THIS WEEK MARKS the 49th year of the Milan Furniture Fair, affectionately known as "il Salone." It's considered the single biggest and most important design event in the world, but there used to be a catch.

You could ogle the merchandise as much as you liked but chances were the gorgeous thing you had your heart set on was just a prototype, and thus it was never going to be made. If you did find something you liked and that was assured to go into production, you had to wait at least three months.