Delvaux in Rome by Studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners

The Belgian Maison has inaugurated its first Flagship in the Italian capital. Designed by the Studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners, the new boutique recalls the spirit of an ancient Roman house, reinterpreted with irony and in a modern key.

© Santi Caleca

Design: Studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners
Client: Delvaux
Location: Rome, Italy
Year: 2019
Total area: 135 sqm
Project: Vudafieri-Saverino Partners, Tiziano Vudafieri and Claudio Saverino
Design team and Project management: Roberta Lavena, Elena Pessina, Vanessa
Photography: Santi Caleca

© Santi Caleca

Project's description: Delvaux, the oldest fine leather luxury goods house in the world, has inaugurated a new Flagship store in the heart of the Eternal City, located in a historic building in the exclusive Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina. This opening follows the one of the Milanese boutique, confirming the increasingly prominent role the Italian market is playing for the brand. 

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The interior design project is by the studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners - based in Milan and Shanghai - which has been responsible for the world concept of Delvaux boutiques since 2012: over 42 worldwide, of which 15 in Europe, 7 in Japan, 17 in the rest of Asia and 3 in North America. The concept, created in collaboration with Delvaux’s Chairman and CEO Jean-Marc Loubier, uses the language of interior decoration to celebrate the Belgitude and creativity of the Maison in a different way according to the characteristics of each city. This makes every Delvaux boutique unique.

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The leit motif of this new flagship store is the Domus Romana, the typical house inhabited by the upper classes in the ancient Rome. The concept arises from the equivalence between the boutique plan and the layout of the traditional Roman homes, articulated between: Atrium (entrace), Tablinum (living room), Peristilum (the private, inner courtyard) and Triclinum (formal dining room).

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Delvaux collections and accessories are thus to be found in rooms that recalls a modern Domus Romana. A succession of areas from public to more and more intimate: the result is a shopping experience that offers a progressive sense of exclusivity.

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Entering the boutique, the customer is welcomed to the first two rooms of the "domus": the Atrium and the Tablinum, where an original Venini chandelier of the ‘70s stands out. A very rare piece made of 500 hanging glass rods in the shape of “Fiocco di Neve”. The chandelier illuminates a wooden sculpted and painted Italian gaming table from the 17th century. A decorative element worthy of a museum collection. The entrance’s floor, in Travertino Navona marble, presents a lozenge pattern with brass inserts, giving a further touch of preciousness to the rooms.

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Leading up to the back end of the rooms is the Peristilum, the most private part of the Domus. The signature feature of this room is the building’s original white cross vaults. The columns are decorated with a special wallpaper, designed by Vudafieri-Saverino Partners, in which the ruins of the Neoclassic artist Piranesi, are reinterpreted as colourful Pop-Art works, with a touch of irony.

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In the Rome Flagship Store, the iconic Delvaux wardrobe - whose forms, colours and volumes are reinterpreted differently depending on the store where is located - was revisited under the inspiration of the Baroque architecture of Borromini. A choice that, together with the use of a gold background, is a homage to the Eternal City. 

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A pale gold patina on the interior walls, by the artist Filippo Falaguasta, gives the boutique a warm and unique ambiance. The shopping experience continues in the Triclinum, the dining room of Roman times that has been reinterpreted as a VIP Room: a space for a deeper relationship with visitors who want something special. Guests are welcomed by vintage sofas and armchairs upholstered in grey velvet and a 1950s’ FontanaArte coffee table. On the wall, bag templates dating back to the '50s form an abstract composition.

The result is a store with a distinctive, warm and friendly personality, full of references and citations that lead guests to discover the collections as well as Delvaux’s belgitude.

© Santi Caleca

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© Santi Caleca

© Santi Caleca

© Santi Caleca

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© Santi Caleca

Photo courtesy Delvaux

Photo courtesy Delvaux

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