Milan Reborn: A Modern Renaissance

Milan moves differently. With an unhurried confidence that sets its own pace. Afterall, there’s no need to rush when you know where you’re going. This is a city that reinvents itself with purpose. At its heart, where Via della Spiga meets Via del Senato, The Carlton enters its own renaissance – one rooted in style, substance, and soul.

This rebirth is in step with an emerging new Milan: clear eyed and reaching forward towards a sharper creative rhythm, one that draws in artists, designers, chefs, thinkers. Not one to jump on the trend bandwagon, this is a city in motion, but never in a hurry.

Its transformation can’t be pinned to a single moment. Some may trace it to Versace’s famous 1991 runway, where fashion history was made with a vertiginously heeled strut and the birth of the supermodel. Others point to Expo 2015, when Milan stepped forward as a hub of innovation and sustainability. Different decade, different tempo. Same ever-evolving Milan.

The city has good bones. It always has. What’s changed is how they’ve been revealed. Perhaps the Navigli offers one of the clearest expressions of that — canals once used to carry marble to build the city’s treasured Duomo were later covered in the name of progress. Now restored, they’ve returned to the surface as cultural corridors teeming with life.

From the waterways, the rhythm continues inland. In Porta Nuova, where train yards once stood, new energy has taken root. The Biblioteca degli Alberi, a literal library of trees, offers space to exhale. Nearby, Bosco Verticale – Stefano Boeri’s living skyscrapers – rises cloaked in greenery, a symbol of what modern Milan values: design, sustainability, and humanity in harmony with nature.

In Brera, aptly named the artist’s quarter, a maze of ateliers, boutiques and studios conceals infinite treasures. It’s here that the magnificent Pinacoteca di Brera holds court, and has done since 1809, playing host to Masters from Raphael to Caravaggio.

And then, there is design. Not just in fashion or furniture, but in the way Milan thinks. The city has long shaped global aesthetics — from the rational elegance of Gio Ponti to the playful innovation of Achille Castiglioni. Every April, Salone del Mobile draws the world’s most daring minds. But design here is not confined to one week. This sensibility is evident wherever you look, from the controversial Torre Velasca to the much-copied Castiglioni lamp. Even its trams, still in use today, are design icons. Like much of the city, their appeal lies in a practical beauty. 

Milan’s design instinct doesn’t stop at the studio door, it spills over onto the dinner table. For years, its dining scene carried a certain stiffness. Today, that has abated. Expo 2015 marked a turning point, and a more relaxed confidence followed. Restaurants feel expressive, open to influence. Chefs are experimenting, pulling in global references while staying rooted in Lombardy’s culinary DNA. Milan hasn’t lost its taste for refinement — it’s simply become more comfortable in its own skin.

Of course, no portrait of Milan is complete without fashion. From couture ateliers to street-level expressions of style, Milan dresses with a confidence that feels less performative, more personal. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Quadrilatero della Moda, where fashion has come down from the catwalks to populate its designer-lined streets. Alongside flagships of Prada, Armani and Versace — all born in Milan — are artisanal boutiques, family ateliers and the Bagatti Valsecchi house museum.

It’s into this frame that The Carlton returns. A Milanese landmark reimagined for today, the hotel has been redesigned by Lady Olga Polizzi in collaboration with Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen. Set at the junction of Via della Spiga and Via del Senato, it’s a place to slow down and experience the city’s more soulful rhythms.

The interiors speak fluent Milanese: rich tones, fine Italian materials, hand-painted wallpapers by San Patrignano mingling with curated antiques and modern art. At its centre, a domed winter garden opens onto a courtyard; elsewhere, a restaurant by Fulvio Pierangelini brings thoughtful, seasonal cooking to the table. Aperitivo hour hums in The Carlton Bar, while the spa offers a sensorial reset, led by Irene Forte’s science-meets-nature approach.

This hotel isn’t just part of the city — it is the city. Intuitive, welcoming, and utterly of its place. A new Milanese classic, made for a city that moves.

The Carlton opens in November 2025. Be among the first to experience its reimagined elegance with our exclusive In Love with Milan opening offer.