Shopping for special, limited-edition pieces makes one feel like a design altruist this holiday season. The second edition of SaloneSatellite, the inventive alliance between COSMIT and la Rinascente which serves as an incubator for emerging design talent, is now open for viewing and selling in Milan through December 25.

“In 2013 the largest and most important department store in Italy, La Rinascente, started its collaboration with SaloneSatellite, choosing prototypes from the young designers, requesting a production to be sold in their Design Market area," said Marva Griffin, Curator of SaloneSatellite and International Press Director Salone del Mobile. "For young designers this has been an incredible opportunity where their designs are marketed from September to December next to famous brands. It has been a very interesting promotion for these young designers that La Rinascente continues to promote in 2014 and I hope it will continue in the years to come. SaloneSatellite has a great impact in helping young designers from all over the world to develop their career. After our serious selection, young designers are chosen by companies to mass product their prototypes, becoming well-known international requested designers.”

At la Rinascente, a special pop-up style exhibition called the Design Supermarket showcases products from the seven young designers selected at the 2014 edition of the SaloneSatellite. The designers include Arturo Erbsman (France), Garay Studio (Spain), Tania da Cruz (Portugal), Tsukasa Goto (Japan), Maria Volokhova (Ukraine), Uto Balmoral (Italy), Livia Rossi and Gianluca Giabardo of the Dossofiorito studio (Italy).

Mushroom Lamp by Claudia Garay

Vetted by la Rinascente, each product was selected for its interpretation of the SaloneSatellite theme, “Design, Innovation + Craftsmanship,” which saw young designers investigating the value of integration and contamination between two worlds – the artisanal tradition and the modern possibilities proffered by contemporary, industrial methods.

"Playmobilia" by Tania da Cruz

The variety of products on display represents an anthology of materials and processes. Many of the pieces were fashioned using both traditional and new techniques, like digital manufacturing, seamlessly fusing artisanal and industrial production.

"Agricultural" plate by Tsukasa Goto

The objects also communicate a special reverence for nature or direct interaction with the plant world. Within the collection, Erbsman created lamps that capture the fascination of the various aspects of water, or that evoke the forms of mushrooms; Volokhova's fruit bowls that become poetic citations of mountains and cultivated fields; or vases with feminine attributes and a flowering face.

Atmos Lamp by Arturo Erbsman

Other pieces on sale cross from the literal, functional world into the dimension of play: stools inspired by the hairstyles of famous children’s toys and modular kitchen components modeled on classical friezes and decorative frames. 

To see the full collection, click here.