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Tactile effects with stone-look stoneware for Daniel & Mayer
reading time: 3 minutes
Grande Stone Look Ceppo di Gré is an attractive backdrop for the Milan store's furnishings and carpeted islands
The design of the Daniel & Mayer flagship store considered two aspects: tangible features such as the location, size and outfitting, and intangible considerations such as the mood, appeal and concept - the ingredients of the brand equity.
The aim is to communicate and sell at the same time: in fact, this space is a brand's premium tool for addressing the public directly, as flagship stores enable companies to associate themselves with a style and values, and not just with their products and services.
This opportunity was fully appreciated by Luca Sormani, who handled the design of the new Daniel & Mayer store on via Marghera in Milan. This well-known Milan designer brand has been on the women's fashion market for decades, through the production and retail sale of its collections.
Refinement, one of the brand's core values throughout its history, is initially represented in the entrance area through a total look created in the stone-effect stoneware of the Grande Stone Look Ceppo di Gré collection by Marazzi, which covers the walls, the floor and the central payments counter. “The visual and tactile impressions of this stone, typical of the Milan tradition," Luca Sormani explains, "express the exquisite taste, which never strays into luxury, for which Daniel & Mayer has always been famous. We combined this tactile grey stone with its uneven texture with a furnishing system - created specifically for this location - with a bright, uniform, rosy, coppery finish.”
The dialogue between these two materials generates an effect, amplified by a lighting system in warm tones, which helps to create a comfortable, welcoming mood.
In the gallery, the spatial sequence is defined by areas of colour on the wall which are reflected in carpeted surfaces on the floor, forming genuine islands. This design feature is intended to express the energy and the creative passion the brand puts into its collections. The colour effects of the carpets are further highlighted by the patterning of the flooring in the large-size 120x240 cm stoneware of the Grande collection by Marazzi.
The large windows in the gallery are balanced by a system of arched hangers alternating with a row of huge pilaster strips, also covered with stone-look stoneware.
