Dutch architect Vincent Van Duysen has renovated the boutique dedicated to Ferragamo’s women’s collections in Milan, located at Via Monte Napoleone 3, in the historic Carcassola Grandi palace, dating back to the fifteenth century and redesigned in the early nineteenth century, where Emilio Morosini, an Italian Risorgimento patriot, lived. Van Duysen, an architect known for his rigorous and elegant style, embodies a minimalist design approach in his works, tied to materials and sensory experiences, aligned with the sensitivity of the maison and Maximilian Davis, who has been leading Ferragamo’s creativity since 2022. Salvatore Ferragamo was not only a fashion designer but also a great inventor and innovator, interested in experimenting with new forms and materials.

In line with this rich heritage, the new boutique showcases the works of a new generation of designers. An alcove adorned with elements in azure ceramic: Acquario is a work by Andrea Mancuso/Analogia Project, who also created a table in the boutique’s entrance area (conceived under the supervision of Nilufar and its founder Nina Yashar). Corallium, a collection of tables created by Andrea Anastasio (edited by the gallery Giustini/Stagetti, Rome), found in other spaces, uses leather threads to sew stones, creating chromatic islands. Then there are the unique pieces by JoAnn Tan, virtuosic and refined upcycling exercises: display furniture hand-covered with hundreds of leather fringes (recovered scraps from Ferragamo’s production sites), and insect-poufs with raffia embroidery or leather patchwork inspired by archival zoomorphic pieces, objects that combine past and present.

The interplay of materials conceived by Van Duysen proposes an idea of contemporary classicism: Venetian stucco walls, stone floors, and ceilings have a soft and warm palette; red speckled marble slabs – Salvatore Ferragamo’s favorite color – and large mirrors that multiply the spaces are framed by dry and linear bronze frames. The furnishings – poufs, armchairs, coffee tables, displays – have softened rounded lines. The spaces of the boutique have been designed to be traversed as if they were the rooms of a grand, welcoming, and refined home. Each room has its soul resonating with the collections it hosts, starting from the large room dedicated to footwear, whose vaults and columns speak of a privileged relationship with history and a creative journey through the ages. The journey culminates in the area dedicated to silk, accessed by a short stone staircase.