Exploring Maison Margiela's new boutique in Milan

After six long months of renovation, Maison Margiela's boutique in Milan's Fashion District, on Via Sant'Andrea to be precise, has finally been completed, following a new concept conceived by the brand's creative director John Galliano. Elevated on two floors, with three hundred meters of total floor space, the boutique incorporates the brand's legendary iconoclasm in both its façade and interiors, adopting an abstractionist aesthetic based on, as the brand itself puts it, «appropriating the inappropriate». Inside, clothing collections are located on the upper floor while the ground floor is dedicated to shoes, accessories, jewelry, perfume and leather goods. 

The walls inside, kept in the natural shade of plaster, reflect the anonymous interior linings, transforming the philosophy of the maison and in particular Margiela's signature white color into decor - as well as his interest in deconstruction. The theme of deconstruction also returns in the furniture, and specifically in the Misfit furniture designed to recall classic and recognizable objects, but re-conceptualized in their form. The décortiqué technique is applied to shelves, display tables and carved seats made of stained travertine, whose natural indentations are filled with epoxy resin to contrast with the white color. The ceilings and dressing rooms, on the other hand, the most intimate places in the boutique, have walls covered with several layers of hand-brushed dark green paint that creates a deep sheen that is echoed in the Japanese lacquer cabinets.

To celebrate the re-opening of its Milan boutique, Maison Margiela has decided to host the pre-launch of the TZ Pump Deadstock here, the latest result of the collaboration between the brand and Reebok, and it will also represent a new chapter in the brand's global expansion, which, by the end of the year, will count a retail network strong with 85 locations-including three new boutiques in Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.