Versace opens new Milan store in historic setting

The restoration of the famous Galleria, which survived the city’s bombing during the Second World War, was supervised by the city’s Sovrintendenza alle Belle Arti (Department for the Fine Arts), with delicate work undertaken to preserve and protect the friezes and other decorations.

The new Versace boutique was designed by Donatella Versace and architect Jamie Fobert (who has worked on the brand’s stores in New York and Paris), with the space designed to balance the distinctive Versace aesthetic with the delicate late 19th century features of the Galleria.

“It has been an honour to preserve and promote the importance of Italian culture giving back to Milan one of its treasures,” says Donatella Versace, “the importance of Milan to Versace is fundamental: it was in this city that the Maison was born in 1978. It means the opening of our boutique in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is hugely important to us.”

In celebration of the opening, Donatella and her team have designed a new accessories collection in honor of the store. The Versace Ornamental Collection features a heat-impressed print motif which riffs on the friezes and columns in the Galleria.