Better late than never. The New York Times finally jumps on the Milanese bandwagon. It was worth the wait. They corralled one of my most favourite photographers- Todd Selby to document 12 designers who are under 40 and made a splash at this year’s Milan Furniture Fair. Numbers always frame a story beautifully, don’t you think? We had covered a few of the designers in Belle – Sayaka Yamamoto and Boaz Cohen, BCXSY and Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, Raw-Edges. But there were faces I hadn’t seen before. It’s always interesting to connect a person to their design. I like Maarten De Ceulaer’s  (above) stack of leather suitcases much more  now that I’ve seen what he looks like. He’s a 25-year-old graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven. I saw the makeshift wardrobe at ICFF and was taken by its sculptural quality and its fine detailing. But seeing the designer and how young he is makes it even more impressive. Also one I will keep an eye on is Philippe Malouin. Ingenious shelving – it’s the George Nelson bench meets Home Depot (below).