There’s a vending machine at the Chiostri di San Simpliciano that tells you what kind of person you are: a fashion icon, seriously pissed off, or a total bore. Demna got it right with “Gucci Memoria” at this year’s Design Week—not only by opening the Italian brand’s vast archive to the public, but also by tapping into the gadget obsession that has shadowed the design week for years.

The result? The brand’s cans are already being resold at outrageous prices on Vinted and other resale platforms. And they’re far from the only objects that have become the real headline of this year’s Design Week.

Also popping up online are the lollipops created through the Chupa Chups x IKEA collaboration, flavored after the Swedish brand’s iconic meatballs—now the subject of entire design collections and unlikely partnerships. Even though the same gadget will be distributed for free in IKEA stores starting in June (and was already free at the brand’s Spazio Maiocchi event), prices currently range between 16 and 22 euro.

And then, of course, there are tote bags. From Bottega Veneta’s paper bag to canvas totes by Missoni, Aesop and Grafiche Milani, Fuorisalone totes are all over Vinted, with prices reaching 100 euro. The standout, however, is McDonald’s: its bags—already among the most queued-for items in Tortona during Design Week—are now impossible to find. Originally red and yellow and designed to celebrate the brand’s 40th anniversary in Italy, they’re now reselling online from 54 euro.

Resale platforms also feature gloves—like those required to handle books in Jil Sander’s library-installation—and books themselves, especially the two titles highlighted in Miu Miu’s talks: A Girl’s Story and Changing: A Love Story by Annie Ernaux and Ama Ata Aidoo. While they retail in bookstores for under 20 euro, they’re already surpassing 70 euro online.

This phenomenon has a name: scalping. And it has now spread across every layer of design. From Gustaf Westman’s IKEA collection—jumping from 7 euro on shelves to 70 euro on Vinted—to Etro’s stool, a standout of Design Week 2025. As we previously wrote on Domus, what people are paying for in these cases isn’t the object, the signature, or the craftsmanship—it’s the fact that it will disappear, and quickly.

That explains the inflated prices, but not yet another shift: the increasingly intense relationship between Design Week and gadgets. In 2024, it was limited to a few standout cases—most notably the Zegna newsstand tote that went viral for both queues and resale prices. Now, it seems to have taken over the entire design week. Major magazines are replacing event guides with gadget roundups, and brands appear to be channeling their creative energy into giveaways.

As Fuorisalone spaces and access points have paradoxically shrunk this year, the only thing multiplying has been gadgets. So what changed? As often happens, the answer is on TikTok. The platform is filled with creators who, unable to attend Design Week—due to Milan’s rising costs, sold-out events, and restricted access—have shifted online to collect fragments of it without ever being there..

It’s no longer about lining up or proving attendance, but about a different kind of FOMO: one that lets you take part—remotely—in a circuit that feels increasingly exclusive and cult-like. If you can’t get in, you can still buy what circulates around the event—and plug yourself into the same system of signs, images, and objects as those who were there.

Resale becomes a shortcut, and the gadget changes function: no longer just a souvenir, but an object designed to live on beyond Design Week, within a parallel market that extends its visibility and desirability. It’s a second Design Week—one also designed by brands that clearly understood this long before we did.

In short, if you can now rebuild everything on Vinted—from your wardrobe to an Italian design home—you might soon be able to experience the entire Design Week online, without ever setting foot in it.