Designed by David Chipperfield and creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino’s new Shanghai boutique has been transformed into a life-sized display case, where mannequins don the latest collections and pose in designated compartments across three storeys. Though the façade mimics the grand scale of the Valentino maison in Rome, the interior was designed to suggest a private Italian palazzo, with a succession of rooms that grow more intimate as shoppers approach the heart. The design maintains a certain regality, with baroque embellishments and a grandiose size, but also manages to side-step excess, creating a graceful and personal shopping experience.
