Elena Salmistraro was born in 1983 in Milan, where she obtained her degree in Industrial Design from the Milan Polytechnic (2008). The following year she and architect Angelo Stoli (her partner in life and work) founded an office focusing on product design and architecture. In the fields of art and illustration, she collaborates with Apple, Disney, Ikea, Vitra, Moooi, Alessi, Cappellini, Huawei, Lavazza, Nike, Replay and Timberland. Characterised by careful attention to detail, aesthetic and formal research and a conceptual approach, Salmistraro's work is a synthesis of art and design. Various creations are produced in limited editions and have been selected for important art and design exhibitions, many promoted by the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. Elena Salmistraro's works have been exhibited at major international design fairs and presented by prestigious galleries like Rossana Orlandi, Antonio Colombo Gallery, Dilmos, Camp Design Gallery, SecondoMe, My Own Gallery and Subalterno1.
She has collaborated with important brands. For Scapin Collezioni, she created Particella, a sculptural wooden coat stand; the Ione bench; the Nuclide and Isotopo tables; the Anodo table, part of a graphic-tribal collection of furniture in marble and polyurethane; Catodo, a wood, glass and ceramics vase. She also worked with Natuzzi Italia, producing the Calilla reclining sofa, the Ensis swivel armchair, the Anemonia oval mirror, the Lophelia bookcase/lamp, and the Gorgonia carpet. She designed a rug collection for CC-Tapis characterised by geometric shapes, named after famous mathematicians: Descartes, Euler, Pythagoras. She also created a collection of imaginative, ironic and colourful wallpapers for Texturae.
Salmistraro was appointed World Ambassador of Italian Design in 2017 for Italian Design Day, an initiative promoted by the Triennale di Milano in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs and Culture ministries. Since then, she has participated in meetings in Zurich, Rome/Farnesina 2018 and Kyiv 2021. In 2017, she received the "Best Emerging Designer Award" at the Salone del Mobile "Premio Salone del Mobile Milano". In 2018, she was appointed Ambassador of the Brera Design District for FuoriSalone at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. On this occasion, she designed an installation for Timberland in the heart of the district. She has won major awards like the "Good Design Awards", the "ADA Archiproducts Design Awards", the "ADI Ceramic & Bathroom Award", the "Icon Awards", the "Salone del Mobile Award", the "Big See Award". In 2018 she won the Marmomac "Icona Award" for the "Marea" project.
