“Salone del Mobile is the moment to test things out because it has a huge, diverse audience,” said Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile, when I spoke to her in the lead-up to the annual furniture trade fair, which opened yesterday and runs until Sunday. “You could be sitting in front of two people from opposite sides of the world and, over the course of a week, you can understand how people feel about your designs.”Her statement is a reminder of why the event, and the various exhibitions and showcases that take place in Milan for its duration, is the design industry’s most important gathering: it draws in more than 370,000 designers, architects and developers from 188 countries. Since arriving on Sunday, I’ve had dinner with Danish furniture CEOs, enjoyed drinks with American architects planning new furniture lines and toured a textile showroom with a cohort of Japanese developers. The effect? A huge cross-pollination of ideas and dialogue around design.It’s something that also seems to be embodied in the wares on show, with many collaborations between brands from different countries and areas of expertise. Architects Snøhetta and Italian ceramic-tile manufacturer Fornace Brioni, for instance, have become unlikely partners, working together on a lightweight tile that uses architectural structural principles. At the trade hall, Italian furniture brand Flexform has teamed up with Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio to create a room divider made from bio-textiles that beautifully filters light. And interiors specialists Cassina have made a timber stool clad in Italian fashion brand Bottega Veneta’s signature leather.These projects (as well as the dinners, drinks and meetings) are a reminder that designers are at their best when engaging in dialogue and discussion. It’s a good reason to come to Salone del Mobile – or, if that’s not on the cards, to push yourself to look for creative partners from beyond your comfort zone.Nic Monisse is Monocle’s design editor. For more about Milan Design Week and the furniture industry, pick up a copy of Monocle’s dedicated ‘Salone del Mobile Special’ newspaper, which is available on select newsstands across Europe and online now.