Earlier this month, I went to the Salone del Mobile in Milan to report on the latest trends and emerging designers coming out of the design industry’s biggest and most prestigious event. Here’s the first batch in a round up of the stories I wrote for design and lifestyle site We Heart.

London-based furniture manufacturer Dzek has teamed up with Brit designer Max Lamb (the first in a host of collaborations) to create a new type of marble, called Marmoreal, which is flecked with different coloured stones giving it a thoroughly contemporary look not unlike slabs of fruit-filled nougat. Provocative YBA artist Sarah Lucas launched her debut furniture collection, as part of an exhibition organised by the Sadie Coles gallery. Designed by third year product design students at L’École de design Nantes Atlantique in France, this collection of products dreams up some bold new ways to survive extreme conditions in the aftermath of a natural disaster, nuclear fallout or even a zombie attack. A new collection of furniture by Clique Editions combines sleek pieces made from wood, Valchromat, and wood with a hidden electronic function.