Around one month ago, Excelsior opened in Milan. Officially launched during vogue fashion night out, this has been spotted as THE fashion/architecture event of the season. I have to admit I was thrilled to go there after all the articles I had read about it. The rendering were awesome and just thinking Jean Nouvel was in charge of the architecture, was turning me into an excited curious freak. So I organized myself to go there ASAP and got finally the opportunity to enter the shop 2 weeks ago.
In fact, at the day of today I'm still skeptical...
I tried to get the point of view of some interior designers and architects I know, but visibly I’m the only one thinking the result is deluding, and I don't really understand why. Maybe it’s my marketing background that prevents me from liking the project. When I was in school I always refused to do a project just by jumping directly on a solution. For me the difficulty of interior design, is standing in the fact that designing is not doing a painting i.e. putting nice stuff together, no, designing is about understanding the purpose of a place, the mood we want to set and how we ensure customer is enjoying his experience so he will turn back and trigger again a purchase (in case of a shop).
With Excelsior, I have the feeling that they've been using the strengths of the brands and the luxury positioning as a key factor success. The place becomes secondary whereas it was supposed to be a monument in itself. I don't know the marketing strategy, but I was expecting a place where fashion addicts could go and buy something more than occasionally. In fact, apart Ladurée Macarons and maybe Tiffany necklace for Xmas, I don’t really see why you should go there. I have no doubts though the place will work. Part of the turnaround will come from the ground floor where people, that can’t afford upper floors, will come for a drink or buy Ladurée macarons, just to feel they part of a trendy chic community. The second part of the turnover will come from rich tourists, that will come there just for compulsive buying in a famous place.
But let’s talk about the overall environment. When I entered there I had great hope, first because I entered from the wrong side, so I didn’t have all the lightings, nope, I just had a nice windowshop display and all the inside was hidden, like to create an effect of surprise, or setting the idea that the place is chic.
I got in and felt immediately strike by a stifling environment, I was almost feeling in apnea, like missing air. The height and the thickness of the walls give you the feeling they're bending over you. Everything is declined around a concrete hue, and the circulation flow is a real labyrinth. I haven’t read anything about the architectural concept apart the fact they wanted to keep some architecture of the old theatre it used to be, but my first impression has been quite negative.
After trying to understand what was the customer flow, funny I experimented the same last year when they opened the museum of novecento, the place was awesome architecture but a "shit" in term of circulation, anyway, I finally found my way up.
Basically, you have 3 options to go up: you can take futuristic elevators, a bit like in star wars movies, basic stairs (which are hidden) or escalators with walls from each side covered with led screen. We took the escalator option (the main flow one). It was like being in 6flags or spacemountain, it was narrow, chaotic, I was feeling trapped,with no possibility to turn back. The LED light was aggressive, giving an electro night club effect to the overall environment. It’s a bit like being in a theme park, but without the fun and the interaction with the user.
Once you arrive to the first floor, you get wrapped by a doom light giving you the idea you’re surrounded by fog, the lines are cold, straights, everything is made around one material, it looks austere and old. The irony is that I love pure lines, concrete, minimalist style but here, something is missing: there is no emotion. Weird as well they developed a project all around concrete and doom light knowing the trend for the future is for living material, that give a natural and more cosy effect...
I remember as well when I received a fb notification from Skitsch saying they have been chosen as official furniture vendor, I was really curious… Well, I would not like to be showoff but let’s say that I don’t understand why everybody keeps rejecting my job position in Merchandising… Skitsch merchandising was simply shit, I mean we’re 21st century, merchandising became a piece of art for luxury or trendy brands, just think about Louis Vuitton shop windows or Diesel ones. Here there was the chair of Jean Marie Massaud standing there alone, and some products put random. A bit further, they were 2 luggages on the ground, ready to fall, I’m not sure if it was decoration though…
2nd floor looks like a old museum abandoned. As merchandising, the clothes are embedded like old prêt a porter piece of collection, I was ready to put my hand on the table to check if there were some dust. Expensive Manolo or Repetto ballerines are standing at dog/kid height, no doubt that when this tiny place will get crowded, people will push them with their bags or others.
There is no natural light to check the colour /material of the clothes. The products are completely killed by the environment instead of being put first. Basically you go there only because you know already the product and want to buy it in a trendy place.
Going downstairs is a problem as well, no indications, it’s kind of funny that for a place like Coin or Rinascente you give no indications how to move. You don’t invest in such a big structure if you can’t have people buying easily.
In brief, I really have mixed feeling. Did they want to develop a new type of shop and I’m not ready yet ? Were they missing time before the aperture? In any case, according to me, this is completely wrong: the place hasn’t been thought for customers, both in term of circulation flow and customer experience; no doubt the turnaround will be done thanks to ground floor.
The same day I've been there, I’ve been to rinascente, and even if it’s a different environment, the merchandising of the prêt à porter level was much better, above all you don’t have the feeling of being in a tunnel that you want to escape asap whereas it’s impossible to find an exit.
Last week, I got as well the opportunity to visit the shop of DADA that opened during fashion week. It’s a concept store between boutique and art gallery. I know the scale is different, but I was expecting something as experimental as DADA for Excelsior. This place as no window either, but they have known how to retransmit a natural light putting all the products first and giving you a more confident feeling. This a place where you feel staying to find something to buy. They kept the old (wood beams, etc. ) and mixed it with new. In the basement old columns are trapped in resine giving you an effect of a Venice palace under water. The place remains simple, but it’s original, thinking out of the box in term of reuse of materials, modularity of the furnitures, walls palette colors, unusual piece of furnitures reviewed in a different use as clothes hanger.
Really really nice.
Each time I discover such places in Milan it’s simply makes my day…
