MILAN — Traditional marketplace and trade show models are being challenged within the art and design communities.

Lifted by a growing appetite for collectible art and design, the organizers of the high-end design, art and antique showcase Salon Art + Design continue to contemplate new ways and new destinations to engage with potential collectors.

“The intention is not to replicate the fair elsewhere, but to create complementary moments through exhibitions and conversations that continue to build context around the work and reinforce Salon’s role as a platform for serious dialogue around collectible design,” Salon Art + Design executive director Nicky Dessources told WWD in an interview. Since 2024, she has been expanding the fair’s dialogue between design and fine art in new and often unexpected ways.

Salon Art + Design’s latest event, which kicks off Tuesday, at Bergdorf Goodman is another curated exhibition of museum-quality art and collectible design — one that allows collectors to view pieces in a residential-style atmosphere that gives them time to reflect and experience design in a cultural context.

On view until May 10 and curated by interior designer Michael Bargo, the presentation marks the second year of the partnership, transforming the department store’s seventh floor loft space into a homey environment with lime-washed walls by Color Atelier. This year will see an expanded showcase of works from leading galleries including returning galleries De La Vega, Eteline, Onishi Gallery and Liz O’Brien and new ones Hostler Burrows and Wexler Gallery. The latter will present sculptural works by Ezra Ardolino, Cimone Berman, Harry Morgan and more, while Liz O’Brien will present sculpture, furniture and photography, among them a photo by Mark Shaw from 1955: “Pablo Picasso and His Women.”

“These [events] are less about scale and more about precision, and about partnering with institutions, cultural spaces, and design-forward environments where objects can be experienced in a more thoughtful and personal way,” Dessources said.

Around the Globe, the Model Is Changing

Sector wide, collectible design and art continue to drive the expansion of the arts and design calendar.

In 2024, international trade show organizers of Salone del Mobile.Milano tested a similar activation at Bloomingdale’s. “Italian Design: From Classic to Contemporary,” brought together notable Made in Italy products by 23 selected brands.

Harry Nuriev, the creative behind Crosby Studios told WWD in January that he is currently planning a festival that combines design, dance and other art forms — it will include lectures, design competitions and events that unite street culture, pop culture and design. “It’s a way to open the conversation to a bigger audience and make design more accessible,” he told WWD. The event will unfold in tandem with NYCxDesign week, running May 14 to 20.

Art Basel‘s first Qatar edition closed earlier this month, while Nomad, the itinerant design fair known for activating extraordinary architectural spaces, made its Middle Eastern debut at the decommissioned Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi in November.

“Collectors are gravitating toward museum-quality works with real provenance and cultural context, and there continues to be meaningful crossover between fine art collectors and design. Interest in historically important figures and movements also remains strong, particularly when the work is presented thoughtfully and with context,” Dessources explained.

In 2024, Dessources announced a Dallas Salon Art + Design event, which was expected to unfold in 2025. It was canceled due to unexpected circumstances. Organizers are still contemplating a Dallas event, a spokesperson for Salon Art + Design said.

New, Diverse Voices

Dessources has also been busy diversifying Salon Design + Art’s Honorary Committee and Art + Design Advisory Council, evolving them toward greater inter-disciplinarity. “We are thinking carefully about how these groups reflect the broader conversations happening across design today,” she said.

Last year, she expanded the honorary committee with new cultural voices like photographer Douglas Friedman, author Linda Fargo, Gabriel Hendifar, founder of lighting and design hub Apparatus, and Everette Taylor, chief executive officer of Kickstarter, the world’s premier crowdfunding platform for creative projects.

“While we are not announcing names just yet, the 2026 slate will include voices from museum leadership, curatorial practice, interior design studios and academia whose work intersects directly with the themes we are exploring through exhibitions like Bergdorf Goodman,” she explained, adding that the team is expanding their view to institutional and scholarly backgrounds, international galleries and design centers, as well as practitioners working at the intersection of design, craft and fine art. “What we’re seeing is that collectible design continues to be a strong and resilient category, especially when the work is rooted in history, craftsmanship and a clear narrative.”

Salon Art + Design’s annual November fair will take place at the Park Avenue Armory, from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8.