DETAILS
BRAND: GUCCI
Type: Flagship
Location: Rome, Italy
Year: 2007
Size: 10,400 square feet / 952 square meters
Press: Elle Décor Italia,
WWD, BuyBuy.com
OVERVIEW
Upon assuming the role of Gucci creative director in 2006, Frida Giannini set out recreate the Gucci retail experience. A native of Rome, she chose The Eternal City to give birth to a new brand identity. Christian Lahoude worked closely with Giannini to create and implement new design concepts for Gucci stores worldwide.
The history and layout of the existing structure on Via Condotti drove the direction of the design. Working with a series of smaller rooms, the team established spaces for each product category, playing with the use of materials to create a unique mood for each. A rose-gold perfume bottle Giannini was designing, an Art Deco lamp, and the GG logo provided inspiration.
THE STAIRCASE
Lahoude and the team set out to establish a dramatic staircase design inspired by an Art Deco lamp discovered by Giannini. This iconic staircase was adopted and adapted in each multi-level Gucci store worldwide. Given the large scale of the Rome location, the team created two of these architectural features, one in the men’s area one in the women’s, to attract shoppers and encourage flow between the levels. Vertical gold metal and Plexiglass rods frame black marble and gold metal for the men’s staircase and white marble and rosewood for the women’s.
THE SULTRY 70’S
The sultriness and mystique of the 1970’s provided a touchstone for the developing the new aesthetic concept. Oversized metal-rim sunglasses, glam-rock and disco drove the design, resulting in tinted bronze glass fixtures, smoked glass mirrors, and gold and Plexiglass staircase accents.
MASCULINE & FEMININE
The Rome flagship store established one of the core elements of the new Gucci design concept – the use of architectural design to define “rooms” for the range of collections. The result can be seen in the areas devoted to women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, where the designs for custom furniture, carpets, floating fixtures and innovative lighting, paired with the choice of flooring and wall coverings, create distinctively sumptuous environments.
THE GUCCI STRAP
Lahoude and the team turned to the timeless three-band Gucci strap for inspiration. The space is framed and organized by marble strips, deepening the perspectives and providing direction for shoppers. This brand-specific design element was also implemented in subsequent Gucci locations worldwide.