:Hopefully we'll figure it out sorry, I hope so, um, but so we thought today, um, in today's episode, that we would talk about the top 10 things we think you need to know when visiting paris and milan and some of our tips. So good.
Speaker 1:so I wanted to start with aris, if that's okay, brie, of course. Okay, brie, of course. I have got sort of five top things that I would recommend you go and check out or come with us on the tour. The first one is the Left Bank and more specifically, the showrooms in the 6th arrondissement. If you're there, time it to the pad fair number three are the fee flea markets.
Speaker 1:You must visit the flea markets. And number four is generally le marais area and a few places there, um, like pierre yovanovitch showroom. And number five would be I think it's what we were sort of talking about brie. It's when you can be um, your inspiration cup is filled, you're sitting around a table, or in this case I was thinking about Hotel Costas.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:We just swanned in there.
Speaker 2:We did.
Speaker 1:We were seated in this beautiful banquette seating area with these, you know, fringed lounges. It's very opulent but it's sort of quite minimalist. At the same time it's sublime and it's a real people watching, like a celebrity people watching kind of place.
Speaker 2:And we were quite exhausted.
Speaker 1:It was the last, very last activity, but we all just sat in these comfortable lounges, we had a drink and we just hung out and relaxed and I think that's something that again, I guess we had a plan on our itinerary.
Speaker 1:It was there, but actually being there with a group of women and I guess we're open to men as well coming along, of course, yes, of course, but there was a couple of people that were sort of almost like a bit of the glue in the trip that just were talked to everyone really effortlessly, really easily.
Speaker 1:There was a few that were a of almost like a bit of the glue in the trip that just were talked to everyone really effortlessly, really easily. There was a few that were a little quieter and I think that was that lunch that you spoke about, before sitting around a table and we were having this most opulent lunch served by waiters in tuxedos and everything, and it was hearing almost like a life story told in a really beautiful but yet sort of casual way, and it was. You're laughing, you're crying, you're feeling really connected, you're just in this moment. You're like, is this real? Like it was just one of those really special moments, and I think you know, brie and I kind of looked at each other. We're like, oh wow, this is really cool. Like look at this beautiful group of women that we've brought together, and you can't script that.
Speaker 2:It was the unexpected things on the trip, whether that was like just kind of going, hey, let's go in here and have a drink or hey, let's just throw this into the itinerary because we have time and sometimes those little things are the best surprises, but it was that unexpected moment of like. I still. I'll always remember that moment of like, glancing over at you when that was happening and going hang on, this isn't. I didn't think about this. I didn't think about the fact that we would love all of these people. I mean, we obviously we're people, people like we. We enjoy being around people and and getting to know new people. But I just didn't realize how much of a connection you would make with someone.
Speaker 2:I guess when you're traveling. It's a, it's a different experience. You're away from home, it's a lot more intimate and you're right, there was lots of different, I guess, characters, but everybody sort of got along and you find your people as well. But also, only being eight guests means that we sort of stay as one group and you don't sort of tend to, you know, break off into smaller groups. Everyone gets along really well. We can give everyone the attention they deserve too in the smaller groups. So I think it's that intimacy that's created is why it was so easy to make connections as well with the people that were there. And also, we're all like-minded, we're all there for the same reason. We're, all, you know, taking in the most beautiful, beautiful things, so that puts you in a pretty good mood.
Speaker 1:A glass of wine and a cocktail doesn't hurt either it does not hurt, but I think it's yet to your point. You know, when you're overseas and you're experiencing something so beautiful and you want to turn around to someone and say, oh my god, did you see that light over there? Look at that light, look at that chair. Like you want to share it with someone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you don't ever get really that opportunity to do that with someone that's that excited as you are About the same thing right yeah, Like you know, you might be traveling with your partner or a friend that's not in the industry and say that and they'll be like, oh, yeah, yeah. Whereas you know, on the tour they're all like, oh, it's amazing. Or you know, you'll talk about what it is or why it is, or whether you maybe don't like it. Oh no, I don't like it because it's like those discussions are kind of what makes it special.
Speaker 1:So true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not just like you know the amazing itinerary that we have curated for you, not just like the amazing itinerary that we have curated for you, so I guess, yeah, that would be my first one.
Speaker 1:Like Hotel Costas was just a really beautiful place and having that experience to share with a small group. Number two would be the Left Bank and specifically the 6th arrondissement, which has a whole host of showrooms, and that was our. I think that was our first activity, actually our first day, and it was just we did not waste a minute.
Speaker 2:No, we definitely didn't.
Speaker 1:It was so great. I think the first place we went to was the Invisible Collection and I have sort of worked with them a little bit in my book and we obviously they anticipated us. That's, I guess, what I'm trying to say. It was really lovely and again, that was something I have to say. I kind of you don't know, you don't know the vibe You're going by emails, really friendly emails, very responsive, but when we got there they were just really happy to see us and I think they were impressed. Obviously, we've come all the way from Australia.
Speaker 2:People do get impressed by that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the hospitality she was gorgeous, the woman that worked there and the Invisible Collection. If you're not familiar, I would encourage you to just jump on their website because it hosts furniture from all of these different designers from around the world, specifically, I guess, europe, and it's a really gorgeous eclectic mix. It's about handcrafted pieces and quite limited edition, so that was really fun. We hopped over there and this left bank area. It's known for being a very artistic area. The universities were set up there and I remember when we got there Brie, we were walking along the streets and we smelled this like French onion soup smell.
Speaker 1:And I was like, oh my gosh, I just read that in one of the guidebooks that was where French onion soup originated from, because it was such a affordable but uh, you know hearty kind of meal. So it's just like all of these layers of history. I just absolutely love it all you do love that.
Speaker 2:I love it all we did rely on you for all the little historian moments of telling me about oh and because this is, this statue was blah, blah, blah, whereas I'm like oh yeah, this is where everybody's head was rolling, where the guillotine was set up.
Speaker 1:I just think it's so amazing it was pretty amazing, all these prisoners were held in this palace here and all of these cool things, um, but try not to bore everyone with all of that. But, um, we checked out a bunch of showrooms around there, so around that area you've got India Madhavi as well. So she's known for her use of colour and gorgeous, quite playful furniture that I think we really love in Australia as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do.
Speaker 1:That was a nice visit. And then there's a few fabric houses in that area as well, data. I think we finished off brick houses in that area as well, data, I think we finished off. We actually had lunch at Le Deux Magots, which is like a really famous French bistro and they had just finished some renovations, and it was just really special to be sitting sort of in this outdoor semi-covered area. The sun was shining, the champagne was pouring. It's just magic, um. So that would be one of the first places I would recommend to check out, and we also. I think one of the last places we went to was gallery amelie de schulard. So she is a it's an art gallery and it's beautiful contemporary pieces that that are just a bit left of center so she was great too.
Speaker 1:I suppose my number three would be the Pad Fair. So, I feel like it's more of an underrated furniture fair. Obviously, Milan is huge. This is a tiny little speck compared to the Milan Fair, but what it is, it's very curated. So if you love vintage furniture and have introduced artwork as well into the collection. So it's really rare vintage pieces that you can see all in the one place. And I think Brie and I were the last ones to leave because you could hardly drag me out of there.
Speaker 2:I loved it, I could have spent longer probably.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's tiny compared to even some of the fairs we have here. It's not a big fair but it was very like highly concentrated, the kind of top tier suppliers, dealers, in sort of vintage with some new, but it definitely had a vintage tone to it with some new, but it definitely had a vintage tone to it.
Speaker 1:It did um and it was a really great atmosphere in terms of um. Well, number one, again surprisingly, how friendly everybody was and wanting to talk to me, which I thought was beautiful, and the people attending like they were the real deal, like professional designers, and it had a really good atmosphere. One of the stands that stood out to me was like a design collective from Russia.
Speaker 2:And it was just different.
Speaker 1:It was just so fun to see really contemporary, gorgeous pieces. So across town, in the other district called Le Marais again, it's famous for having beautiful streets. I mean all of Paris kind of is, but there may have been a tear shed when I walked down those streets.
Speaker 2:And I don't really need to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't really need a huge itinerary because it all kind of hits you in the face. However, something like Pierre Yovanovitch, I would definitely go and check that out, and that is just off the main street and nearby. There we found a really great coffee place, and I have to say Paris is not known for its coffee.
Speaker 2:We drank some no, you have to sort of search that out a bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was called Sevenly Heart or something like that. It was a really cute little coffee place. Also, I want to mention another showroom that we saw going back to the 6th arrondissement. It was Christophe Delcourt.
Speaker 1:Ah, yes that was a really great showroom and they were so gorgeous, to us very friendly in there as well. The pieces were exquisite, amazing sort of similar to PA Yovanovitch, I guess, in terms of handcrafted, quite unique design, natural materials, you know, chunky sort of oak sofas with beautiful upholstery, like in these huge big modular shapes. And she was great because she took us to their little studios up the back and upstairs and we got to see sort of a bit of a behind the scenes, which was great.
Speaker 1:And then I think, lastly, it is just something so basic, but it just stands out for me and that is really just walking around the streets of somewhere like Le Marais and taking it all in and taking photos and just letting yourself wander.
Speaker 1:I think I was wandering around Le Marais before we started the tour and I just followed my nose and I walked into a museum of decorative arts and it was just one of those unexpected, mind-blowing things that you can plan so much. But sometimes it is just nice to follow your nose as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:But I think one of the most overrated places is the Champs-Élysées. For me it's very commercialized. It doesn't have that really great atmosphere in some of those little streets. So you might want to check it out, but I would probably give it a miss.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I guess, if you've never been, go and have a look. But I agree, there's so much more to see of Paris and I think it's easy to fall into the sort of tourist trap of what we think is going to be. You know where you want to go, but that's why you come along with us and we'll take you to the best places. We won't take you to the shops, elise.
Speaker 1:Another thing that you must see in Paris are the famous flea markets, and there are a few. If you are design addicts like us, there's only one flea market that you want to go to, and that is the Paul Burt Market. So what it is? It's made up of lots of little stalls and it's high-end vintage, so it's not the kind of thing that you're just going to wander through and pick up a little souvenir. That's not what this market is. Even calling it a market doesn't feel like the right word, but it is just a lot of different vintage vendors all in one outdoor market. Some of it's covered as well, and you can find unique ceramics.
Speaker 1:I think that was one of my highlights. I found this really great store with this woman who sources these ceramics that are made in the countryside in France somewhere, and hearing the whole story behind it. It's just really fun as well that it's vintage French pieces art deco, 1960s, 70s so much fun. So it is open on Saturdays and Sundays are the main days. However, perhaps you might want to avoid the crowds and go on a Friday morning, which is what we did, so you don't really need to get up at the crack of dawn. You can wander through, speak to the vendors. Again, I don't know. I think there is this stereotype of French people feeling really snooty or something. I did not experience that Well, maybe just once, but everyone was so friendly and I think because we were so excited, they were excited to see us excited over their pieces. It was just they were just wonderful. So that is another thing. I would definitely recommend that you make the 40 or so minute train trip out of suburb of Paris and enjoy a couple of hours there.
Speaker 2:Okay so Milan? Well, I think obviously I can't. Milan is different every year. It's a couple of hours there. Okay so Milan? Well, I think obviously I can't. Milan is different every year. It's a bit of a moving feast and we don't know where the exhibitions are going to be and literally you know there's obviously a bit of a who's who of generally who would be exhibiting.
Speaker 2:But what I thought I would do is give you the tips more around. If you're going A where to stay, that'd be number one. So I find the hotels will be quite expensive and usually booked out, and also the. I guess to stay anywhere half decent in a hotel, you really do need to spend a fair bit of money. There are some okay ones out there, but your expectations need to be lowered in terms of the style and that sort of thing, particularly during that week, because they really push their rates up. I find the best thing to do is hopefully have a group of people with you and you can find great apartment accommodation bookingcom, airbnb and there's a few others you can look at.
Speaker 2:But in terms of where, if you look at a map of Milan, you can see it's sort of based on the old city, which would have had the wall around it. So it's sort of circular, so sort of stay inside that circle as a general guide but and sort of close-ish to Duomo, which is in the middle, so that's the big church. My favorite places are Brera. If you can get accommodation in Brera, that's probably the closest you're going to be to most of the design areas, and a lot of the great, I guess, exhibitions and showrooms are in Brera. Brera is kind of a design area in Milan.
Speaker 2:But I also love Tortona. I've stayed in Tortona for many years and we stayed in Tortona again this year and we had a really great apartment. It was easy to get around. Nivelli I love, which is close to the canals, and I guess the biggest tip is, wherever you decide to land, make sure you're just walking distance to a train station or a tram that can take you to the train station. So that's kind of the big takeaway in terms of accommodation If you're looking and you're not really sure where to stay.
Speaker 1:And do you mean walking distance or running distance, because I believe we ran a few times.
Speaker 2:The other great thing for me. I mean, paris has amazing food. We had some fabulous food, great drinks, but for me, italy is where the food is at. It is my favorite kind of food. I had the good coffee. Yes, we were missing that.
Speaker 2:One of my absolute favorite things is gelato and I took this was actually not during the tour, maybe we'll take the tour there next year took uh, this was actually not during the tour, maybe we'll take the tour there next year. Um, but I took our small little friend group, um, after we'd finished the tour to my favorite gelato place, which is um bastienalo, and uh, that's in san babila, I think it is um and it's just the most. That's like really old, it's been there forever. It's a patisserie as well, so it has like pastries and you can get food and you can have wine and all that sort of stuff. But we sat down inside the little kind of patio area and had some gelato at kind of afternoon, wasn't it? It wasn't quite end of day, but we were like ready to just sit and relax and enjoy a moment.
Speaker 1:I have to say that was one of my favorite the best timed gelato, because that was after we'd done the Paris tour, the Milan tour, and then we had a day and I mean I'm an introvert so I actually need a bit of minute to recharge. But we'd gone hard that morning and we were just quite well. I was quite exhausted and we sat down and we took a leisurely long gelato break.
Speaker 2:It was fantastic, wasn't it?
Speaker 1:And it was so yeah, I loved how traditional it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. You know the waiters in their tuxes and all of that sort of traditional beautiful Italian patisserie style. Machete is also. We went there for breakfast with the tour group. That's another place which I would recommend you check out, even just for the beautiful pistachio green interiors. It's sort of got the Prada green. I think the Prada group actually own them now. I don't know if they always have, but that's a bit of an experience as well and a bit of an institution. There's, I think, three different places in Milan, three different locations, but I guess I think the coolest one and the one you go and sit down at is inside the Galleria there, right near Duomo, so in central Milan.
Speaker 1:And that really is a place where you've got to know it. You could walk past it.
Speaker 2:You don't really see where it is upstairs in the gallery, so you kind of have to know where the entry is. Yes, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:Secret it was and when we were there. I called my mum on FaceTime. I'm like you've got to see this place, I love that.
Speaker 2:And then the other food thing. I mean there's so many food things, we could do a whole podcast just about that. But the other thing that um is great is just like a really quick and easy snack, is um, the penzorotti, which is like the kind of it's like a, like a fried sandwich that you can have like cheese and all sorts of things inside. And uh, luini is where you go for that, which is, again, is in that sort of central Milan area. Yeah, so that those are my kind of top tips for the food. Coffee you can pretty much go anywhere and the coffee's good. You don't need to search that out. People do love the Starbucks. I'm not a big fan of Starbucks, but the Starbucks in Milan is a bit of an experience. So if you are into kind of like coffee, you might want to go and have a look there. It's not like any other Starbucks, it's quite full on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people will be gasping, thinking what on earth is Bree talking about in Milan to recommend Starbucks. But when you see it, you will understand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is, and because of where it is, sort of a bit central, a lot of people choose that as kind of a meeting place, an easy meeting place, because people can find it easily and you can grab a coffee. But I mean, I've been a few times but, as I said, I'm not a Starbucks fan Because we're Melbournians quite different. Okay. So showrooms there are obviously some showrooms that are there all year and it's hard to sort of point out what's the thing to see during design week except if it is a permanent showroom. So I would say Casina, for me, is probably my favorite permanent showroom in Milan and it always is beautiful.
Speaker 2:During design week they usually do new installations and colors and things like that, and it's got that beautiful spiral staircase that you would have seen on Instagram probably a million times and usually that's in a different color each year. Oh really, yeah, yeah, usually. I mean I don't know, I'm trying to remember if it changes every year or you know, just kind of every second or whatever, but it is often a different color. That central section, I just. I mean, I love Casina's products and they definitely push the colour boundaries in the showroom, so you sort of get to experience that sort of dynamic feeling.
Speaker 2:It's a big showroom on multiple levels, but it's not big and airy and minimalist. It feels quite kind of cosy and specific and a design story is told in each space. So I find that to be a great one to make sure you visit. And my other favorite would be De More and they would do something different every year. This year they didn't have it in their actual apartment space that they usually do it in. They had it in an old theater. Some people kind of criticize the long lines for and this is something you will experience, without a doubt, during design week, unless you come with us unless you come with us, yeah, the wait time can be quite long as well.
Speaker 2:We do skip the lines. The start of our tour and we basically some of the top places we went to, we found out the lines were hours and hours long afterwards during the rest of the week. So I think we were very fortunate to be able to get in ahead of those lines and also have, you know, actual tours with the designers and have those conversations, which is what we do when we go through. But De More is always a popular one, but I would recommend making sure you look that up beforehand. You can book times. They usually have like a little booking system so you can actually book a time and then when you go and stand in the line, you might be in the line for half an hour. So that wasn't so bad.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I think that is going to be the future of the Milan Fair. Really, yeah it should be.
Speaker 2:I think that's how they have to do it, because it is pretty ridiculous to be standing in a line to see one thing and hope that that's the thing that you, you love and want to experience, based on probably other people's photos of it or hearsay. But there were what? Three hour waits for the most popular places. I think um, el Decor and uh, apartmento were the sort of big ones that had the longest lines, and Demore didn't have those of big ones that had the longest lines and Domore didn't have those long waits because they had the booking system. So it actually worked quite well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, really clever. And then what would be my next tip? So I guess the fare? So Milan Design Week is really centred around Salone, which is out in Raffaera, which is outside of the city, so it's not part of the satellite installations within Milan. You have to get on a different train system and so it's kind of like, I guess, if you're in Australia, we have metro trains, so they have the metro system, and then we have kind of rural trains and it's a little bit like one of those that goes to the outer suburbs, so a different zone, I guess. So you need to jump on the train out to there. You need to have a ticket for the fair. So make sure you actually look all of that up and register beforehand and pay for that ticket. And then you need a plan. So the fair is and I've forgotten the stats that I usually know off the top of my head, but if you know the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, for instance, it's about 10 of those, I think you know the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, for instance, it's about 10 of those, I think maybe even more.
Speaker 2:Not every hall is worth visiting. You kind of need to know why you're there. So you're just going to kind of check it out. Then there's probably, like I don't know, three main halls that you might want to go and see and, depending on what year it is next year will be Eureka, china, which is bathroom and kitchen you obviously want to go and see that. I guess the best bit about when we take you is we already know exactly where we're going to go. We don't spend a lot of time there on the tour, but you have the option to go back. We just give you a taster and we'll take you to the main halls and the main places and brands that we think are worth seeing, and then, if you want to go back there, I can also give you a list of the other places, because if you start just wandering through halls, you'll find yourself there literally for days and you will see a whole heap of crap Because it's you can imagine, it is the main furniture fair of the world.
Speaker 2:So it's not just all the good stuff, it's everything. It's like beds and bed bases and office furniture and all the basic stuff. So there's halls full of those things and unless you're a buyer for a store that you stock that stuff and you want to go and do the deals, you don't need to visit those ones. You just want to visit those main halls that have the good brands and the fun stuff.
Speaker 1:I guess what about if you were going to Milan for the first time and you realized, oh, this is where the fair is, and would you recommend to stay out there?
Speaker 2:No, well, only if that was your, if you were like I'm going to spend three days at the fair or the whole week at the fair, and that is my main goal, and I think the only people doing that are people that are dealing with the brands there and spending time on the stands to meet clients, or you're literally a buyer and you're there because this is why the fair exists.
Speaker 2:It's for people to go and do the deals of buying the furniture to put into their showrooms all over the world. Then, of course, stay in one of the you know conference type hotels out there, but it's not close by to Milan, so don't look at that as being somewhere to stay. Otherwise, you're going to be on that long train commuting in and you're not going to be close by. If you're going out for dinner or drinks or any of the parties that are on, you'll be miles away.
Speaker 1:And it's probably. Was it 40 or so minutes? Yeah, it's not crazy, it is about that. Look out for pickpockets too.
Speaker 2:It's fine, but it's like commuting. If you lived in sort of the outer suburbs of Melbourne or Sydney or, I'm going to guess, brisbane, because I haven't commuted there and you have to, like you know, go into work each day. It's like that. It's like living in an outer suburb and there's not a lot around. It's quite sort of industrial. It's not sort of the pretty area or anything like that, yeah. So I guess that's the main tips. The food isn't great out there.
Speaker 2:If you know some brands, maybe hit them up for lunch, or just be prepared to be standing in long lines to get your lunch, if you're there for the day, or your coffee and sort of standing and eating. There are sort of cafeterias you can go to as well, but it's quite busy, it's very busy. So I guess just be prepared for that, be prepared for lots of walking. So much walking, yeah. So good. Comfortable flat shoes, really in general, the whole of design week, to be honest, which I guess is the other bonus, if you find a combination that's in that sort of central area and you're walking all day and you have time, which generally I don't, but every now and then you might want to go back, have a refresh and then maybe you'll put on a nice pair of shoes to go out to dinner or something like that, but that rarely happens it's too much to see?
Speaker 1:go, go there's no time to relax, it's just yeah.
Speaker 2:You don't have a lot of time for that. We pretty much go. I mean, it's not early, early starts generally Like. Italy is not a early morning city. It's like most things don't open till 10, sometimes later, but then it's a late night city, so then you might be out until who knows what time, depending on who you are.
Speaker 2:Me time depending on who you are Me out late, lauren in bed, me snoring, bree still working, I know me tapping away on my laptop. And then the last tip would be this is unrelated to Design Week, sort of is if you do want to allocate a day, go out to the outlets at Serra Valley, so it's like a town that was built specifically for outlets. So most of the big brands are there, you know, like the Gucci's and the Prada's and all of that. So if you have a little bit of money to spend and you want to go and invest out there, I do recommend it.
Speaker 2:Invest. I went for the day Totally. I love it. I probably could have spent two days. You can get a shuttle from Milan. It is an outer suburb, it's not like around the corner, so you book the shuttle bus beforehand. Make sure you do book it beforehand. They do book out. You go I think it was Centrale, the main station. Jump on the bus there, I think it was Centrale, the main station jump on the bus there and then it brings you back at the end of the day. So I easily spent the day there and I was with other people. So you get invested in their purchases as well and you're looking around and it was good. So if you do like that sort of thing the designer brands it is worthwhile and you do save a bit of money. Or well, you spend a bit but you save a bit right, it's not what you spend exactly, you know.
Speaker 1:Maybe we should look into that. If there's um, you know the the final numbers that we get for the tour, we could say if you want to do this as an after thing yeah, we could do it as an official, as a bonus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, come along, because it is. It is a lot of fun too. It's a lot of fun even if other people are spending money and you're not. I think that's fun too, yeah.
Speaker 1:I think I was flying out that day, so I didn't I couldn't join you. Yeah, you were, that's right you do need to come.
Speaker 2:You need to come next year, yeah, um, and then if I'm going to talk about something that's overrated, that I fight. I fight really hard because I guess Paris is very much a tourist. It's a destination city Totally. Milan's not really. If you were just going to Italy, you know, to do a beautiful Italian tour, milan probably wouldn't be high on the list of a tourist city to visit. Milan is really on the map because of its industry in design, so fashion and interiors. So if you were in that frame of mind, you might go to Milan because there are a lot of great brands there and maybe you'd organize to do some even like factory tours and things like that with some of the brands. But it's it's sort of just a kind of an ordinary city. It's beautiful because it's Europe and it's Italy and there's still amazing things to see and there are a few kind of touristy things like the Last Supper is there.
Speaker 2:I've gone to see that, that was worthwhile. And, ps, if you do want to see that, you do have to book that months and months ahead. That actually does completely book out. Yeah, you can't just kind of go that week. Oh, maybe I'll go see this and book it, it'll be booked, so make sure you book that.
Speaker 2:It's only a really small church. It's like quite an intimate space. I thought it would be this kind of big grand thing like the Sistine Chapel, but it's not at all. It's quite little. It's worth seeing. But yeah, so Milan in itself, I guess I wouldn't say it's an. I think it's kind of an underrated city, but I guess it could feel overrated if you were going there thinking it's this sort of touristy city. It's. It's very much. Not that it's good for shopping, it's good for the outlet if you want to go out there. Yeah, and it's unbelievable during design week it, the city is transformed, the energy is amazing. Such a good buzz, yeah. So outside of that it would be quite a different city yeah, it's not's not a shiny, polished place.
Speaker 1:I think when we were in Paris and they had just cleaned up the city for the Olympics it was almost like walking through a movie set. It was actually on the verge of being a bit too perfect, if that's even a thing. But Milan it was such a contrast. It's where actual regular people live.
Speaker 2:It is. It's a real city. It's a actual, regular people live. It is. Yeah, it's a real city. It's a working city. Yeah, yeah, it's a real city. It's not pretend, it's not fake. But I guess, to wrap it up, you know, really we would love I mean obviously we love to share these tips with you, but what we would really love is for you to join us on the tour, because we know it's going to be amazing. It absolutely exceeded our expectations this year, so we can only think that it's going to be even better in 2026. We'd love to have you with us.
Speaker 1:Come. I guess what we say next is find the link in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Yes, or check your inbox if you were on the waitlist, and hopefully were. If you weren't on the waitlist, absolutely find the link in the show notes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, get in touch with us and we'll give you the details. Yeah Great, We'll shortlist you. So exciting Brie.
Speaker 2:I think it'll be a long list of people wanting to come next year. So getting quick, I know.
Speaker 1:I think we've got quite a long wait list already. But yeah, it's very exciting, it is fun, all right. Thanks for that, brie. Oh, it's good to reminisce thanks, lauren.
Speaker 2:Ah, that's so nice. Now I'm really excited and I'm hungry one of those, those fried sandwich things.
Speaker 1:That was the most perfect. The pencil art yes, all I'll talk to you next time, Bree.
Speaker 2:See you later.
Speaker 1:Bye. We've got the utmost respect for the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. They're the OG custodians of this unceded land and its waters, where we set up shop, create and call home and come to you. From this podcast today, a big shout out to all of the amazing elders who have walked before us, those leading the way in the present and the emerging leaders who will carry the torch into the future. We're just lucky to be on this journey together.