Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella lays claim to something no other brand can: as the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in the world, it has been pioneering innovations in health and beauty for over 800 years. Now, the historic Italian brand is innovating yet again by enlisting two of the most celebrated names in contemporary design – Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi of Formafantasma – to become its new creative directors.
‘The choice of Formafantasma rests on their multidisciplinary approach, which moves between product, space, research and exhibition with the same rigour, and on an attention to materials and sustainability that reflects values the Officina recognises as its own,’ the brand says in a statement about the new appointment. ‘
Founded as a convent apothecary by Dominican friars in 1221, Santa Maria Novella gained notoriety throughout Europe, first, for its rose water disinfectant used to prevent the spread of plague and then for its creation of the perfumed Acqua della Regina (Queen's Water) for Catherine de' Medici before she left Italy to become Queen of France (perhaps the first instance in history of someone having a ‘signature scent’ as we think of it today). Throughout the centuries, the brand’s product offering has expanded considerably, but it has maintained a reverence for its beginnings with products grounded in traditional methods, packaging that retains an old-world, apothecary charm, and stores decorated in a Neo-Gothic style.
For Formafantasma, known for their distinctly contemporary aesthetic and former Wallpaper* designers of the year, modernising Santa Maria Novella is not about disavowing this history, but recontextualising it within the present. ‘Our intention is not to redefine Santa Maria Novella through a new image, but to build from what already exists, understanding what has allowed it to remain relevant since 1221 and how this can inform its present and future,’ says the pair. ‘This means examining how its history is communicated, how new products are developed, and how the different expressions of the company can form a coherent whole.’
As creative directors, Farresin and Trimarchi will work across products, packaging, communication, retail spaces and events – in every instance using the product as the primary point of departure. For the duo, this new undertaking not only marks an expansion of Formafantasma’s global footprint, but encourages them to think about their own legacy moving forward.
‘The Officina is not simply defined by its longevity, but by the accumulation and transmission of knowledge across generations,’ says the pair. ‘Working with such an accumulation raises questions close to our own practice, particularly how it is preserved and transformed, how materials carry their own histories, and how an institution can advance without treating its past as static.’
