The fashion and interior design interconnection is one of my favourite themes, as my regular readers have already noticed - they share common trends, color schemes, patterns and ideas. But there is one more important connection - the role of interior design as a setting for display of fashion products.
"A designer who is able to harness light in a creative way is a precious partner in any type of retail project."
- this is a quote from an article in DOMUS about Milan’s new Max Mara store interior design. It not only conveys the well-known feeling of luxury, but also of discrete elegance. Natural, sophisticated materials and indirect lighting provide a relaxed atmosphere and, as the author Maria Cristina Tommasini writes, the role of lighting in a fashion store is of greatest importance.
"It must faithfully reproduce the colours of the clothing without offending the skin tone of customers."
One of the most creative areas, as far as I can see from the photos, are the dressing rooms (below), but what cannot be seen is the way the lighting is concieved: "The dressing rooms are shrouded in religious semi-darkness when they are empty. They slowly light up when someone goes inside, providing the appropriate light for trying on clothes."
Great work- of Duccio Grassi Architects for the interior design and of Mario Nanni for the lighting!
