Herschel
- Milano retail format
- Fashion Retail Design
- 2016
The partial re-use of some furniture pieces already owned by Herschel was mandatory for this project. These were small tables and panels with poly-material squares fitted with hooks and shelves, coming mainly from “corners” and standard stores.
This furniture was integrated in a more elaborate and innovative concept which generates a sophisticated display system in harmony with the design of the existing elements.
A flagship store requires a larger expressive dimension that implies a wider vision of the product and of the modes through which it appears in a unique and characterizing setting.
The project’s main concept relies on a minimalistic and no-design spirit, by using a rhythmic display along the side walls that allows for a more dramatic segmentation of the merchandising and that accommodates the existing furniture in a coherent dialogue based on materials and design.
I tried to sculpt a neutral volume, without designing furniture, in order to maximize the product’s visibility.
The characteristics of the Corso di Porta Ticinese space in Milan can make it a perfect exhibition gallery: 130 square meters incorporated into a long and narrow layout that turns left to then reveal, at the very end, a wall with a stage to welcome the Herschel community to an events and reading area.
The spatial envelope is entirely covered in a special resin with a cement-like result, giving out a satin, homogeneous and mono-material chromatic effect on walls and floors. It is all done in mother-of-pearl grey, the non-color par excellence, which allows the various colored product to be displayed without any distraction and spotlights them.
On the existing walls, I alternated recesses, whose backdrops are lit by a hidden led source emphasizing the surfaces’ tactile aspect, with large theatrical wooden frames, both encasing a new exhibition system made of aggregated parallepipeds. These iron wireframe stands can hold and display the products in a discreet and random fashion.
Niches and frames within an extremely rational interior design, built with authentic and achromatic materials: a palette featuring concrete, wood and iron, and illuminated in a theatrical manner.
The lighting relies on simple elements, casting the stands’ shadows on the walls and creating decorative patterns.
A system that produces geometric shapes springing from lines and light.
Within these display structures, the product acquires a more distinctive identity, as if it were a painting in an exhibition. Each recess or frame draws attention to the uniqueness of a style and its variations in the matching of product and collection.
Herschel is adventure, travel, style and freedom.
The wireframe system becomes a versatile tool, ready to tell a story by depicting it in each individual display unit, whose theme is further revealed by a visual communication element, characterizing a diversified “total look” in every exposition.
