Every April, Salone del Mobile turns Milan into a citywide treasure hunt. Within discreet courtyards, church cloisters and half-forgotten palazzi, designers stage temporary worlds that exist for only a few days before disappearing again. Part of the thrill is access. Doors that are usually locked suddenly swing open, and the city’s historic interiors become unlikely stages for new ideas.

This year one of those doors belongs to Palazzo Acerbi, a 17th-century Baroque palace and landmark in the city center. Inside, California designer Kelly Wearstler has created an installation to mark her first collaboration with H&M Home. The collection marks new territory for the brand: large-scale furniture in a designer collaboration for the first time, alongside homewares in wood, metal, ceramics, marble and textiles. Key pieces will be on display during Milan Design Week ahead of the full September launch.

When we spoke ahead of the opening, Wearstler described the collaboration less as a traditional collection and more as an exploration of how design languages travel between worlds. The installation transforms the palazzo into a series of sensory moments that showcase pieces made for ritual and retail. In our conversation, she reflects on the first time she stepped inside the building, the challenge of designing for thousands of homes at once and the small details that still give away her unmistakable signature.

Natalie Stoclet: What was your first experience of H&M HOME?

Kelly Wearstler: H&M has made such an important impact on fashion, from their designer collaborations with Margiela and Marni to Versace and Simone Rocha, I’ve always considered the brand to be an innovator, and I have been watching H&M HOME evolve, achieving an incredible global presence.

N: Why did this moment feel like the right Milan Design Week debut for you?

K: As our partnership continued to develop, this felt like the perfect environment for a launch, where we could really emphasize the ethos of the collection in bringing leading design to the home in an accessible way. Milan Design Week brings together projects and presentations from across the design space, and this debut is an important moment for Kelly Wearstler Studio.

N: One of the pleasures of Milan Design Week is getting behind doors that are usually closed. What did you feel the first time you walked into Palazzo Acerbi?

K: The space holds an incredible design history of its own, it’s truly magical. My work exists in dialogue between history and newness and how these elements collide cuts the core of my design philosophy. This is the first time Palazzo Acerbi will host a Milan Design Week exhibition, so it feels right to debut our collection in an environment that can be a discovery for everyone. The presentation at Palazzo Acerbi will include a curated selection of pieces from the collection, ahead of the official launch this September.

N: In what way did the building itself become a collaborator?

K: Palazzo Acerbi provides a unique environment for the collection that underscores the longevity of design, and the idea of living well with the buildings or objects that you encounter every day. It plays as host to the collection, and invites visitors to move through the exhibition beneath its frescoed ceilings in an immersive experience of design. It is a classical space and the collection is not, this tension draws into focus a dialogue between permanence and experimentation.

N: If someone walked into the installation without knowing your name was attached to it, what details would give you away?

K: My practice is grounded in my use of materials, and my exploration of the environment within the interior space. The collection mixes wood, metal, and marbles in a way that communicates the same visual language iterated throughout my work. This tendency to mix-and-match materials in a way that creates an experience, is one that I hope would be recognizable and appreciated.

N: What are some of the senses or daily rituals that inspired the collection?

K: Daily rituals can mean different things to different people from sunrise yoga sessions to reading by the lamp at the end of the day. The collection considers the smallest aspects of our daily lives, from turning on the lights, to placing your coffee down on your side table. We’ve developed pieces that uphold these rituals, and support them through thoughtful design.

N: Luxury designers rarely have to think about thousands of homes at once. Did that feel exciting or terrifying?

K: Exciting! Being in a position to contribute something beautiful to people’s homes is such a powerful opportunity. The collection also focuses on pieces that foreground their function, and so it becomes something grounded by experience. The collection is about modality, and bringing adaptability to the pieces so that they can function seamlessly in different environments.

N: Who is the H&M HOME customer, who were you designing for?

K: The wonderful thing about H&M HOME’s audience is that it comprises so many different people and homes across its 28 markets. We’re designing for people across the globe who are interested in design, or simply in bringing something beautiful into their home.

N: Which piece from the collection do you suspect will become people’s favorite?

K: The collection includes homewares as well as furniture, and in so many incredible designs, there's something for everyone. The hope is that the possibilities provided by the collection—especially the bespoke pieces—will allow people to find designs that become personal to them, each piece serving in its own right as an expression of their own creative vision.

The Curva Vase began to stand out as a personal favorite as we created the collection, and its motif is visible in other pieces too.

N: What excites you most about where this collaboration might lead next, for both you and H&M HOME?

K: The collection offers an opportunity to scale designs in a new way—I love this new challenge, pushing the boundaries of my craft and creativity. It allows the studio to create in a way that reaches new audiences, and requires different perspectives. I think it will continue to inspire me and how I approach creating for the everyday.