MILAN, Italy — “Survivalism,” as in how designers can create products to help consumers navigate the perils of contemporary life, was a theme at last week’s Milan Furniture Fair, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.

Recycled materials were more popular in many creative forms, although Herald Tribune writer Alice Rawsthorn critiqued what she called “spurious manufacturers’ claims of sudden conversions to sustainability.”

To read the report, click here.