Photo: Courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana’s comprehensive and colorful “Casa” collection has found a home of its own.
This week, the storied Italian fashion house just announced the opening of not one, but two, stores in Milan exclusively dedicated to their home decor line. Why two, you ask? Some customers, they figured, are searching for something statement-making, like made-to-order couches and coffee tables. Others may want accents, textiles, or ceramics to accent their spaces. By splitting up the big ticket items and the smaller ones, they believe they are better able to curate for individual interests and ages. “We wanted two different stores, each dedicated to specific product categories, but at the same time complementary,” Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana tell Vogue. “The boutique in Corso Venezia 7 houses accouterments—twill and duchesse cushions, printed quilts, mouth-blown Murano glassware and Sicilian ceramic plates for an impeccable mise en place, scented candles and lacquered wood accessories. The furnishings—from the large fabric sofas to the lacquered oak tables and the accessorized bar furniture—are available in Via Durini 23.”
Photo: Courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana
The stores are unafraid of making a statement. Each of Casa’s four signature prints—Mediterranean Blue, Zebra, Leo (or, leopard) and Carretto—gets its own dedicated area where it’s shown off on everything from upholstery to rugs and ceramics. The displays are framed by simple backgrounds—an intentional choice: Dolce and Gabbana decided to keep their stores’ interiors neutral so their distinct designs could take center stage. “The volumes and spaces are contemporary and linear; the neutrality of white, black and gray make the creativity of the collection a protagonist,” they explain. “[With the collection] we focused on the Italian fatto a mano: the small stitch, the woven straw, the mosaics, the hand-painted ceramics. But also the lacquering, the basis of almost all the furniture, and the brass processing—incredible skills linked to a know-how.”
Photo: Courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana
What are Dolce and Gabbana eyeing from their own collection? “We are obsessed with chairs, they symbolize hospitality. A lunch is an opportunity to share without haste,” they say. (The duo also promises Vogue that all of their seating is extremely comfortable.) A dining room table with enough space to seat 20 is another favorite. But really, every piece that comprises Casa, which first launched at their Alta Moda Show in August, means something to them. “We are happy to be able to bring it into the world—the art of living in the home and that conviviality, [which is] absolutely Italian,” they say. “[It] expresses the lifestyle that we love and which best represents us.”
Originally published in Vogue.com
