Innovative technology is putting consumers in the designer’s seat and enables them to create customised pieces tailored to fit their tastes and needs. Elsewhere, brands experimented with new lighting technologies and screens to enhance the experience of environments.

Playing to human values, designers tapped into biophilia – our innate affinity with the natural world – and tactility, which resulted in attractive planters and sensuous shapes and some direct references to more intimate encounters.

Designers and brands targeted the contract market with sculptural proportions and a decorative aesthetic for pieces that can adorn Instagrammable hotel lobbies, restaurants and other project spaces.

Designers recognised the impact of healthy lifestyles and athletic pursuits on interiors. They developed storage systems that organise the messy equipment needed for at-home exercise, and furniture inspired by court graphics and go-faster strips.

The week proved a fertile launch pad for fresh retail concepts, offering a dream house filled with colourful art as a new way of interacting with and buying design, or letting the audience experience the raw materials that make up Muji’s homeware. A new circular ownership system introduced a more sustainable method of buying furniture, while design mavericks Tom Dixon and Resident opted for more conventional retail.