The new store is located on East 67th Street.
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Marni’s second store in New York promotes angular simplicity and geometric minimalism – without coming across as too cold
Nestled at the highest end of high-end fashion, Marni was formed in 1994 by the Castiglioni family. Already producing fur for all the major designers, the family wanted to carve a new niche for itself by creating a fashion brand that was innovative, eclectic and extremely refined.
“My aim is to satisfy the desire for uniqueness, distinction and elegance,” Consuelo Castiglioni explained to Commercial Interior Design. “I think that the person who chooses to wear Marni has a sophisticated approach to fashion, not necessary fashion-driven, but with a strong identity in terms of style. They are curious and enthusiastic about experimenting and playing with forms, structures, prints and colours, creating one’s own combinations.”
This element of experimentation extends beyond the clothes and seeps into every element of the brand. It is particularly evident in the retail spaces that the Marni collections call home.
With a brand that is so precise in its personality and so comfortable in its own skin, there is a real need to create retail settings that do it justice. Which is why Castiglioni, who has a heightened understanding of the importance that a retail space plays in communicating a brand promise, works so closely with London-based architecture firm, Sybarite, to create shops that get the message just right.
“You have to understand the soul of the collections and how to communicate it through the shop,” she said.
“The boutique has to be a perfect container for the products on sale and there has to be harmony between the two.
"It means for us that one should highlight the other, playing with contrast, colour and material. All Marni boutiques are designed as an innovative and unique backdrop for the collections. Linked by a distinctive architectural language, such as the use of specific materials or forms, the stores differ in detail.
“When I and the London firm Sybarite create the concept, we always maintain certain local elements in order to harmonise and reflect the characteristics of the surrounding setting. The concept of all Marni boutiques is to offer an out-of-the ordinary shopping ambience,” Castiglioni explained.
Out of the ordinary
Nowhere, perhaps, is the need to create ‘out-of-the ordinary’ retail experiences more acute than in New York, where Marni recently opened its second store. Set on 21 East 67th Street, between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue, the new shop is located in what was formerly an art gallery.
A highly minimalist design scheme was selected for the two-floor, 2,700ft² space, with striking lines and shapes creating a playful backdrop. “We used strong lines and abstract shapes to convey New York’s vibrant energy. By introducing intervals between the two floors we wanted to create movement, interrupting the linear, geometric approach,” Castiglioni explained.
In keeping with the gallery theme, the collection is displayed as if it were pieces of art. A trapezoidal opening in the ceiling of the ground floor creates a dramatic, double-height entrance from which natural fibreglass display mannequins are randomly suspended. Large geometric ceiling cut-outs covered with stretched Barrisol fabric add a theatrical skylight effect.
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