MILAN — Birkenstock is entering into the Milanese retail scene in an enormous approach.
The model has zeroed in on a location within the arty Brera district for its first flagship retailer within the Italian vogue capital, following outposts in Rome and Verona.
In distinction to its different models, the Milan retailer was developed with a site-specific inside idea and enriched with parts and activations supposed to have fun each its tropes and the native design, cultural and social scene.
The Birkenstock flagship in Milan.
Maarten Willemstein/Courtesy of Birkenstock
“Opening our new retailer in Milan’s Brera district is a powerful reflection of our dedication to bringing Birkenstock’s core values — perform, high quality and custom to our rising neighborhood of loyal shoppers in Italy,” mentioned Andrea Cannavò, the model’s vp direct-to-consumer and membership EMEA. “With a uniquely crafted retailer design, we goal to foster a extra private reference to our shoppers — via immersive storytelling and experiences centered across the footbed, all set in an setting that blends our model values with the colourful spirit of Brera.”
Spanning two flooring, the 1,291-square-foot house evokes Birkenstock’s signature footbed through cork finishes and wooden furnishings that dominate the neutral-toned, raw-textured and soft-lighted setting. Interactive digital implementations additional add to the narrative by enabling guests to dig deeper within the orthopedic options of the model’s collections and uncover types that match their wants, together with its iconic Boston, Arizona and Madrid designs. These are carried subsequent to seasonal fashions, the Skilled and Premium 1774 strains and its Care Necessities foot care merchandise.
Contained in the Birkenstock flagship in Milan.
Maarten Willemstein/Courtesy of Birkenstock
Different nods to Birkenstock’s experience — rooted in research of the biomechanics of the human foot and on a household custom of shoemaking tracing again to 1774 — vary from the “Pure Match” animated 3D video to the “Stroll With Me” in-store set up curated by designer and gallerist Frederik De Wachter and vogue editor Fabiana Fierotti, which invite guests to discover Milanese escapes interactively.
An artisanal, sculptural tackle the foot theme is obtainable via three ceramic items, as a substitute. Resembling modern fossils, these have been created in collaboration with Milanese artist Gianluca Brando, one of many native artists Birkenstock tapped to have fun the shop opening.
Particulars on the Birkenstock flagship in Milan.
Maarten Willemstein/Courtesy of Birkenstock
For the event, the model tied up with a curated collective of Milan-based skills and establishments — spanning cooks, artists, musicians, architects — shaping as we speak’s cityscape.
For one, the shop’s comfortable opening on Thursday might be celebrated with a partnership with town’s storied Gelateria Umberto 1934, leading to a co-branded cart handing complimentary artisanal gelato to guests. These will moreover obtain a limited-edition, transformable apron bag stuffed designed by Letizia Caramia and Morten Thuesen of Milan-based multidisciplinary design studio Older Studio.
Letizia Caramia and Morten Thuesen of Older Studio starring in Birkenstock’s “Gli Artigiani di Milano” marketing campaign.
Carlotta Manaigo/Courtesy of Birkenstock
Brando and the Older Studio duo may also star in a particular marketing campaign Birkenstock developed for the opening. Dubbed “Gli Artigiani di Milano,” the pictures photographed by Carlotta Manaigo below the artistic course of the Vesper Milano manufacturing home painting them and Milanese chef Mimosa Misasi carrying a unique type of Birkenstock sandals of their favourite outside spots within the Brera neighborhood.
To be displayed throughout Milan in addition to on the model’s social media in early September, the poster sequence and flanking video content material will construct momentum forward of the three-day activations and personal occasions that can have fun the shop’s official opening beginning Sept. 10.
Mimosa Misasi starring in Birkenstock’s “Gli Artigiani di Milano” marketing campaign.
Carlotta Manaigo/Courtesy of Birkenstock
Initiatives will embrace an immersive gardening workshop led by chef and foraging knowledgeable Alessandro Di Tizio, inviting friends to reconnect with nature via city foraging and hands-on work with crops, and an in-store wine tasting with Michele De Liguoro, chef of Rovello 18, the restaurant that previously occupied the shop’s location. In the identical vein, Birkenstock additionally collaborated with Milanese ceramic laboratory Laboratorio Paravicini to create a restricted sequence of hand-painted plates as a tribute to the restaurant.
An intimate dinner expertise overseen by Misasi and Di Tizio and flanked by a dwell music efficiency might be moreover staged on the Brera’s Orto Botanico botanical backyard, whereas an in-store cocktail that includes delicatessen formed just like the Birkenstock footbed and a DJ set curated by the Santamaria Sound Studio artistic consultancy will welcome a wider viewers on the ultimate day of the activations.
Gianluca Brando starring in Birkenstock’s “Gli Artigiani di Milano” marketing campaign.
Carlotta Manaigo/Courtesy of Birkenstock
The Milan retailer marks Birkenstock’s forty second unit in Europe and comes at a time when the corporate continues to extend its international retail footprint. Earlier this yr, the German footwear model opened the doorways to its newest American outpost in Nashville, marking the tenth Birkenstock-owned retail location within the U.S.
This adopted its fourth London retailer unveiled in March and second retailer in Paris. Additionally this yr, the corporate reduce the ribbon of its first retailer within the Netherlands in Amsterdam, and transformed its Cologne, Germany pop-up right into a everlasting retail location.
Over in Asia, Birkenstock opened a particular yearlong pop-up store in Kyoto, Japan, on the long-lasting Shijo Avenue inside a standard Machiya city home, in addition to remodeled its Shanghai pop-up right into a everlasting house.
Mimosa Misasi carrying the Tremendous Birki 2.0 type in Birkenstock’s “Gli Artigiani di Milano” marketing campaign.
Carlotta Manaigo/Courtesy of Birkenstock
