Corneliani opens Shanghai flagship

Corneliani has unveiled a striking façade for the new flagship store, the opening of which brings the brand’s presence in the China to 40 units. The boutique features the brand’s full lines, from Corneliani ID leisurewear to the made-to-measure tailoring service, and will be aiming to attract plenty of the city’s luxury-loving gentlemen after opening earlier this month. 

Designed by architects Daniela Podda and Paolo Ponti, the three-level boutique’s exterior is covered with interlinking bronze rings, repeated in wood in the interior facades of the store. The motif was apparently chosen as an echo of architectural details at St. George’s Castle in Mantua (Corneliani’s home city) as well as for its traditional symbolic power in Chinese iconography. 

The store’s interior ties together leather, suede and patterned microfibre fabrics with harder edges provided by macassar ebony panelling, polished stainless steel and imperial marble. The brand has stuck with a traditional menswear palette, focused on dark brown, sand and light grey tones.

Corneliani has been present in Shanghai since 2008, but this is the brand’s largest store to date and is indicative of a strong focus on Asian growth of the label. Since their expansion to New York City in 1985 the company has opened flagships in London, Paris, Moscow, New Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo and Mexico City. China currently represents 15 percent of the brand’s sales.

The Corneliani story began with the eponymous Alfredo Corneliani in the 1930s, whose hand-tailored raincoats and outerwear made his name famous in the Italian town of Mantua. His legacy was continued by two of his sons who launched the full Corneliani brand in the late 1950s. The company is still family owned and saw sales of €135 million in 2011.