EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH ROSSANA ORLANDI
ossana Orlandi is a household name in the worlds of fashion
and design. Since its opening in 2002, the Galleria Rossana Orlandi
has become a must-see spot in Milan for all design lovers, being
considered one the best platforms for avant-garde design. During this
edition of Milan Design Week, all eyes were on the gallery thanks to
the ‘Ro Plastic Prize’ and the ‘Guiltless Plastic’ project, both raising
awareness to sustainability. CovetED had the pleasure of catching
up with Rossana Orlandi at her gallery to learn more about these
incredible initiatives.
After working in the fashion world for over 20 years, Rossana Orlandi
took the risk of changing her path and started a career in design. When
she decided to open her gallery in 2002, she was just “buying stupid
things” to fill up the space. But it all changed when she discovered
Sebastian Wrong, the designer of ‘Spun Light’, produced by Flos. The
gallery’s first installation had an enormous success thanks to the
support of friends, design magazines and schools. “It has been super
exciting since the beginning, because designers started welcoming me
with an enormous passion”, says Rossana. “I call my space “the all
design”, because every talent is well accepted and welcome to join our
family.” Rossana was inspired to create the ‘Guiltless Plastic’ project
after seeing a presentation about recycling plastic. The gallery started
to build a collection of beautiful pieces and decided to translate this
disaster into design.
“I think we absolutely have to reuse and
think of other ways to deal with plastic”,
stated Rossana.
During Milan Design Week 2019, the main attraction of the gallery
was the ‘Ro Plastic Prize’, created by Rossana to inspire the design
community. The prize collected over 300 applications from 50
different countries, despite its short application period. Its focus
was to raise awareness about plastic reduction since, according to
Rossana, “plastic is misused and abused”. This is just one more step
towards Rossana’s dream of a world of conscious design.
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