Fitted exclusively with Italian materials, Caruso's commanding 4,500 sq ft New York flagship has been designed by Milanese architect and artist Edgar Vallora as an immersive Italian refuge. Located in front of Manhattan's Four Seasons Hotel, the expansive retail space was the former site of Spanierman Art Gallery.

This legacy in antiquities prompted Caruso to commission wood artist Giuseppe Amato to create an intricate intarsia installation for the store. The piece references Italy's grand palazzo terraces and fittingly resides at the end of a 60 ft column-lined corridor. Old oak flooring and veined terracotta tiles - made of coloured clays from the Po River near Soragna where Caruso was founded in 1958 - unite the store's apartments, just as lavish rugs are juxtaposed with more practical wooden furnishings. A private VIP room also respectfully grafts elements from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, including its velvet curtains and a rare set of memorabilia from one of the old theatre's boxes.

RELATED TOPICS: NEW YORK, RETAIL DIRECTORY