At Milan Design Week 2026, STEPEVI unveiled Caresse through A Softer World, an immersive installation created with Swedish textile artist Alfhild Külper.
Composed of leftover yarns from the collection, A Softer World showcased STEPEVI's commitment to responsible production and the belief that every yarn, no matter how small, holds value.
At its heart was the idea of "soft spots": the memories, people, and places we return to for comfort in times of stress. This concept shaped the installation and informed the design of Caresse, expressed through organic, fluid forms that move across the surface like watercolour brushstrokes on canvas.
A short film accompanying the project offers a closer look at this process, tracing how the idea evolved from material experimentation into both the installation and the collection.
A Softer World — Milan Design Week 2026
'A Softer World' — Milan Design Week installation created in collaboration with Swedish artist Alfhild Külper
Over the course of the week, the Milan showroom welcomed hundreds of visitors from the design, fashion, and hospitality worlds. Moving through the installation, visitors touched the wool fibres of its forest-like forms and contributed their own "soft spots" to the Wall of Joy, an evolving collective artwork guided by Alfhild Külper.
Amid the pace of the city, the installation offered a moment of softness, reflection, and pause.
The Wall of Joy will now travel to Isparta, Türkiye, where STEPEVI's rugs are produced, to become part of a new arts and culture centre. In returning to where the yarns were first made, it shows how even the smallest remnants can become part of something beautiful and lasting.
