Ferragamo Presents Milan Via Montenapoleone Store by Vincent Van Duysen
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MILAN – Ferragamo is ready to officially reopen its women’s Via Montenapoleone flagship on Saturday with an event that will follow the unveiling of the brand’s fall collection. The boutique was extensively refurbished, according to a blueprint by architect Vincent Van Duysen, introducing a new concept under the creative lead of Maximilian Davis and chief executive officer and managing director Marco Gobbetti.
The boutique is located in the storied 15th century Palazzo Carcassola Grandi, redesigned in the early 19th century and home to a patriot of the Italian Risorgimento that led to the unification of Italy, Emilio Morosini.
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“The new interior decor project launched in this boutique is an essential step on the new path that Ferragamo has undertaken,” said Gobbetti. “The design originates far in the past, in the person of Salvatore Ferragamo himself, who liked to receive his customers as if in his home living room. This was precisely how he thought of his shop, as a place to come together and converse. This starting point has brought us to this contemporary expression of the intimacy of home and Italian-ness.”
Covering 3,024 square feet, the store is airy and light, with Venetian stucco walls, stone floors and ceilings in a palette of shades of cream contrasting with mottled marble slabs in red, which was the founder’s favorite color. Grand mirrors, in clean-lined bronze frames, multiply the space. The interior furnishings — ottomans, armchairs, tables and display cases — feature soft, rounded edges.
“I’m pleased to see the collections I have created for Ferragamo in a space that elevates their design and details,” said Davis, who joined the brand as creative director in 2022. “It is the perfect setting for my creativity as an expression of sensual elegance.”
Van Duysen respected the structure of the space, maintaining the sequence of the rooms, each with its own spirit in sync with the collections. He employed materials ranging from Chambolle stone and Napoleon Red marble to Calacatta Copper marble, blond walnut and white onyx.
“With this project, we tried to express a timeless Italianicity that is steeped in Ferragamo’s DNA,” said Van Duysen. “A sensual theatrical setting, where the scenic screen is luxuriously elevated and used as a backdrop and space-dividing element at the same time. The skillful juxtaposition of modern, essential elements and materials with existing structures such as the columns and the cross vaults creates a pleasing contrast that enhances every feature.”
The flagship displays objects by a new generation of designers, such as an alcove completely adorned in sea blue ceramics, Aquario, designed by Andrea Mancuso/Analogia Project. He also designed a table at the boutique’s entrance under the supervision of Nilufar and its founder Nina Yashar.
In other spaces, there is Corallium, a collection of tables designed by Andrea Anastasio, edited by the Giustini/Stagetti Gallery, Rome, using leather strings to “stitch together” the stones.
There are also unique pieces by JoAnn Tan — display stools hand-covered with hundreds of leather fringes that are scraps from Ferragamo’s production sites, and “insect” poufs with raffia embroidery and leather patchwork inspired by zoomorphic archival pieces.
These are reminiscent of Salvatore Ferragamo’s own innovative and pioneering experimentations with forms and materials, employing cork, for example, on models that he invented and that have stood the test of time.
The store is peppered with poufs and armchairs and a vestibule before the changing rooms is conceived as a lounge to relax.
This boutique, which carries footwear, bags and accessories, ready-to-wear, foulard collections — in a room that is entered through a short stone staircase — eyewear, watches and perfumes, offers services such as initial monogramming, and sells exclusive products such as the Hug Bag, Ferragamo’s new signature bag. Here it is available in black and “Milano” yellow, two colors for this special edition.
In Europe, the brand already uses only renewable energy and in this store, temperature, light, and ventilation are electronically controlled to minimize consumption and maximize comfort. Materials are in line with the requirements of LEED Gold certification.
Reporting preliminary 2023 sales last month, which decreased 7.6 percent to 1.15 billion euros, Gobbetti touted “significant progress” in the transition of the company, in a year during which Ferragamo “progressively increased the share of our new products in the stores, enhancing communication in terms of social media response and engagement, and editorials.”
Gobbetti, who joined Ferragamo in January 2022 from Burberry, said Ferragamo has “strengthened the platform in terms of brand identity, product and communication. We have been infusing heat into the brand and, especially at the end of the year, started to see some pleasing signals from new products.” He enthused about the optimization of the store network and the new store concept. “This is another fundamental step in the implementation of our strategy.”
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