Xinao Cashmere becomes an installation at Milan Design Week

Walking around Milan during Design Week feels unlike any other time of the year. Buildings open up, doors are left ajar, and spaces that usually remain in the shadows suddenly become accessible. Cortile22, on Via San Maurilio, in the heart of the 5Vie district, is one of these places. For the occasion of Fuorisalone, it hosts The Art of Yarn, an installation through which the textile company Xinao Textiles celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary. The artistic direction of this interior project is by Pierluigi Fucci, an Italian designer discovered by Roberto Cavalli, who later went on to collaborate extensively with Ferragamo, Armani, Kiton, and Lanvin. His material has always been yarn—not as a mere support, but as a language. Here, he works with Xinao’s cashmere, handcrafted by Italian artisans, and takes it beyond its usual function. It is no longer something to be worn; instead, it is reimagined through three-dimensional reliefs, fringes, and volumes that occupy space like sculptures. The stated reference is Jagoda Buić, the Croatian artist and a leading figure of the “New Tapestry” movement, which since the 1960s has transformed weaving into a form of textile architecture. Her environments have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale and later at MoMA. Fucci cites her as a profound influence, and it clearly shows in the project: the same ambition to give textiles depth rather than surface.

At the heart of the installation is a large tapestry featuring three-dimensional waves and fur-like stitches, accompanied by a plaid with long fringes and raised textures created to mark the thirty-fifth anniversary. There is also an armchair and several poufs by Moroso, reinterpreted with asymmetrical cashmere textures. The palette is almost monochromatic, inspired by the ethereal white of Pantone 2026 “Cloud Dancer.” The Art of Yarn is also an opportunity to learn more about Xinao, a company headquartered in China, with a European base in Biella and production in Vietnam. Founded in 1991, it oversees the entire supply chain—from raw fiber to shipping—and its yarns appear in the collections of more than five hundred brands.