Carrying on its custom of horizon-expanding initiatives, Mazda is to be a main sponsor of the Brera Design District Fuorisalone 2015 on 14-19 April during Milan Design Week. The Japanese carmaker is actively taking part with an exhibition in Mazda Design Space; a special new venue that opened on 27 February in Milan’s artistically inclined Brera quarter.
“As a company that places a huge priority on creativity and design quality, we like to go outside the box for inspiration. These activities in Milan are an excellent opportunity to learn from different fields of design,” said Mazda Motor Europe’s Vice President Communications Wojciech Halarewicz at the Brera Design District Fuorisalone 2015 press conference on last Thursday. “From furniture to fashion and more, Milan is a world design capital. There is no better place to explore creativity and apply our KODO design theme to other disciplines.”
First introduced on a production model in 2012 with the Mazda CX-5, KODO – Soul of Motion is the basis for Mazda’s award-winning vehicle designs. Mazda’s first KODO venture outside the realm of automobile design was unveiled at Milan Design Week in 2013: The unique KODO Chair, like Mazda’s cars, expresses motion as well as precision. It will return to Milan this year, joined at Mazda Design Space by several other KODO-inspired design pieces.
Mazda Design Space was conceived to celebrate those who challenge design convention in the name of innovation and beauty. The inaugural event at the facility took place on Friday during Milan Fashion Week. Entitled “Fashion and Design: A unique Italy/Japan collaboration in support of talented designers” and jointly hosted by Vogue Italia, it featured young designers from “COMEFORBREAKFAST” and Yasutoshi Ezumi, two emerging fashion labels selected by Vogue Talents. They presented their own interpretations of KODO in the form of two inventive outfits exhibited alongside the all-new Mazda MX-5, perhaps the most daring automotive adaptation of KODO to date. Those attending included prominent fashion industry personalities such as Vogue Italy editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, Cuban model and actress Mariela Garriga and Chinese artist Yi Zhou. Mazda Design Space will host various design-related events leading up to Milan Design Week.
