In the heart of the world's most prestigious design capital, ECS Studios X Carbon Collective is launching the inaugural edition of Milan Pulse – a boundary-pushing celebration of avant-garde design, sustainable innovation, and cultural fusion.
From September 12-18, during Milan's renowned Fashion Innovation Week, we're transforming the historic Palazzo Magnetico into Milan Pulse: Future Heritage – an immersive journey through the collision of tradition and futurism that defines Milan's creative identity.
The 1,200-square-meter neo-gothic complex, nestled just ten minutes from the iconic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, will host a series of groundbreaking exhibitions, limited product launches, and invite-only performances that redefine what's possible at the intersection of fashion, technology, and culture.
THE EXHIBITION
Milan Pulse brings together an eclectic consortium of visionaries, each installation exploring the tension between heritage and innovation. Featured creators include Studio Synthetique, Aria Collective, NUOVA//ERA, and Tokyo-based tech-fashion pioneer Haruki Yamamoto.
The centerpiece of the exhibition, "ECHO CHAMBER," presents a 360-degree audiovisual dome where visitors experience Milan's architectural history morphing into speculative future cityscapes, accompanied by a haunting soundscape from underground composer Martina Visioni.
Design publication FutureCraft will showcase "MATERIALS REIMAGINED," an exploration of seven revolutionary textiles created from urban waste and bioengineered organisms — each material demonstrated through functional furniture that reimagines Italian design classics.
The Milan Pulse space will welcome visitors daily from 10 am to midnight from September 12-18 (secure your spot at milanpulse.carbon.io). Meanwhile, a carefully curated event schedule will unfold throughout the week.
THE EVENTS
The festivities commence with an opening ceremony featuring a drone light show above the Navigli canals, followed by an invite-only reception hosted by MNDFUL Studios and Nebula Cocktails. The week continues with holographic fashion presentations by designer Eliza Chen, an immersive theatrical performance directed by the controversial Maksim Volkov, and a series of panel discussions on "Design Extinction" featuring prominent voices from Milanese heritage brands confronting radical innovators.
For night owls, the underground club Sottoterra will host a three-night takeover featuring exclusive sets from Detroit techno pioneer Maya Knight, Berlin-based sound architect NEURAL, and Milan's own rising collective Frequenza Distorta.
The week culminates in what promises to be the most talked-about closing event: a floating dinner party on Lake Como where 100 select guests will experience a multi-sensory dining concept by molecular gastronomy chef Paolo Riviera aboard transparent geodesic domes that appear to hover on the water's surface.
THE COLLABORATIONS
Scroll down to discover all the exclusive collections releasing during Milan Pulse, modeled by three emerging Milanese creatives: Sofia Berlusconi, digital artist and granddaughter of former prime minister; Lorenzo Tavelli, architect and founder of sustainable housing initiative Casa Circolare; and DJ/producer Alessandra Martini, whose techno sets have become legendary in Milan's warehouse scene.
All collections will drop online and at our Palazzo Magnetico location starting September 12, with exclusive 36-hour early access available through the ECS Studio X Carbon Collective mobile app.
VORTICE × Studio Synthetique
Milan-based experimental fashion label VORTICE collaborates with architectural collective Studio Synthetique on a capsule collection that reinterprets construction workwear through the lens of luxury. The standout piece: a hand-painted canvas jacket featuring a digitally-generated map of Milan's ancient underground waterways, printed with thermochromic ink that reveals new patterns when exposed to body heat.
Bar Paradiso
Celebrating its 75th anniversary, Milan's hidden speakeasy Bar Paradiso partners with ECS Studio X Carbon Collective on a collection that captures the establishment's secretive allure. Known for serving the political and creative elite since 1950, Bar Paradiso's limited-edition glassware set and silk scarves feature cryptic symbols that supposedly reference secret meetings that shaped modern Italy.
Nebula Cocktails × MNDFUL Studios
Milanese mixology pioneers Nebula Cocktails join forces with digital art collective MNDFUL Studios for an experience that blurs consumption and creation. Their installation features an AI bartender creating personalized cocktails based on visitors' emotional responses to digital art, while their product collaboration includes "mood-responsive" glassware that changes color based on temperature and a series of dehydrated cocktail tablets that bloom into full drinks when immersed in sparkling water.
TEKNICA
Italian technological sportswear innovator TEKNICA presents its CLIMATE.ADAPT system through an installation simulating Milan's extreme weather patterns of 2050. Visitors experience soaring heat, flash floods, and unseasonable cold while testing garments featuring thermo-regulating nanomaterials and moisture-harvesting textiles developed in collaboration with Milan Polytechnic.
VISIONE × Lorenzo Vitturi
Emerging Milanese eyewear artisan VISIONE unveils a collaboration with photographer Lorenzo Vitturi featuring sculptural eyewear crafted from reclaimed materials gathered from Milan's Fashion District waste streams. Each piece incorporates fragments of discarded luxury items transformed into one-of-a-kind accessories, accompanied by Vitturi's photographic documentation of the materials' origins.
Sottoterra
Milan's most exclusive underground club, Sottoterra, launches its first-ever merchandise collection during Milan Pulse. Notorious for its strict no-phones policy and unmarked entrance beneath an unassuming laundromat, the club's capsule captures its mystique with sound-reactive apparel embedded with invisible patterns that only reveal themselves under the specific frequency of the club's sound system.
ECS Studio X Carbon Milano
Our flagship Milan Pulse collection embodies this year's Future Heritage theme through products that reinterpret Milanese icons. From a series of sculptural candles molded from 3D scans of the Duomo's hidden architectural elements to hand-blown glassware inspired by the city's iconic metro signage, each piece creates dialogue between Milan's storied past and speculative future.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Milan Pulse 2025: Future Heritage
September 12-18, 2025
Palazzo Magnetico, Via Innovazione 23, Milan
Daily: 10am - 12am
RSVP required: milanpulse.carbon.io
Special thanks to our partners: Milano Creativa, Future Materials Consortium, TEKNICA, and the Milan Design Association
