Inside Antonio Marras Montenapoleone throughout Milan Design Week 2026

At any time when i’m in Milan for Milan Design Week, I go to the Antonio Marras retailer at By way of Cola di Rienzo. For the final fifteen years we keep in the identical neighborhood close to the shop and yearly it’s such a shock to find the completely different worlds Antonio creates. Earlier than visiting the shop for the primary time again in 2011 or 2012 I keep in mind to have noticed the inside of the shop on a weblog and I used to be so joyful when my pal Stefano and I obtained to visite the precise retailer.

Throughout final Milan’s Design Week, I visited the Antonio Marras retailer on By way of Montenapoleone. The shop itself is not like a traditional style boutique. Designed round Antonio Marras’ personal imaginative and prescient, it brings collectively style, artwork, design, classic furnishings, objects and references to Sardinia inside a extremely theatrical inside.

Antonio Marras on By way of Montenapoleone

The Antonio Marras boutique is positioned at By way of Montenapoleone 6/A, within the coronary heart of Milan’s style district. The house initially opened in April 2025 as Ephemeral, a short lived 300 sq. metre boutique unfold over two flooring. It was conceived as an area that may convey collectively style, artwork, music and design throughout Milan Design Week. Right this moment, nevertheless, the tackle at 6/A stays an Antonio Marras boutique and is listed because the model’s Milan Montenapoleone retailer.

From the start, the house was meant to be completely different from a standard retail surroundings. Quite than making a impartial background for the garments, Antonio Marras crammed the shop with objects, furnishings and references that kind a part of his visible world.

A Retailer Designed by Antonio Marras

The inside of the Montenapoleone house was designed by Antonio Marras himself. Antonio has described his concept of a store as being just like a home. In Italian, abito and abitare share the identical root, and for him a spot ought to encompass, shield and welcome individuals. The thought is mirrored in the way in which the shop is assembled, with furnishings, objects and ornamental parts fairly than a traditional store inside.

Vintage wardrobes, drawers, ceramics, tables, modernist chairs, mirrors, superb rugs, sculptures and vegetation are introduced collectively all through the house. Every component types half of a bigger, eclectic composition.

From a Surreal Cityscape to Versailles

The expertise begins with an uncommon cityscape. Stacked wardrobes and drawers create an virtually architectural panorama, whereas cuckoo clocks and mirrors add one other layer to the scene. A few of these particulars additionally discuss with Marras’ private recollections. Additional inside, the house adjustments once more. The decrease degree refers to Renaissance courtyards, utilizing painted views and optical illusions to create a way of adjusting structure. The journey finally results in a room impressed by the grandeur of Versailles, with mirrored surfaces creating an virtually theatrical setting.

Maria Lai and the Sardinian Connection

Sardinia is a crucial a part of Antonio Marras’ work, and that is additionally seen contained in the Milan retailer. Among the many parts integrated into the inside are the ants of Sardinian artist Maria Lai. Marras created a small set up during which the ants seem to emerge from a gap and transfer alongside the wall. The motif was related to the gathering introduced on the time.

Maria Lai, who was born in Sardinia, has been an necessary inventive reference for Marras. Her work and the cultural historical past of Sardinia seem repeatedly in his inventive world. Throughout Milan Design Week 2026, Sardinian craftsmanship was additionally introduced straight into the Montenapoleone retailer. As a part of ‘Trame Vive’ because the occasion for Milan Design week was known as, embroiderers from the Antonio Marras atelier in Alghero labored contained in the flagship retailer, making embroidery a part of the general public expertise.

This was additionally what I encountered throughout my go to. I met a number of of the ladies working inside the shop and spoke with them about what they have been doing. The presence of the embroiderers introduced the method of creating into the center of one in all Milan’s most prestigious purchasing streets, connecting the Montenapoleone retailer on to the craftsmanship of the Antonio Marras atelier in Alghero.

All photographs ©vosgesparis

This text is a part of The Collectible Edit