Vincent Van Duysen brings Milanese elegance to Molteni&C|Dada’s new London flagship

A design heavyweight arrives on London’s Brompton Road in the form of Molteni&C | Dada’s latest flagship shop. Spanning five windows stretching over a prime corner spot across from the V&A, this latest locale offers up a refined backdrop to showcase the Italian brand’s sophisticated designs. Dreamed up by creative director Vincent Van Duysen, the new flagship pulls from Molteni&C | Dada’s long history as a stalwart of Milanese style. Following long-standing locations in Fitzrovia and Covent Garden, Brompton Road clocks in as their third destination in the city.
‘The Molteni&C | Dada stores have to follow the same principle as my architecture,’ explains Van Duysen of his process in arriving at the shop’s design, ‘pure, getting to the core, while achieving an authenticity. The store is in synergy with the architecture, the location surrounding it and the brand interacting with it.’
Hand sketch by Vincent Van Duysen of the new Molteni&C showroom on Brompton Road
Made up of 700 sq m spread over two storeys, the shop’s upper level is articulated by a series of imposing arches left in situ from the original architecture, a typical Knightsbridge-area home. Van Duysen then washed the plaster walls with a sober palette of roughly stuccoed grey, diffusing the space with a staid Milanese elegance that brings to mind the city’s stone-lined streets. Laid out like a lush apartment covering kitchen, living room and bedroom concepts, projects including the ‘VDD’ kitchen, the ‘Gliss Master’ wardrobe system and collections by Jean Nouvel and Patricia Urquiola, all sit pride-of-place in the shop’s vast picture windows.
Inside the showroom with a view of Brompton Road
‘We use noble materials,’ explains Van Duysen of the sublime interiors, ‘[they] refer to the earth tones and colour palettes that are reflected in the frescoes of northern Italy.’ This reference carries seamlessly through from Molteni&C | Dada’s New York flagship, newly opened in May. Both locations speak largely with the same vocabulary, drawing on opulent materials like marble-travertine and richly hued walnut sourced from the brand’s northern Italian home base.
A grand walnut wood staircase leads to the shop’s lower floor, an intimate space that makes excellent use of a series of small, structural alcoves and striking spotlighting to create a series of mise-en-scènes showing off some of the brand’s most celebrated collections. Here, Gio Ponti’s covetable ‘D.156.3’ armchairs, part of Molteni&C | Dada’s heritage collection, sit alongside a ‘Turner’ sofa in grey and Foster + Partners sleek ‘AVA’ bookcase.
Adding an ounce of colour amongst all the tranquillity, Milanese art curator Caroline Corbetta devised a selection of contemporary paintings for the flagship, part of The Collector’s House project that launched last year at Salone del Mobile. Six budding painters from Rome’s Galleria Operativa were chosen to line the walls, lending an experimental flourish to the well-polished space.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Molteni&C Group website
ADDRESS
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
245-249 Brompton Road
London
SW3 2EP
Laura May Todd, Wallpaper's Milan Editor, based in the city, is a Canadian-born journalist covering design, architecture and style. She regularly contributes to a range of international publications, including T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Azure and Sight Unseen, and is about to publish a book on Italian interiors.
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 shows
The Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to know
Designing the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Febal Casa’s ‘Onda’ kitchen island and sideboard with Zaha Hadid Architects ripple with possibility
Architectural fluidity and manufacturing excellence meet in a next-wave furniture collection
-
Vincent Van Duysen ‘inspired by modernism’ for Molteni & C’s outdoor furniture debut
Molteni & C goes alfresco with two new collections and reissued classics, bringing its signature elegance to the great outdoors
-
First look inside Centurion New York by Yabu Pushelberg
Centurion New York is an expansive new space for American Express’ ‘black card’ members. Its interior designers Yabu Pushelberg give us a tour
-
Is this the most beautiful office in the world?
Parisian creative agency Art Recherche Industrie’s new HQ translates a 19th-century landmark into a chic open-plan office worth leaving home for
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east London
James Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
-
Taschen tantalises with new edition of Jorge Pardo’s ‘Brussels Lamps’
German publishing house Taschen launches a limited-edition series of five ‘Brussels Lamps’ by Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo
-
Edra’s outdoor furniture is an ode to the sea
Designed by long-term collaborator Jacopo Foggini, the ‘A’mare’ collection of outdoor furniture mimics shiny water, and was named 'Best Disappearing Act' at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023
-
Peep inside Luca Nichetto’s Pink Villa in Stockholm, part studio, part showroom
Welcome to the pink house that is the new Stockholm home to Luca Nichetto's team