NO. 21 FLAGSHIP STORE IN MILAN
No. 21 is opening its first flagship in Italy, at Via Santo Spirito 14 in the Quadrilatero, ...
January 22, 2016
No. 21 is opening its first flagship in Italy, at Via Santo Spirito 14 in the Quadrilatero, Milan’s famous fashion district. All while staying true to the sense of sophistication forever imbuing Brand Founder and Creative Director Alessandro Dell’Acqua’s vision of style, the store exudes an atmosphere of rarefied elegance.
The 120 square-meter No. 21 flagship in Milan boutique has three distinct rooms, each in a different way designed to make a clear architectural statement capturing the idea of beautiful contrasts marking the brand. Conceptually, the interior is a joint effort on the part of Alessandro Dell’Acqua and architect Hannes Peer. The first room features a stunning black and white marble floor, polycarbonate ceilings, bakelite wall panels and sculptural boiserie wainscoting. The mix of décor elements and materials serves to highlight and enhance the exclusive array of clothes.
Deeply inspired by contemporary art, the second room creates a visual illusion of never-ending space thanks to mirrored displays adorning the walls. In the center, an Art Déco table cut into six parts set one by one into glass boxes casts a quiet glance at the early work of Damien Hirst. It’s the room of contrasts, where modern meets ancient, light meets dark, optical effect meets concrete reality. These two rooms showcase the No. 21 men’s and women’s clothing collections. The third room, devoted to accessories, is a gracious nod to Milanese architecture, for significantly adding to the allure is the presence of Ceppo di Grè stone on floor and walls.
Typical of Romanesque art, this stone is found both in Milan’s magnificent Duomo Cathedral and in the colonnade of the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio. “The first No. 21 flagship in Italy represents a pivotal achievement on the brand’s growth path, which is all the more reason why I’m so glad that it holds in a nutshell the diverse stylistic features distinguishing the label,” says Alessandro Dell’Acqua. “The use of materials emblematic of Milanese architecture is my personal tribute to Milan, a city I feel particularly close to.”