Canali Boutique Milano

After designing the two Canali flagships in NY and Beijing and numerous stores around the world, Park Associati redesigns the brand's historic 350-square-metres space spread on two levels in the heart of Milan's fashion district. The project concept originates from an analysis of the brand and its distinguishing values: wide-ranging products, sober elegance and fluidity. The resulting transversal hybrid spaces aim at merging interior and exterior, as well as private and public areas.

The three large double-height windows overlooking Via Verri, the access point to the store, act as transparent filters that allow complete visibility into the interior space from the porticoed area, with an even floor level and no vertical partitions. The whole space is perceived as a single large showcase, where the spirit of each Canali collection can be promoted with inspirational atmospheres. The defining scenic element of this room is the sloped plaster ceiling, a contemporary interpretation of the diamond-patterned ceilings of Milan's architectural interiors of the first half of the twentieth century. The ceiling's decorative motif incorporates regularly-spaced lighting units and creates a rhythmic and dynamic play of volumes.

Characterised by a strong connection with the public space, the hall welcomes customers in an inclusive environment that lets the urban space in, where garments coexist with a contemporary work of art. The project's concept aims to foster a dialogue between art and fashion: a site-specific work with a strong visual impact by the artist Linda Carrara – the highlight of the customer reception area – invites customers to head towards the elegant marble-coated staircase that leads to the large exhibition space on floor -1.

After entering a large, varied exhibition path arranged over different levels where the brand's garments and accessories can be viewed, customers are lead to a reserved area, the Canali Lounge. This intimate, exclusive space features a bar overlooking an internal area that reveals the unexpected beauty typical of the internal courtyards of Milan's historic buildings.

Breathing new life into the store by overturning the dynamics of the routes to increase the functionality and liveability of its spaces, the project reflects the elegant and distinct nature of the Canali brand, avoiding any formal or stylistic excesses in favour of a refined fluidity. Reflecting the brand's distinguishing sartorial features, the traditional materials used for the interior design acquire their uniqueness and value through applied craftsmanship. The timeless lines, the textural contrasts and the mood lighting complete an image that conveys understated elegance and awareness of contemporaneity.

The design intervention envisages curved and rounded surfaces that smooth out the corners of walls and furnishings softening the spaces. Research and attention to detail result in a comfortable, refined environment rich in contrasts thanks to the combination of different materials, but also sober. Proposed in two juxtaposed textural finishes, the hard mineral surfaces of marble and stone coexist with different types of wood characterised by controlled internal geometries and technically refined metallic finishes.