Fashion houses design for the home
With the world spending more time at home, the big fashion houses have expanded their home collections, as seen at the recent Milan Design Week.
Armani Casa: Bringing the serene outdoors in
The desire to connect with nature during the pandemic lockdown was no doubt felt by Giorgio Armani. His latest collection for Armani Casa brings to home interiors the serenity of the great outdoors through soothing, earthy neutrals, sea colors and animal prints.
Missing visits to the bar, he expanded the bar furniture line that included the Royal Bar, a stunning, limited-edition drinks cabinet with gracefully curving cylindrical sides that act as legs, a tatami lining that brought a whiff of the East while exuding luxury through marble and mother-of-pearl details.
Staying indoors and playing games is encouraged with the Regni upcycled leather throw doubling as a chessboard.
WFH is made elegant with the Rousseau desk, Rosemond table in ash wood and brass and an armchair upholstered in leopard print.
Garden accessories are naturally a big thing – a gorgeous checked gardening bag comes with the steel and wooden tools to get you into a happy cultivation regimen.
Bulgari: Highlighting Metamorphosis
Commissioning four international artists, Bulgari chose to highlight Metamorphosis, “the most profound accomplishment in the life of a person, a society or the world at large, with art and design as its main interpreters.”
Flower artist Azuma Makoto’s “Garden of Eden” was a guest’s first encounter: A huge brass tree sprouting real fruits and flowers that change in form, color and scent over time, expressing the notion of “life in all its precarious fragility.”
Daan Roosegaarde’s “Lotus Oculus,” which he calls “a metamorphosis of technology and a metaphor of nature,” is a tribute to the grandeur of Roman architecture with smart plates that respond to heat and light to magically come to life.
Ann Veronica Janssen’s “Gam Gam Gam” uses optical effects to generate shifting images in a constellation of aquariums and kaleidoscopes that mesmerize with fascinating visions.
Vincent Van Duysen’s “Shelter” has a dramatic platform rising from the carpet in the center of the room to offer a refuge of silence while experiencing a new perception of space through a labyrinth.
Gucci: Evoking the traditional italian stationery store
To launch the Gucci lifestyle, the fashion house opened a pop-up shop, Gucci Cartoleria, which evoked a traditional Italian stationery store with antique globes juxtaposed with witty touches.
Harry Potter mischief came in the form of surreal flying bookmobiles and upside-down toy trains hovering above while ornate fans with Donald Duck accents opened and closed at will. A cabinet of curiosities had a mix of playful objects and trinkets that included children’s toys and board games with satin-silk pajamas nearby to wear while indulging.
Notebooks in the brand’s supreme canvas or in Demetra, a plant-based alternative, stationery sets, and writing and coloring supplies are all designed to keep you busy while staying indoors. Playing card area rugs and lacquered dice boxes added to the general sense of fun.
Hermès: Exploring the realm of textures
To bring us back to our senses, Hermès explored the realm of textures in a pavilion with bold geometrical patterns complemented by a bespoke sound installation by Manuel Rocha that translated each decorative object’s tactile appeal into captivating rhythms.
It’s a seduction with forms and materials that one cannot help but touch, like the Sillage d’Hermès armchair designed by Studio Mumbai’s architects, who combined varnished wood and cellulose microfibers painstakingly hand-painted in stripes and the Lignage d’Hermès cut and chiseled stone table, which is just as meticulously crafted.
Plates in enameled copper come in rich, jeweled tones while the Chromatic basket and Park bottle splendidly blend leather and woven wicker.
Fabrics reach a new level of luxe with gold thread blended with cashmere in the Meridien and Perspective plaids, as well as in the quilted bed covers.
Versace home: Reflecting a bold lifestyle
Versace Home presented a new collection that reflected a bold lifestyle — a collaboration between designer Donatella Versace and design architects Ludovica and Roberta Palomba, using the brand’s stylistic codes and leitmotifs in pieces with clean, modern lines that combined luxury metals, marble and silk, among other preferred materials.
Pure design, creativity and savoir-faire permeate the collection, with references to classical art, mythology and eclectic decoration. Each piece forms part of an evocative environment that the designers hope can herald a new living experience.