Valentino’s Upper East Side Flagship Store Unveils New Global Retail Concept
This week in New York, Valentino unveiled an opulent new flagship boutique at 654 Madison Avenue, bringing the luxury house’s revisioned global retail concept to the Upper East Side. Unfolding over three floors, an elevated, artisanal approach to materials and architecture seeks to immerse clients in the brand’s singular Maison de Couture aesthetic. Women’s and men’s prêt-à-porter collections are presented in a meticulously curated setting, uniting iconic fashion with eclectic and creative design details. In celebration of Valentino’s ongoing commitment to arts and culture, a special collaboration with Magazzino Italian Art debuts within the store as painter Mario Schifano reveals his latest poetic pieces.
Courtesy of Valentino.
Singular Design, Fashion, and Hospitality Unite at Valentino Madison Ave
Beginning in November 2022, the maison ushered in a new era for its international portfolio of stores focused on an elevated human connection by way of Italian hospitality. Each location offers a one-of-a-kind client experience based on the space’s unique structure and surroundings, with exteriors invoking Roman architecture and interiors utilizing 1930s Art Deco motifs and 1970s design concepts. Reflecting its neighborhood, the new flagship on Madison Avenue greets passersby with soaring columns and windows. Visitors are welcomed by way of stately double doors embellished with marble handles handmade by ceramicist Massimiliano Pipolo.
Courtesy of Valentino.
Once inside, the house’s spotlight on skilled craftsmanship continues with bespoke, decorative objects in brass by Fabio Cinti and graceful, sculpted plaster chandeliers by Alexandre Logé. Towering ceilings, robust steel columns, and textured concrete finishes are juxtaposed with a luminous green onyx display unit, highlighting the timeless beauty of Valentino Garavani Accessories. Mario Bellini’s Camaleonda sofas for B&B Italia in exclusive jewel tones, collaged with striking rugs by Golran, propose a sumptuous shopping experience. The emblematic Valentino red manifests in the seating and floors of the intimate footwear space, as well as in the nearby enveloping red velvet walls introducing clients to the latest women’s ready-to-wear pieces.
Courtesy of Valentino.
A VIP Shopping Sanctuary Recalls Maison Valentino Ateliers and Posh Apartment Living
A grand marble staircase, featuring an avant-garde display of red Travertino, white Botticino, and black Nero Marquina, transports visitors to the second floor where the full women’s ready-to-wear collection resides. Here, a sweeping red lacquered wardrobe framework and matching seating, collaged with a dynamic, checkered marble floor, invites clients into a private shopping sanctuary. Two ivory-hued VIP spaces recall the Valentino ateliers, offering sitting and dressing rooms lit by Roll & Hill, garnished with chairs by Charles Zana, simulating the surrounding area’s posh apartment living. The basement level, devoted to menswear, places a polished room of black parquet flooring and gleaming shelving units in deft conversation with a lively nearby space of lilac carpeting, mirrored columns, and a sensual 1970s DeSede Snake Sofa.
Courtesy of Valentino.
Valentino Madison Ave and Magazzino Italian Art Collaborate for Riveting Mario Schifano Exhibition
The meditative, concrete mezzanine space is dedicated solely to the arts, sustaining a profound commitment as seen in the Valentino on Canvas initiative, the brand’s sponsorship of the Italian Pavilion at the 59th Biennale di Venezia, and its recent collaboration with artistic visionaries for the Frieze art fairs in both Singapore and Seoul.
Valentino will partner with New York’s cutting-edge galleries and institutions for not-to-be-missed exhibitions within the mezzanine. For its inaugural presentation, Valentino and Magazzino Italian Art engages visitors in the work of Mario Schifano, taking them on a journey that challenges our perceptions and thoroughly investigates the collective human experience. The show runs in conjunction with the much-anticipated exhibition “Mario Schifano: The Rise of the ‘60s,” currently on view at the museum through January 8, 2024. A succession of presentations and talks in partnership with Magazzino Italian Art will take place at the Madison Avenue flagship in the coming months.
Photo by Tommaso Sacconi, courtesy of Valentino.
Photo by Tommaso Sacconi, courtesy of Valentino.
