Missoni transforms its New York flagship into an artists’ haven

‘Contemporary art is a part of my daily life – I’ve been following it for many, many years,’ muses Angela Missoni on the eve of the launch Surface Conversion, a new art programme which has been brewing for two years.
and launched this week in the fashion label's New York flagship on Madison Avenue. The Italian creative director recalls seeing galleries like Emmanuel Perrotin's arriving in the area and thinking: ‘those huge windows can be used for more than just fashion.'
In terms of volume and surface space, the store is exceptional – hence the project’s title. Missoni is literally converting the shop floor and putting it to a different use. The idea is to create a multi-faceted creative platform where diverse interventions can take place: from exhibitions through to talks, book launches and live performances.
At yesterday’s launch event, two of these initiatives could already be ticked off. Servane Mary, the Brooklyn-based artist who kicks off the programme, filled the corner windows and a series of lightboxes with her visual art, press and publicity images from the 1940s and 1970s, riffing on female mis-representation and identity. But Mary also performed live with her band, The Cornichons.
‘I was twelve in 1970,’ says Missoni, ‘so I took the revolution for granted. Even so, I know it’s still necessary to have a voice and give other women a voice.’ The feminist message in Mary’s work is something Missoni feels close to – consider her mission accomplished.
The label’s creative director Angela Missoni has always had a keen interest in contemporary art
The first artist to feature in the programme, Servane Mary re-appropriates advertising images from the 1940s and 1970s.
Untitled (Woman on a Fence), 2015
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Missoni website
ADDRESS
1009 Madison Avenue
New York
NY 10075
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Hotel August offers a modern-day sanctuary in Antwerp's Green District
Hotel August is a former Augustinian convent quirkily reimagined by Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Aesop gift kits signal it’s time for harmony and hand balm
Aesop’s Resonant Gestures gift kits come with specially composed musical tracks to tend to mind, body and home
By Simon Mills Published
-
Jesse Darling wins the Turner Prize 2023
Tinie Tempah announced Jesse Darling as the Turner Prize 2023 winner
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Comme Si’s first store in Brooklyn is a design lover’s temple to socks
Sock and loungewear brand Comme Si launches a temporary Brooklyn store, a rich and inviting space created with designers Elias Studio, John Sohn and Yoonjee Kwak
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Inside Valentino’s vast new store on New York’s Madison Avenue
The three-floor Valentino boutique, which was formerly a longstanding flagship space for Calvin Klein, has been transformed into a beacon of Italian style
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
New York Fashion Week S/S 2024: Tory Burch to Willy Chavarria
New York Fashion Week S/S 2024 set off womenswear fashion month with a packed schedule spanning big-name debuts, runway returns and plenty of hometown favourites
By Tilly Macalister-Smith Last updated
-
American designer Willy Chavarria on his lifelong love of Dickies
Featured in the Wallpaper* USA 300, Willy Chavarria is part of America’s new wave of fashion designers. On the launch of his collaboration with Dickies, he talks utilitarian design, authenticity, and buying his first pair of Dickies at Kmart
By Jack Moss Published
-
Malin + Goetz cannabis candle celebrates the beauty brand’s roots, as latest store opens in Moynihan Train Hall, NYC
Malin + Goetz, the independent beauty brand and Wallpaper* USA 300 alumnus, is embracing new store openings and a cannabis candle collaboration with Brain Dead
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
How Tom Ford changed the beauty industry
As Tom Ford steps down from his eponymous beauty brand, we pay tribute to his contribution to the industry
By Mary Cleary Published
-
The designer behind Bode curates an exhibition on Shaker knitwear’s influence on American style
Emily Adams Bode Aujla of New York brand Bode curates ‘The Commercialisation of Shaker Knits’, an exhibition for the Shaker Museum which reflects the designer’s provenance-soaked approach
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
New York’s iconic Russian & Turkish Baths is where the city goes to ‘schvitz’
From gangsters to hipsters, artists to politicians, New York’s Russian & Turkish Baths continues to attract a colourful crowd with its basement banya
By Mary Cleary Last updated