Missoni Surface Conversion and Kreëmart: Salotto “Angela Missoni”

At the Missoni store on Madison Avenue, on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. until April 22, guests are in for a rare treat. Walking into the boutique, visitors are greeted by the usual attractive Missoni store—clean, fun, and inviting. But up the stairs and to the right, tucked beyond the bustle of shopping, Angela Missoni’s home vision awaits. Missoni Surface Conversion, presented by Kreëmart, is offering its second installment: Salotto “Angela Missoni.”

For this immersive experience, Kreëmart’s founder Raphael Castoriano is leading the recreation of Missoni’s home, which includes art from some of her favorite artists, like Marina Abramovic, Tracey Emin, Josephine Meckseper, and Mickalene Thomas, selected in participation of New York-based galleries. New to Missoni’s collection (and supported through an artist discussion at the store on March 27) is a piece entitled The Campi by artist Melissa McGill, who Missoni is also supporting at the upcoming Venice Biennale. Over 15 years ago, Missoni purchased a piece of McGill’s, only to recently fall in love with another piece. When open, the sound sculpture, which Missoni showed us at the store during our visit, plays four hours of recorded sounds from the ancient churches in Venice. “This is the first prototype,” said Missoni. “You can hear everything—the birds, the bells—and it plays in a loop. Different ones have different sounds from the piazzas.”

Additional hand-picked pieces are there too, including a selection from abc carpet & home, Ercole, Levy Lighting, Missoni Home furniture and fabric pieces, books similar to those in her at-home library by Assouline, an illy coffee bar, snacks by Barilla, and an array of small bites being served throughout the duration. Like Missoni, the businesses in participation all have a “legacy of family,” said Castorino, who wanted to “strengthen the sense of familiarity, and in a sense, love.” Simply, they chose these specific brands to work with because they embrace that notion, as well.

“The main idea was to explore, with a non-institutional approach, the relationship between a public setting and an intimate experience; to see how we can blur those boundaries and what results from it,” said Castoriano. “I wanted the public to experience the intimacy of a fashion designer’s private space. One of Kreëmart’s core ideas is exploring taste, which refers to both the sensation of flavor as well as the preferences of an individual, and how a creative mind can be pushed out of its comfort zone with the physical and abstract considerations of taste. Missoni has always been a family business and almost a historic house of fashion, and I wanted to give some insight into the taste of Angela who is not just the designer behind Missoni, but my friend as well.”

It was also important that Italian performance artist Romina de Novellis flew in to perform LA VEGLIA (meaning “the awaiting scene”) for guests. Select invitees got to see her performance from March 2—4. Novellis, while nude, intimately weaved over 65,000 feet of red Missoni thread to create a large installation, slowing unraveling it throughout the course of the day without moving from her seated position.

“The idea evolved to more than just a living room, but a Salotto, a salon,” said Castoriano. “It is a place for intellectuals, creative minds, art and fashion lovers, and people from all different backgrounds to have a space to exchange ideas, or even just sit and enjoy a quiet moment in a welcoming environment.”

 

To visit, email Info@Kreemart.com.