Last autumn, Dolce & Gabbana announced its abandonment of a homogenous approach to retail, and embarked on evolving its global stores worldwide, with each one featuring unique design. We’ve had eyes on the brand’s Via Montenapoleone flagship in Milan, designed by Gwenaël Nicolas, which opened last September, and its Steven Harris designed St Barts boutique which debuted three months later. Now we’ve had a look-see at the newest store on Dolce & Gabbana’s roster: a majestic two-storey boutique in the 19th-century Palazzo Torres in Venice.
‘In the past, we’ve done different things with elements of stores, like facades or layouts, but to say everything is different in every [Dolce & Gabbana] store, is very radical,’ explains the Carbondale founder Eric Carlson, who designed the Venice boutique. Reflecting the house’s own multifaceted aesthetic – one that blends Sicilian baroque with flourishes of humour, and cartoonish prints with sensual silhouettes – its design reflects a play on details from history and modernity.
‘One of the things we learned about Dolce & Gabbana, was its approach to striking contrast: the clashes of ideas and colour, and the modern with the baroque,’ says the US-born, Paris-based architect. The entrance to the boutique is a celebration of Venetian mercantile craftsmanship. Its floors are paved in multi-coloured inlays of ancient marble, while the walls are adorned with wooden bas-reliefs depicting scenes of the city’s artisanal and commercial life during the late 19th century.
The store makes use of Venetian materials, including marble, Murano glass and damask
Like a tunnel through history, the modern part of the store (designed entirely by Carbondale) is entered through a 20m long hallway, lined with splendid 24ct gold glass mosaic and marbled Venetian stucco. It houses the label’s accessories – which are placed on floating brass shelves – and leads to the men’s, women’s and fine jewellery rooms. Upstairs, more rooms house formal and evening wear.
Each section of the modern part of the boutique is signified by its flooring; red Lepanto marble mosaic for the women’s area and mint green marble for the men’s. The fine jewellery room features a floor mosaic in black Marquina marble, with the walls decorated in mosaics of dark blue glass with gold leaf stars. Nodding to Venetian heritage, they evoke the details on St Mark’s Clocktower, a short walk from the boutique.
‘We've taken this idea of the Italian villa, of different rooms, each with its own personality,’ Carlson explains. ‘We've created these personalities using Venetian materials - so mosaic glass walls, marbles, Murano glass, damask'. Upstairs, floors are crafted in terrazzo, while fabrics by studio Bevilacqua cover the walls. Custom pieces crafted from Murano glass, including chandeliers, sit alongside furnishings designed by Carbondale. ‘It is inherently Venetian, inherently contemporary and historical, and it is inherently Dolce & Gabbana.’
The store takes inspiration from Italian villas, with each room designed with its own personality
The boutique has been designed by US-born Paris-based architect Eric Carlson, founder of studio Carbondale.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Dolce & Gabbana website
ADDRESS
Dolce & Gabbana
San Marco, 2188
Calle Larga XXII Marzo
30124 Venice
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports carECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
Casa Sanlorenzo debuts in Venice as a new hub for contemporary artThe luxury yachting leader unveils a stunning new space in a palazzo restored by Piero Lissoni – where art, innovation, and sustainability come together
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on lifeThanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being rebonr as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Giant cats, Madonna wigs, pints of Guinness: seven objects that tell the story of fashion in 2024These objects tell an unconventional story of style in 2024, a year when the ephemera that populated designers’ universes was as intriguing as the collections themselves
-
The Wallpaper* S/S 2025 trend report: ‘A rejection of the derivative and the expected’Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss unpacks five trends and takeaways from the S/S 2025 shows, which paid ode to individual style and transformed the everyday
-
The A/W 2024 menswear collections were defined by a ‘new flamboyance’Sleek and streamlined ensembles imbued with a sense of performance take centre stage in ‘Quiet on Set’, a portfolio of the A/W 2024 menswear collections photographed by Matthieu Delbreuve
-
Women’s Fashion Week S/S 2025: what to expectNext week sees the arrival of Women’s Fashion Week S/S 2025, with stops in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Here, our comprehensive guide to the month, from Alaïa’s arrival in New York to Alessandro Michele’s Valentino debut
-
Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025: what to expectBeginning this weekend, everything we know about Men‘s Fashion Week S/S 2025 so far, from Dries Van Noten’s final show in Paris to an intimate Craig Green presentation in London
-
Best in shows: Wallpaper* picks S/S 2024’s standout looksAs part of Wallpaper’s Design Awards 2024 issue, we select the winning S/S 2024 runway collections – and their defining looks – at the start of a new season in style
-
Dolce & Gabbana continues its new chapter with a London space devoted to beautyDolce & Gabbana opens a new beauty corner inside its lavish Old Bond Street store
-
Unconventional men’s tailoring to make an impression this winterThis winter’s men’s tailoring is defined by razor-sharp reinterpretations of classic silhouettes, designed to make you stand out over a celebratory season ahead
