Adrian Dueñas of BeDesign Is Making Major Designer Moves

Adrian Dueñas.

Milan was once again on fire as designers touched down for the annual Salone del Mobile. We caught up with Adrian Dueñas of BeDesign (be-design.us), who was there for the action.

Who joined you on this trip? We had an amazing opportunity to invite 10 of our best clients this year for the 60th edition of Salone del Mobile, and we provided first-class airfare, the best accommodations and special, beautiful experiences for our guests. Some really big names joined us in Milan, principals from DC Partners, Studio Five, Abel Design Group, Nina Magon Studio and more.

Baxter’s stand-alone space at the Salone married a mixture of pieces from the outdoor collection as well as the indoor collection

Do you oft en travel with a group or was this a first? Traveling to Milan with guests for Salone has been our annual tradition for the past 10 years, and we sadly missed it because of the pandemic last year. It’s always been in April but rescheduled to June this year, and it’s really recaptured the vibe from before all of the lockdowns. The entire world gathers in this place to see the future of design, and we had the best seats to experience all.

Tell us more about the Salone. The scale of Salone del Mobile is enormous, the largest furniture fair in the world with nearly a half-million attendees at the Fiera Milano, a spectacular exhibition center that is the largest in Europe. The fairground is 25 minutes away from central Milan, and at the same time the city prepares what they call Fuorisalone (‘outside the fair’), which makes for a very immersive experience we call Milan Design Week.

Paola Lenti Salone featured bold blue hues through Altopiano and pops of color from the Metamorfosi collection

How did you prepare for the trip? Marcelo [Saenz]and I were in Europe for three weeks; we needed at least a week to prepare everything for our special guests. We were able to make a quick stop in Paris and Lyon to preview the newest Ligne Roset collection, which is an upcoming surprise featured in our showroom, as we’re now the exclusive Houston dealer for this well-respected French brand. We even offer an extensive quick-ship catalog of Ligne Roset pieces available in two weeks or less.

The schedule was always hectic and busy, with private car service for all of our guests to make sure they had a perfect schedule from the opening day of the fair. I feel we must know the Fiera Milano map by heart at this point!

Baxter’s outdoor collection.

Tell us about the festivities. Every day is packed: There are multiple morning private appointments with designers and manufacturers, a lunch break before more appointments, then the driver comes and you have just enough time to change for the evening before hitting two or three dinner parties and cocktail parties for each exclusive brand. These parties are so beautifully designed, super glamorous and go late into the night. It sounds like a lot, but this week only comes once a year, and each time it’s so unique that it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. That’s all only Tuesday through Thursday. On Friday we have some time to walk the city of Milan, drink in the history and have great views of the art installations.

Our last day was at an amazing party at the Diana Majestic hotel, hosted by the Milanese leather furniture designer Baxter.

We capped it all by unwinding for the weekend at Il Sereno Hotel, the new modern masterpiece by Patricia Urquiola, and brunching at the Baxter Lago, which is an immersive experiential house designed by Baxter on the banks of Lake Como.