Ralph Pucci Pops Up in London
Pucci’s Pop-up: Ralph Pucci International, the eclectic showroom for luxury home furnishings, lighting, art, photography and mannequins, has long had an intercontinental reputation but never a space outside the U.S. — until now.
On Thursday, Pucci opens a two-level, 2,000-square-foot pop-up gallery at 18 Albemarle Street in London’s affluent Mayfair district during the London Design Festival, running through next month’s PAD contemporary design and Frieze art fairs in the city.
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The pop-up will run for six weeks, with the possibility of extending until the end of the year, or even permanently. “To be honest I am looking to keep it permanent, if it works,” said Ralph Pucci.
The gallery will exhibit select pieces from Pucci’s stable of artists and designers, including Patrick Elie Naggar, Lianne Gold, Stefan Bishop, Spencer Fung, the Ralph Pucci collection, John Wigmore, Eric Schmitt, Kevin Walz, Paul Mathieu, Claudia Alvarez and Vladimir Kagan.
“Obviously, this is a much smaller space than we are used to, but it’s very intimate,” said Pucci. The majority of the pieces we are showing in London we developed in our sculpture studio and made under license.” Pucci’s three large permanent showrooms are in Manhattan; Los Angeles, and Miami where a new site is opening in 2023. The Design Collective is representing Pucci in London.
“We have always wanted to have a gallery in London, many of our clients and collectors are based overseas and London is such a global hub,” said Michael Pucci, Ralph’s son and the third generation of the family-owned and operated business. “This marks our first global expansion, as we approach 70 years in business, and it’s really a dream come true, to be in Mayfair, on an iconic street we think is the perfect stage to debut internationally.”
Nick and Lee Pucci began the company in 1954 as a mannequin-repair business, before their son Ralph encouraged them to begin fabricating unique mannequins in collaboration with artists. The business expanded into furniture in 1989 when French interior designer Andrée Putman created a mannequin and then urged Pucci to represent her furniture in the U.S.
