Gwenaël Nicolas

Stairways to retail heaven: the best treads in-store

In luxury boutiques around the world, staircase design is seriously on the up. Staircases constructed from intricate jigsaw pieces of marble, graphic folds of burnished metal, or spiralling organic forms, are enticing customers to venture into the upper echelons of a store. Here...

Step up: Dolce & Gabbana’s staircase design is ahead of the curve

When it comes to staircase construction, Dolce & Gabbana is seriously ahead of the curve. So much so, that we’ve awarded the brand the Best Ascent award in the 2018 Wallpaper* Design Awards (see W*227). Two superior spiral designs connect...

Outside the box: Gwenaël Nicolas delivers thrills at Dolce & Gabbana’s Milan flagship

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are finished with fashion’s ‘consistency counts’ concept store philosophy. Although it’s been the reigning retail strategy for the Milan-based designers and the majority of luxury brands over the past two decades, the idea of creating...

Kanebo Cosmetics Inc gets a fluid and tactile makeover courtesy of Curiosity

Kanebo Cosmetics Inc started life in the early 19th century as a successful cotton trading and textile company, shifting later to the production of silk and thread. In 1936, the company launched ’Savan de Soie’, its first skincare product, a...

Madison moves: Moynat adds NYC to its portfolio of international storefronts

The indelible French charm of the accessories label Moynat has made its way to American shores with the opening of its first boutique in New York City – one of three international flagship stores worldwide. With a history going back...

Fendi opens its largest flagship store on home ground in Rome

Fendi’s sweeping moves in its hometown of Rome show no sign of slowing. After becoming the generous benefactor of the Trevi Fountain’s ambitious restoration, and resurrecting the Palazzo della Civiltà, a once abandoned fascist gem that is now Fendi’s 7-floor...

Top 20 interior designers who know how to create sublime spaces

From delicate and muted minimalism to eye-popping, era-hopping fancies, here are the designers who know how to mix, match, edit, illuminate, decorate and otherwise create sublime spaces…  To celebrate our 200th issue, we decided to take our Power 100 and...

Force of nature: Japanese design studio Curiosity unveils second fragrance

One of the most rewarding aspects of the Japanese approach to design is the free rein that its practitioners are given to explore areas outside of their usual creative sphere. Since founding his Tokyo-based design studio, Curiosity, back in 1998...

2014 in review: the year in pictures

The Wallpaper* 100: who are the design world’s most wanted?

In our October issue - out now - we unveil the Wallpaper* 100: our list of the design world’s most powerful players. A calculus of authority and influence, rank and standing, cash and credibility, it’s our measure of the hard...

Fendi lays down the brand’s Roman roots in London

Don’t be fooled by the historic Flemish-style terracotta and brick façade of Fendi’s New Bond street maison. Past the storefront’s classical pillars, the brand’s Roman roots have been laid down in Travertine (Italy’s ’monument’ material of choice), together with plenty...

French malletier Moynat unveils its first store outside of Paris on London’s Mount Street

Luxury French malletier Moynat has chosen London’s historic Mount Street to debut its first boutique outside of Paris. Founded in 1849 by Pauline Moynat (the only female trunk-maker of her time), the brand has a rich travel heritage that has...