Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta opened its third store in Milan on Tuesday, with a design perfectly integrated into Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a landmark location between the city’s Duomo cathedral and the Teatro alla Scala.

Covering about 2,600 square feet over two levels, the store is AOC’s favorite to date. It’s modern without being cold and sumptuous without being overbearing. Even the huge gold planter works for AOC. Love the green leather.

“There are different experiences of space in the store,” Matthieu Blazy told WWD. “I wanted to express the idea of a domestic interior referring to Italian modernist architecture that contrasts with the aesthetic of a spaceship. And to capture the intimacy and the imagination of getting dressed.”

“We look forward to welcoming new and established clients in an intimate and elevated environment, where every design detail expresses our profound relationship with Italian materials and craft,” said the company’s chief executive officer Leo Rongone to WWD, citing the brand’s long-standing priority of highlighting the work of the country’s artisans and superior fabrics and hides.

This point is very well-made in the store design, which doesn’t require very many adjectives. It’s so visually stunning that words aren’t required.

In an earlier interview with Business of Fashion, Blazy underscored his hope that customers around the world will be able to see themselves in Bottega Veneta under his creative direction. “Fundamentally I want [global customers] to also find something where they also recognise themselves in the story that is not just Italian.”

In the same interview with Tim Blanks at BofF VOICES 2023, the designer shared a unique story about his four-years experience at Maison Martin Margiela.

“The way I work with the team is quite emotional… When I arrived at Margiela, I took my office out of the studio and I put it inside the atelier. It was nice because it was not just me thinking on my own. We were actually making it together,” he shares.