For this year's Salone del Mobile, in addition to unveiling a new suite of luxurious homeware and furniture, Bottega Veneta staged a brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it pop-up store on the fourth floor of its new Milanese HQ.
The 'Made in Japan' theme presented a small cache of Japanese objets - created by Japanese artisans and master craftsmen - that had been specially selected by creative director, Tomas Maier, and Seiichi Kamei, the editor-in-chief of Japanese design and architecture magazine Casa Brutus. Maier said the store was created so that visitors to Salone could 'take something small and memorable home with them. Most importantly, I hope they are inspired by the beauty, sophistication and workmanship of the objects they see.'
And there was plenty of beautiful sophistication on display at Bottega, as devotees snapped up Akita cedar wooden pitchers by Yasutaka Shimizu, hand-cut Shippo Kiriko glasses by Glass Forest, as well as a covetable selection of handbags, messenger bags, totes and wallets that Maier had designed specially for the occasion. In limited editions, of course.
The pop-up store ran alongside a competition exhibition of furniture design, for which Bottega had collaborated with Tokyo University.
Hakone Yosegi Zaiku box by Katsuhiro Kanazashi.
Nero Ebano Intrecciato Vn Messenger Bag, Ebano Ink Intrecciato Vn Aquatre bag, Ebano Ink Intrecciato Vn Zip Around Wallet, Ink Ebano Intrecciato Vn High-tech Case and Ink Ebano Intrecciato Vn Document Case.
Nero Ink Nappa Aquilone Bag and Nero Ebano Nappa Bag.
The pop-up store
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Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.