Murano Glass a Venetian Obsession

Murano Seats at Bottega Veneta SS26 Show, Milan

Murano Chandlier at Aman, Venice

Last week in Milan, Bottega Veneta debuted Louise Trotter’s first collection with a set that quietly stole the show: seating for guests made from Murano glass cubes. It was a reminder that this centuries-old Venetian craft still speaks fluently in the language of modern design.

Back in Venice itself, the story is everywhere you look. At Aman Venice, chandeliers drop from frescoed ceilings in perfect balance with Jean-Michel Gathy’s serene interiors. At Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal, where The Reveller stayed, Murano glass is everywhere — sconces in the corridors, chandeliers in the suites — echoing the Venetian excess that once seduced Casanova. At Palazzo Barbarigo, mosaics glitter on the Grand Canal façade, a permanent reminder of glass as architecture. And inside the V&A, Dale Chihuly’s soaring chandelier greets visitors with a contemporary echo of Venetian craft.

Murano is not just historic ornament. Designer India Mahdavi recently reimagined Acqua di Parma’s holiday collection, crafting limited-edition hand-blown bottles with Salviati. At The Venice Glass Week HUB, INCONTRA celebrated Murano’s timeless expertise through contemporary glass pieces created by Andrea Zilio a dialogue between Venice and Portugal, old and new.

And then, of course, there’s the other side of Murano: the glorious kitsch. Glass clowns with bulging eyes, rainbow-swirled fruit bowls, millefiori pendants that feel straight out of a 1990s cruise gift shop. Slightly naff, undeniably charming — part of the same myth that keeps Murano in orbit between art, fashion, design and souvenir.

Across centuries, Murano glass has been theatre, ornament, symbol and joke. Its reach today feels broader than ever — from the runway seat to the perfume bottle, from the chandelier to the clown. Always Venetian, always luminous, always obsessed over.