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.
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.
The theme 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 (entrance), Tablinum (living room), Peristilum (the private, inner courtyard) and Triclinum (formal dining room).
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.
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.
The entrance’s floor, in Travertino Navona marble, presents a lozenge pattern with brass inserts, giving a further touch of preciousness to the rooms. 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.
A pale gold patina on the interior walls, by the artist Filippo Falaguasta, gives the boutique a warm and unique ambience. The shopping experience continues in the Triclinium, 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.