Palazzo Trussardi Reopening as Lifestyle Hub of Fashion, Food, Culture
MILAN — Palazzo Trussardi is reopening Wednesday “as a lifestyle hub of fashion, food and culture,” said Sebastian Suhl, chief executive officer of the Italian brand.
“Palazzo Trussardi is very much alive again, mirroring a new spirit of inclusion, and timeless, modern elegance,” Suhl said proudly. “Today marks the opening of a truly urban project — beyond our exceptional retail and food concepts, we are providing Milan with a unique community experience.”
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The executive is clearly looking at taking Trussardi into the future, but is respectful of the brand’s history and of Nicola Trussardi, who opened the palazzo in 1996 as one of the first concept stores in the world, merging fashion retail with food. Strategically central, located a few steps from Milan’s La Scala theater, the building also served as an exhibition space for artists and architects.
The palazzo was entirely redesigned by a collaborative team of architects, artists and designers, the Berlin-based architecture studio Bplus.xyz together with Thorben Gröbel. Suhl underscored that significant changes were made to the venue, which reflect the latest course of the brand under new owners, creative duo and management.
He explained that the architects, skilled in “enhancing the customer experience,” conceived “a very strong concept” and that the palazzo will be “completely different from before.”
Site-specific, the design is “hyper mindful” of the location and its past, continued Suhl. “The new elements respect the historical ones and reflect the spirit of the brand, totally open onto the square, so that there are no barriers with the outside. This is in line with the philosophy of Nicola, who was the first to open up fashion to the city.”
Covering two floors over almost 10,800 square feet, Suhl said there is a “seamless coexistence of spaces between the store, the café on the ground floor and the restaurant on the first floor.”
In addition to the 2,808-square-foot flagship on the ground floor, which opens Wednesday, Palazzo Trussardi houses two dining experiences in collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Giancarlo Perbellini: The café on the ground floor, which also opens Wednesday and, among other things, carries Perbellini’s first pasticceria, or pastry offer, in Milan, and the restaurant, a contemporary take on the traditional Italian osteria. Placed on the first floor, it will open on Monday and cover 3,402 square feet.
Suhl praised Perbellini not only for his abilities as a chef, “one of the finest,” but also for sharing the house’s vision of modernity, inclusivity and casual elegance. “We are truly honored, he’s a top chef and an entrepreneur, and his philosophy of cuisine is in line with what we do and with the history of Trussardi,” said the executive. “The dining experiences will constitute a key feature of our flagship.”
Perbellini has accrued two Michelin stars and has been recognized with national and international awards. President of the Bocuse d’Or from 2010 to 2016, he leads a diverse group of eating establishments across Italy — ranging from fine dining restaurants to accessible, casual dining experiences — including his flagship Casa Perbellini in Verona. His approach to food is focused on seasonality and the territory.
For Trussardi, the restaurant was never an afterthought, obtaining several awards, such as the first Michelin star under the previous lead of chef Andrea Berton in 2008.
The 972-square-foot café, which can accommodate up to 40 guests, will feature a communal table for a casual and modern dining experience. All-day dining, from breakfast to after-dinner cocktails, will be created with fresh seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.
A key element is the suspended vertical garden — the first ever in Italy — designed by Patrick Blanc for the café’s covered terrace, spanning over 378 square feet and this is preserved in the redesigned café.
“Palazzo Trussardi is the first touch point, so it’s very important for us and it’s the first time that the palazzo will be open in two or three years,” said Suhl. However, there was a brief exception when creative directors Serhat Isik and Benjamin A. Huseby staged their first show in February in the palazzo while it was being renovated, its windows opened to pedestrians outside, who could catch the lineup.
The architects removed layers of plastic and plasterboard and inside the bare structure of the palazzo found stone and earth, marble walls and terrazzo floors.
Gröbel designed the fixtures and retail objects maximizing the use of recouped materials to give obsolete elements new life and a new function. Stainless steel tubes were laser-cut in half to use both pieces as clothing rails.
Concrete stools were carved from worksite refuse. Reused leather car seats and doors were turned into stools and displays for small leather goods — purposely left with their visible patina of stains and wrinkles.
All fixtures and objects are drilled or bolted together without glue or compound material, which would prevent reuse, since Bplus.xyz is committed to taking back the objects and interior components made for the building, such as stainless steel fixtures, ceilings and shelving walls in the case of a new redesign — although this is a long-term concept, observed Suhl. This is in line with the architects’ philosophy to reuse and not discard.
A 82-foot-long mirrored shelf wall, reflecting the La Scala square, is placed to make a diagonal cut through the ground floor and is the space’s focal point. Inside the building it divides the area between the store and Café Trussardi.
Column-shaped lighting shows varying intensity, starting cooler in the store, warmer in the café, complemented with natural light from floor to ceiling windows, and finishing yet warmer in the restaurant upstairs.
Clay on the walls and metallic mesh on the ceilings are additional elements.
There are 55 directly operated Trussardi stores. Asked about other retail ventures, Suhl said “we have other ideas but we are still exploring other potential units and restaurants in Italy and beyond.”
While watchful, given the macro political and economic issues, Suhl said Trussardi’s “situation is atypical, as the company is in a phase of rebirth and growth mode, setting the foundations for the new Trussardi.”
“After two collections, I see a positive reaction, the market is beginning to understand our new style, and it will become exponentially clearer with this physical experience,” he contended.
Suhl, who appointed Isik and Huseby, the design duo behind the label GmbH, in May last year, has since his arrival in October 2020 been regrouping Trussardi’s different activities under one roof, building a new digital, marketing and management team.
The company marked 111 years in business in 2022.
Italian independent asset management company QuattroR acquired a majority stake in Trussardi in 2019.
