Milan Design Week 2023 & Salone del Mobile from 18 to 23 April 2023

Press Release

L’École de design Nantes Atlantique brings together four of its alumni at the SaloneSatellite, the international meeting place for young designers

From 18 to 23 April, L'École de design Nantes Atlantique is the only French school represented at the SaloneSatellite, a spin-off of the Salone del Mobile Milano, dedicated to designers under 35.

Invited by Marva Griffin, founder of this major event on the design scene (more than 2,000 exhibitors and 600 young talents), the school has chosen to commit itself to sustainable design, eco-design and inclusiveness, through the projects of four of its alumni.

These young graduates, who are now designers and entrepreneurs, are innovating within Nantes-based startups to address environmental and societal issues:

Marie Bal-Fontaine, Industrial Designer at Beem Energy

Graduated in 2021 from the Master Food Design

Design of solar panel kits for individuals, easy to install for a first step towards self-consumption.

Franck Grossel, Founder of Instead

Graduated in 2018 from the Bachelor Industrial Design - Product Design

High-end, eco-responsible furniture made in France from the cereals resulting from the brewing of beer, the spent grains of brewery.

Morgan Guyader, Designer & co-founder of Malakio

Graduated in 2019 from the Master Global Design

Creation of objects (tableware, decoration, etc.) using shells from human consumption.

Alexia Audrain, creator of OTO Le fauteuil à étreindre

Graduated, in 2019, from the BTMS (Brevet Technique des Métiers Supérieur) Cabinetmaking

An armchair designed for the well-being of autistic people with sensory integration disorders.

"We have chosen to highlight entrepreneurial adventures that perfectly illustrate the relevance of sustainable design and provide concrete and lasting solutions to the major challenges facing our society."

Stéphane Gouret

Deputy General Manager

Stéphane Gouret, Deputy Director General of L'École de design Nantes Atlantique, said:

"The real added value of design is not in the creation of a chair or a table, but in the reflection undertaken to reconcile responsible innovation, economic performance and consumer expectations.

The SaloneSatellite is an exceptional platform for asserting this different positioning, which departs from consumerism, in a period marked by environmental and social emergencies. Rather than presenting student projects specially designed for the occasion, we have chosen to highlight entrepreneurial adventures that perfectly illustrate the relevance of sustainable design and provide concrete and lasting solutions to the major challenges facing our society.

For L'École de design Nantes Atlantique, this invitation to Milan is also a great opportunity: it demonstrates the relevance of our positioning and our international influence."