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    Boyy flagship in Milan reveals layers of the store’s history

    Danish artist Thomas Poulsen, also known as FOS, has revamped the flagship store of accessories brand Boyy in Milan, keeping time-worn surfaces left over from the site’s former fit-outs.

    This marks the third time that FOS has refreshed the space on Via Bagutta since 2021, as part of the artist’s plan to create a dynamic “evolving” store.
    FOS has redesigned Boyy’s flagship in MilanIn its first incarnation, the Boyy flagship had funhouse-style mirrors, walls draped in faded pink fabric and cobalt-blue carpets emblazoned with everyday objects.
    This colour scheme was inverted for the second iteration of the store featuring blue walls and bubblegum-pink carpet. Elements of both of these schemes now remain in the store’s third and final form, which was left purposefully unfinished.
    Unpanelled sections of the wall reveal the store’s past fit-outs”This space was an experiment in formulating a shared language for how Boyy could develop as a brand,” FOS explained.

    “We started by creating an installation – the first rendition – then used that experience to create a second installation, and finally built upon the combined experience to create this final permanent space that we have now arrived at.”
    “We always envisioned the third rendition as the final act,” added Boyy co-founder Jesse Dorsey.
    Accessories are displayed inside illuminated glass vitrinesThe Boyy flagship now has walls panelled with the same grey ceppo stone that clads the store’s facade.
    Some areas were left without panelling, revealing the aged, fabric-lined walls left behind by a previous occupant – a 50-year-old antique shop that sold quaint Americana-style objects for the home.
    Blue fabric can also be seen hanging in the rear corner, saved from FOS’s second overhaul of the space.

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    These swathes of time-worn fabric were enclosed inside aluminium window frames, as were some of the store’s display units.
    Elsewhere, Boyy’s selection of shoes and handbags can be showcased in several illuminated glass vitrines or on the ledge that runs around the periphery of the store.
    The store has been finished with terrazzo flooringFOS also created a display shelf around a crumbling structural column that sits in the middle of the floor plan.
    A couple of tiered, sea-green bench seats were dotted throughout the store as decoration, complementing the flecks of greens stone that are found in the terrazzo floor.
    Curved benches provide seating throughout the storeMilan is home to an abundance of visually striking retail spaces.
    Others include the Moschino flagship, which was designed to reference the history of ancient Italy, and the Off-White store, which is decked out with natural materials like Patagonia granite.

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    Space tourism informs design of Ichi Station sushi restaurant in Milan

    Valencian design studio Masquespacio has completed a dine-in restaurant for takeaway sushi chain Ichi Station in Milan, with interiors designed to resemble a futuristic spaceship.

    Set in a historic building in the Brera district, the chain’s latest outpost builds on the same travel and transport concept established across its other outlets – including eight in Milan and another in Turin.
    Masquespacio has designed Ichi Station’s Brera outpostBut Masquespacio wanted to take this idea to the next level for the new restaurant by drawing on the visual language of sci-fi and space tourism.
    “We proposed approaching the travel concept as a trip to the future,” said Masquespacio co-founder Christophe Penasse.
    “When you enter Ichi, it’s like entering a capsule-like spaceship travelling through light, where you will disconnect from reality in order to get in touch with the food.”

    Customers can pick up orders at the takeaway counterMasquespacio completely redeveloped the layout of the 80-square-metre site – previously another restaurant – creating a central dining area along with a tunnel where diners can observe some of the sushi-making process.
    A pick-up bar close to the entrance was added to separate the circulation routes of take-away customers and diners.
    The dining area is housed in a cylindrical tunnelThe tunnel motif was developed as a way to express the idea of travel and make a reference to Japan without falling into cliches.
    “Some elements were incorporated to remind the customer of Japan, like the huge lighting circles, although we tried to avoid making typical references to Japan such as using wooden structures,” Penasse explained.

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    The tunnel motif also informed the circular and cylindrical details that pop up throughout the space across seat backs, bar stools and decorative elements such as the circular feature light in the main dining area.
    “The shapes and forms give the project the futuristic look that it needed,” the designer said.
    Diners can also watch sushi being prepared at the counterMasquespacio opted for a simple and restrained material palette that includes glass and micro-cement, which was used along with fully integrated tables and seating to create a seamless look reminiscent of a spaceship.
    The restaurant’s custom-made furniture brings in another reference to transport design tropes. “You can recognise it as a reinterpretation of the seating in a station and especially on a train,” Penasse explained.
    LED light panels are integrated into the walls, ceilings and table topsThe interior is finished in neutral shades of beige and off-white but is cast in different vivid colours thanks to the LED lighting system that is integrated into the walls, ceilings and even the table tops.
    The lights alternate between shades of blue, green, purple and peach at variable speeds and, according to Penasse, create a veritable “explosion of colour”.
    The toilets are finished in contrasting navy blueAlthough based in Spain, Masquespacio has completed a number of projects in Italy in recent years.
    Among them are two colour-block restaurants for fast-food chain Bun – a blue-and-green interior in Turin and a green-and-purple version in Milan.
    The photography is by Luis Beltran.

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    Six interior designers style rooms at Artemest’s L’Appartamento in Milan

    Six interior design studios, including Kingston Lafferty Design and T.ZED Architects, have overhauled a room at the 1930s L’Appartamento for commerce platform Artemest at Milan design week.

    The designers each used furniture, lighting and art from the brands, designers and artists represented on the Artemest platform to showcase their own style in a room at the apartment in Milan’s 5Vie district for the L’Appartamento exhibition.
    “We wanted to bring this stunning apartment back to life and show how different interior design studios, each with its own style and design approach, can work with Artemest to create inspiring and surprising interiors that celebrate authentic Italian beauty,” said Artemest founder Ippolita Rostagno.
    T.ZED Architects designed the entrance space at Artemest’s L’AppartamentoIn the entryway, Dubai-based studio T.ZED Architects aimed “to set the tone for what is yet to come” by preserving the character of the room and adding selected pieces.
    The studio choose a mix of furniture in off-white, cream and brown, including copper and leather finishes that plays off the green tones of the richly patterned, period wallpaper.

    Mirrors – including a Sybilla mirror with console by Ettore Sottsass for Glas Italia, and an Itaca floor mirror by Atlasproject – were placed to illuminate and enlarge the space, while amplifying the period details.
    Kingston Lafferty Design placed a golden block in the living roomIn the adjoining room, Dublin-based studio Kingston Lafferty Design aimed to “challenge visitors’ sense of what a living room should be” by placing a sculptural monolithic block seems to glow with a soft golden sheen in the centre of the space.
    The block splits the room into two distinct spaces and contains a mirrored space described by the studio as “a gallery of lights”.
    The golden block divides the space into twoOn one side of the block is an informal living room that evokes a sense of playfulness through the use of oversized furniture in bright colours, including the Osaka Blue Sofa by Pierre Paulin for La Cividina.
    The other side has a rich palette of jewel-tones to creates a more decadent atmosphere.
    Moniomi aimed to create a room on the terraceLeading from the living room a large terrace was reworked by Miami-based studio Moniomi, which aimed to create an outside room that felt like an interior space.
    The studio used a combination of large-scale upholstered pieces, gridline patterns and graphic blacks and whites, softened by lush greens to reference the outdoor location.
    The design language here features saturated colours and layered patterns – including the Nuovola 01 dining table by Mario Cucinella for Officine Tamborrino, which represent the studio’s Hispanic roots.
    Nina Magon designed the apartment’s dining spaceAnother US-based designer, Nina Magon, created the L’Appartamento dining room, playing with monochromatic hues to enhance the authenticity of the original finishes here.
    Sculptural furniture, such as the Trompe-l’oeil Trois dining table by DelMondo Studio, topped with a cluster of Flow[t] pendant lamps by Nao Tamura for WonderGlass was added to the space.
    The bedroom was designed by Styled HabitatIn the bedroom, Dubai-based studio, Styled Habitat, delved into the history of the 1930s to translate the romance of that era into the modern day and evoke a sense of timeless glamour.
    To capture the experimental and avant-garde trends of European modernism, Styled Habitat juxtaposed new and old, with a Czech Chair by Hermann Czech for Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, alongside pieces like the Calle Pinzi Murano Glass Chandelier by Luci Italia.

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    Finally, for L’Appartamento’s hallway and the studio, Paris-based interior designer Anne-Sophie Pailleret was informed by her first reaction to seeing the apartment.
    The long, narrow hall, has been covered with the textural Tra 1100 Wallpaper hand-crafted by La Scala Milano Wallcovering, contrasting with geometric Alfabeto Tiles by Margherita Rui for Ninefifty, on the floor.
    Anne-Sophie Pailleret styled the corridorThe walls are further decorated with Ninfea wall lamps by Giovanni Botticelli in collaboration with Paola Paronetto, functioning as a gallery-style grouping of lights.
    For the studio room, Pailleret created a mix of warm colours and graphic patterns, with comfortable and curvaceous furniture.
    The photography is courtesy of Artemest.
    L’Appartamento takes place from 17 to 23 April 2023 at Via Cesare Correnti 14, 20123 Milan, Italy. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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    Eight Milanese interiors with eye-catching material palettes

    In the lead-up to Milan design week, we have rounded up eight residential and hotel interiors in the Italian city that are united by their use of muted colours and diverse materials.

    As the Salone del Mobile furniture fair is set to kick off next week, alongside its surrounding Fuorisalone events programme, these interiors provide a glimpse into some of the city’s design-led apartments, homes and hotels.
    Among the featured projects in Italy’s industrial capital is a hybrid home and office space in a former dental studio, a home set within a 200-year-old palazzo and a nunnery-turned-hotel.
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring accent walls, bookshelves and terracotta tiles.
    Photo is by Carola RipamontiTeorema Milanese, Italy, by Marcante-Testa

    With the exception of removing a partition wall to create an open-plan living and dining area, Italian design studio Marcante-Testa looked to maintain the classic layout of this apartment in a 1960s building on Corso Sempione during its renovation.
    The studio decorated the apartment in muted colours and used pale grey cipollino tirreno marble as a “carpet” across the sitting area. Elsewhere, a pale lemon-hued cabinet functions as a partition while the bathroom is clad in a maroon-streaked salomè marble.
    Find out more about Teorema Milanese ›

    Out of the Blue, Italy, by AIM
    Italian design studio AIM made liberal use of the colour grey when renovating the interior of this 150-square-metre home in Milan. The concealed staircase that forms the centre of the renovation is framed in the distinctive bluey-grey hue.
    And in the dining area, the home’s wooden flooring was decorated with a painted rectangle that aims to visually zone and separate the space from its surroundings. Brass fixtures complement its grey hue, which can also be found across light fixings and ornaments.
    Find out more about Out of the Blue ›
    Photo is by Giovanni Emilio GalanelloPrivate apartment, Italy, by Untitled Architecture
    A cylindrical staircase and metal structural elements are the focal features of this small apartment, designed by local studio Untitled Architecture.
    The apartment has a minimal paired-back aesthetic, with white-painted walls and bleached wood elements contrasted against tiny pops of colour introduced through blue-hued grouting and balustrades.
    Find out more about the private apartment ›
    Photo is by Michele FilippiCPR Apartment, Italy, by +R Piuerre
    Housed in a former dental studio, this hybrid home and office belongs to a young remote-working couple and was designed to combine Milanese modernism with Nordic design.
    Two areas of the apartment were colour-coded according to their function, with the bedroom, office and entryway covered in tones of grey while the living area and kitchen are marked by a bright yellow hue. The spaces are connected by a white-painted staircase constructed from sheets of folded metal.
    Find out more about CPR Apartment ›

    Room Mate Giulia, Italy, by Patricia Urquiola
    Pistachio green was used to colour the dado wall panelling and soft furnishings inside this suite in Milan’s Room Mate Giulia hotel decorated by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola. Meanwhile, the upper half of the walls and the ceilings are covered in white wallpaper with a geometric grid pattern.
    Industrial materials and furnishings, including a galvanised metal shelving unit, were repurposed as boutique storage solutions and room partitions.
    Find out more about Room Mate Hotels ›

    Casa Salvatori, Italy, by Elissa Ossino Studio
    This home, designed by Milanese architecture practice Elissa Ossino Studio for the head of Italian stone company Salvatori, brings together marble furnishings and flecked terrazzo floors to link the interior with Salvatori’s stone manufacturing history.
    Dulled hues of blue, peach, green and yellow were carried through the interior of the home, which is set within a 200-year-old palazzo in the city’s Brera district.
    Find out more about Casa Salvatori ›
    Photo is by Giovanna SilvaHouse with an iron staircase, Italy, by Roberto Murgia and Valentina Ravara
    An iron staircase with a zig-zagging framework reminiscent of structural trusses was installed along one wall of this apartment in the Isola district, designed by Italian architects Roberto Murgia and Valentina Ravara.
    The floor of the main living space features a geometric design, achieved through the use of hexagonal cement tiles. Each of the tiles is handmade and coloured in shades of light blue and white to provide tonal variation.
    Find out more about House with an iron staircase ›
    Photo is by Alberto StradaThe Sister Hotel, Italy, by Quincoces-Dragò
    Housed in a former 16th-century nunnery in Milan’s city centre, The Sister Hotel features decadent yet eclectic interiors by architecture studio Quincoces-Dragò.
    The studio looked to grandiose private townhouses when designing the interiors, opting for moody shades of navy blue and deep green within the bedrooms. Furnishings introduce brighter colours into the suites, including a velvet-upholstered orange sofa.
    Find out more about The Sister Hotel ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring accent walls, bookshelves and terracotta tiles.

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    Moschino flagship store references the “history of ancient Italy”

    Italian studio Andrea Tognon Architecture has collaborated with former Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott to renovate the brand’s flagship store in Milan.

    Located on Via della Spiga, one of Milan’s famed shopping streets, the store sits within the 18th-century Palazzo Perusati, which was recently transformed by real estate company Hines into a luxury retail development.
    The store was designed by Andrea Tognon Architecture in collaboration with Scott who aimed to recreate and allude to the history of ancient Italy through a minimalist yet ornamental interior scheme.
    The Moschino Milan store was designed by Andrea Tognon and Jeremy Scott”I was inspired by the rich history of ancient Italy and the beauty and decadent opulence of its design,” said Scott.
    “Sometimes we start to design from memories, sometimes from form, materials and colours,” added Andrea Tognon Architecture founder Andrea Tognon.

    “For this project, I started only from words.”
    It is located within a recently renovated retail hubThe Milan flagship spans two floors and covers 380 square metres.
    Its ground floor is dedicated to the brand’s women’s ready-to-wear collections and accessories, while its first floor is dedicated to its men’s and kid’s collections.
    Oversized columns and capitals fill the storeThroughout the interior, Andrea Tognon Architecture used rich materials that speak to Moschino’s baroque flair, which was also highlighted through decorative and oversized architectural elements.
    A checkered floor constructed from Botticino marble and green stone, sourced from Brazil, covers the ground floor retail area while the above floors were clad in yellow Siena marble.

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    A vast stone spiral staircase connects the two floors of retail space and forms a continuation of the oversized checkered floor – with the tread and rise of each step similarly clad in green stone and marble.
    Patinated brass lighting stretches rhythmically in horizontal rows across the ceiling of the store. Curving tubular display rails line the boundaries of the interior and were constructed in the same brass finish.
    Marble and stone cover the floorsPops of colour were introduced to the interior through bright yellow lacquered wood shelving that flank the walls of the store and follow its curving profile.
    Oversized columns and capitals were placed throughout the interior and function as furniture and display areas for the brand’s products and accessories.
    It was designed to reference the ancient history of ItalyAlso scattered throughout the store are additional custom furniture pieces that were created by Scott in homage to Moschino’s founder Franco Moschino.
    These tables combine two tables which were spliced in the middle, joined together and decorated with marble tops and gold leaf ornamentation.
    Pops of colours were incorporated throughout the storeLast week news broke that Jeremy Scott was leaving Moschino after a decade-long tenure at the Milanese fashion house. In 2020, Scott replaced models at his Spring Summer 2021 show with puppets that wore the brand’s womenswear collection.
    Elsewhere in Milan, London design studios Brinkworth and The Wilson Brothers created a caravan-shaped artist studio for Marni’s flagship store in the Italian city.
    The photography is by Adriano Mura.

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    Demountable electric-blue grid engulfs On-Off store interior in Milan

    Italian architect Francesca Perani has teamed up with design studio Bloomscape to create a reversible fit-out for this clothing store in Milan, which is dominated by a flexible gridded shelving system.

    Perani and Bloomscape installed the grid with its moveable shelves as a way to let the On-Off store effortlessly change its display arrangements.
    A gridded blue framework covers the entire interior of Milan’s On-Off storeIt was also a matter of making the store reversible, meaning that the fit-out could be easily dismantled should the retailer move on to a different site, saving waste and leaving behind a clean slate for the next occupier.
    “Too often, the world of retail is still insensitive to sustainability; its lifecycle, however, is too short to continue being ignored,” explained Bloomscape co-founder Rosario Distaso.
    Concrete chimney blocks form display plinths and benchesThe gridded framework comprises beams of poplar wood surrounded by metal frames that were anodised to produce a vivid electric-blue colour.

    The system runs along the walls and across the store’s ceiling, allowing On-Off to hang wayfinding signage.
    Shelves can be moved around in the framework to create different displaysAll of the shelves can be pulled out or slotted in at different points of the framework.
    A fixed wooden clothes rail runs between two of the columns, allowing the hung garments to appear almost as part of the store’s architecture.

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    As the team was working with a limited budget, just a handful of materials were applied throughout the rest of On-Off.
    The same metal-clad poplar wood was used to create freestanding clothing rails that appear at the edges of the store. Sheets of poplar also form the top of the store’s display plinths and bench seats, which have chimney cement blocks for a base.
    Mirrored panels clad the store’s cash register deskAt the rear of the floor plan is a mirror-clad cash register, set against a wall lined with translucent polycarbonate sheets.
    More panels of polycarbonate were used to enclose On-Off’s changing rooms, with a shiny silver curtain suspended in front of each cubicle for privacy.
    Polycarbonate walls and silver curtains feature in the changing roomsOther striking retail spaces in Milan include the Marni flagship with its very own artists’ studio and IoNoi – a hybrid store and gallery dedicated to the work of Italian designer Fabio Novembre.
    The photography is courtesy of Francesca Perani.

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    Fabio Novembre launches first concept store in Milan dedicated to his designs

    Italian architect and designer Fabio Novembre has opened IoNoi Gallery, a hybrid retail space and gallery in Milan with “strongly postmodern” interiors designed to showcase his work.

    Located on a street corner a few steps from Novembre’s studio, the shop sells a range of products the designer has created throughout his career for companies including Italian furnituremaker Kartell, lighting brand Lasvit and glassmaker Venini.
    IoNoi Gallery showcases Fabio Novembre’s works on a street corner in MilanNovembre designed the minimalist interior himself, conceiving it as a blank page in an architect’s sketchbook.
    This is represented through the grid pattern printed on the store’s white melamine laminate walls, which allows the bold colours and forms in his work to take centre stage.
    “The design of the interior is like a blank squared page, the perfect canvas for an architect,” Novembre told Dezeen. “It allows objects to float in space, suspended on a system of interchangeable luminous shelves.”

    Yellow plinths display the designer’s productsThe displayed items, which straddle the realms of art, design and fashion, are arranged across simple shelving with embedded LED strip lights.
    A bright yellow wall that leads to the rear of the store and three yellow display plinths provide accents of colour against the grey stone floor.
    A yellow wall leads to the far end of the storeIn keeping with his other work, Novembre describes his first dedicated concept store as “strongly postmodern”.
    The gallery’s name, IoNoi, is derived from an ongoing research project of the same name, conceived by Novembre to explore the relationship between the self and the collective, between objects and their “universe of reference”.

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    “IoNoi started as a blog in 2008,” Novembre explained. “Its point was that people and things are born from other people and other things. The research of connections, often unplanned and undeclared, helps pave the way for an inclusive and cross-cutting approach to knowledge.”
    “Today, the project evolves into IoNoi Gallery, a physical space that contains and exhibits my world made of industrial objects and art design in the continuous link between design, architecture, art and fashion.”
    Floating shelves are mounted on the wallsThe store will double up as a venue for hosting exhibitions, research projects and collaborations.
    Novembre also hinted that he is working on more ceramic products following his recent work for Italian porcelain brand Villari.
    The walls are finished in a pattern reminiscent of gridded sketchbook paper”I find it interesting to continue with the formal experimentation on porcelain, carrying on the tradition of Italian design masters such as [Ettore] Sottsass and [Alessandro] Mendini – my maestros,” he said.
    Novembre’s wide-ranging portfolio includes a number of other architecture and interior projects. Among them are the headquarters of football club AC Milan and a house on a man-made island in Abu Dhabi that is wrapped around a reflecting pool.

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    Dimore Studio gives historical Milan palazzo “celestial” makeover

    Over the course of Milan design week, architecture and design studio Dimore Studio transformed its gallery into “a dreamlike space” filled with lighting, furniture and textiles shrouded in plumes of smoke.

    Dimore Studio founders Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci wanted the interiors to help visitors forget the difficult years of the coronavirus pandemic and instead evoke “hope and joy”.
    Dimore Studio has transformed its gallery space into an installationTucked away in a cobbled courtyard in the city’s Brera district, the hazy space was also informed by its name: oublié translates from French to “to forget” in English.
    Upon entering the second floor of a nineteenth-century apartment turned gallery, visitors are met with classical music playing softly.
    Visitors journey through eight rooms inside the historical buildingAs they walk through the eight interconnected rooms, smoke is blown throughout, making the interior hazy and dusty.

    “This year, the name of our exhibition Oublié is a clear message for our visitors: forget the past two years and embrace our poetic vision of hope and joy through the installation,” Moran told Dezeen.
    “Visitors will find themselves in a dreamlike space where time stands still, where rays of light are cast through half-closed shutters and a soft haze accompanies the movement.”
    Every room is kitted out with Dimore Studio furniture and soft furnishingsThe studio chose a neutral colour palette of muted beiges, browns and ivory white for the space, which the studio used for a previous installation at Milan design week 2017. Splashes of gold can be found in the lighting while the doors are painted silver.
    “The space has undergone a radical change following its transformation: the warm-toned, enveloping walls have become pure, immaculate and almost celestial,” explained Salci.

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    To add to the dreamlike atmosphere, Dimore Studio played with light. Opting to avoid technical lights, the space is instead lit by lamps such as the Belle de Jour table lamp and the Abatjour lamp. Meanwhile, natural light pours through the open windows.
    “We decided to avoid the technical lights in order to have a more natural and cosy atmosphere with ambience light.”
    “We closed our shutters in order to reduce the natural summer light that in addition to the smokey atmosphere, create this oublié – forgotten environment.”
    Light pours through several shuttersOublié captures the studio’s signature aesthetic which it describes as “nostalgic” yet contemporary through an eclectic mix of the brand’s permanent collection and new pieces such as a chair and a floor lamp.
    Previously the studio has applied its distinctively opulent aesthetic to a London art gallery and a shop in Paris that features textiles in three-dimensional patterns draped across the storefront.
    The photography is by Paolo Abate.

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