H&M HOME x Kelly Wearstler at Milan Design Week 2026: Inside the Installation + Our Interview with the Creative Director
New Collaboration: Furniture, objects and a new creative
direction, unveiled in Milan this April
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H&M HOME debuted this week at Milan Design Week 2026 with a new collaboration alongside American designer Kelly Wearstler, marking a clear evolution for the brand.
Presented as an immersive installation inside Palazzo Acerbi, the project offers a first look at a collection that expands into furniture for the first time within a designer collaboration. Open to the public until April 26 2026, it reflects H&M HOME’s growing presence within the global design scene.
We stepped inside the installation to experience it firsthand, and spoke with Evelina Kravaev-Söderberg, Director of Design and Creativity at H&M HOME, to understand the vision behind this new direction.
A New Design Direction for H&M HOME
Developed with Kelly Wearstler, the collection brings together furniture and objects across materials like wood, metal, marble, ceramics and textiles. While the full collection will launch in September 2026, Milan will preview key pieces alongside bespoke designs created for the space.
This shift introduces a more spatial and considered approach for H&M HOME, moving beyond accessories into furniture, while staying rooted in its idea of accessible design.
Meet Kelly Wearstler
Kelly Wearstler is a Los Angeles-based designer and creative director whose multidisciplinary practice spans interiors, architecture, furniture and product design.
Known for her expressive use of material, texture and form, her work moves beyond a fixed signature style, instead creating layered, emotionally driven spaces that feel both bold and intuitive.
An Installation Between Past and Present
Set within Palazzo Acerbi, a 17th-century Baroque palace rarely open to the public, the installation creates a striking dialogue between historic architecture and contemporary design.
Conceived as a sequence of rooms and produced by Studio Boum, it unfolds as a sensory journey where furniture, material and space come together. Each room reveals a different layer, shaping a more immersive way of experiencing design.
Go Behind the Collaboration: A Conversation with Evelina Kravaev-Söderberg
We also had the opportunity to speak with Evelina to understand the thinking behind the collaboration and what this project represents for H&M HOME moving forward.
Why Milan, why now? H&M Home has been a global brand for years, what made 2026 the moment to finally show up at the world's biggest design stage?
We've been a global brand for a long time, and this has been a dream, and a personal goal for me, for a long time. Milan is the creative space for the international interior business. We were waiting for the right time and the right partner.
When we started this collaboration with Kelly, everything felt so right. We wanted to create an installation that is immersive and emotional, and open to the public. That's the beauty of the Salone.
Kelly Wearstler is pure LA maximalism. You're Scandinavian minimalism. How did those two worlds find each other? Was there a moment in the process where everything just clicked?
It clicked from the beginning.
We first met in Los Angeles, at her studio, then Kelly and her team came to Stockholm, and that's when the real creative dialogue started.
We had a similar view of what great design is, what good aesthetics are. We never had opposing views. And I think that's the beauty of design: what we perceive as quality is very global.
You chose one of Milan's most storied baroque palaces as your backdrop. What did that space unlock for the collection? Did the venue change how you saw the pieces, or how you wanted them to be seen?
The venue made it all come together.
To have history meet the present, it's so beautiful. Showing the collection in this space made two opposites attract in the most beautiful way. The colouring of the palazzo fitted perfectly with the materials and colours of the collection.
When we walked in for the first time, both of us said: this is the place.
This is H&M Home's first-ever furniture collab, a real milestone. What does stepping into furniture actually mean for the brand's future?
We've had furniture in our own assortment since 2016–17, and we've developed it steadily since. We've built a supplier chain that can deliver on the quality we want.
Kelly is a powerful designer, she makes pieces that stand out, and they're not small pieces, so it felt very natural. What you see here is only nine pieces, there are twenty more to come.
Favourite piece from the collection?
My favourite piece, the vase in wood.
And the stool in the courtyard: it looks like a sculpture, but you can play with it, do different formations and repetitions. I love that piece.
Be honest, is Milan a one-time stop, or the beginning of something? Where does H&M Home go from here?
We'll see.
We like to surprise both our customers and sometimes ourselves as well. But this is for sure a dream come true, a true milestone for H&M Home.
And of course we have more future visions, but it has to be the right narrative and the right time for everything.
If you had to describe the collection in three words that are not "design" or "home", what would they be?
Relevant.
Inspiring.
Bold.
A First Look Before Launch
This marks H&M HOME’s first participation in Milan Design Week, and an early glimpse of a collection set to launch later in 2026.
Blending accessibility with a more elevated, design-led approach, the collaboration signals a new direction for the brand, where furniture, objects and interiors come together as part of a more considered way of living.
If you’re in Milan this week, this is one to add to your list. Go see it, experience it, and let us know what you think.
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If you enjoyed this article, you should check out A First Look at Longchamp’s Latest Design Collaboration at Milan Design Week
