Giorgio Armani Presents His New Armani/Casa Collection: Echi Dal Mondo

On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile 2024, Giorgio Armani is reopening the doors of Palazzo Orsini, the brand's historic headquarters, to present the new Armani/Casa collection entitled Echi dal mondo, or "Echoes from the World".

"I would have liked to have been a director, and I basically fulfilled my dream: my view of style is comprehensive; it ranges from the rooms to the people that live in them. For this edition of the Salone del Mobile, I imagined a "cinematic" journey to the countries that have always inspired me: places and cultures that spark highly personal reworkings. This is why I wanted the furniture to converse with fashion, and why I wanted to exhibit everything in the Via Borgonuovo location. I like to present myself to the public in the most authentic and direct way possible", says Giorgio Armani

The itinerary and the collection

The layout was conceived as a dialogue that flows between fashion and design. It unfolds through some of the rooms on the first floor of Palazzo Orsini, each corresponding to one of the geographical areas to which Giorgio Armani most often refers to: Europe, Japan, China, Arabia, Morocco. Following the trail of a golden ribbon on the floor leading to the grand staircase and then to the first floor, the spectator is immersed in the rooms of the piano nobile where the fine decor and 18^th-century frescoes create the perfect setting for the collection. Punctuated by an abstract map design on the floor, the lands from which the designer draws inspiration take shape in his most beloved pieces and unique creations. In this imaginative layout, where diagonals disrupt the classic austerity of the building, a masterful mix of mirrors amplifies perspectives with nods to ever-new exoticisms. The cornerstones of this perfect map materialise in some of the most iconic pieces in the Giorgio Armani Privé collection, depicting an aesthetic that points to distant horizons. On this journey from room to room, the furniture melds with the clothing and the memories of Giorgio Armani's travels in a single narrative flow. To highlight the personal quality of the design, the rooms are punctuated by elements from the designer’s private home: beloved items collected while travelling, which convey a precise idea of living and unmistakable taste. A space of complete creative freedom, the collection presents experiments with unusual combinations of materials, decoration techniques and fine craftsmanship. Technical finesse that is the result of production carried out entirely in Italy and craftsmanship that is the founding and identifying principle of Armani/Casa.

The ideal itinerary of Echi dal Mondo takes the visitor through the lands that inspired the collection, identifiable by nods to different aesthetic and fashion cultures. References to Europe can be found in the clean lines and the mix of light and transparency in the TROCADERO table, with its plexiglass legs and platinum-lacquered wave-textured top, and the SOFIA chairs, which fit in seamlessly, as does the new edition of the RIESLING bar cabinet in canneté plexiglass. Like a small treasure chest, the boudoir holds the jewel-like gown, sculpturally shaped and embellished with thousands of fine appliqués.

The attention to the textures and details of Samurai armour — which the designer had previously encapsulated in a historical collection inspired by Kagemusha, represented by the archive dress on display — can be found in the sophisticated VIRTÙ cabinet, particularly in its katana-inspired handle and its tatami-effect interiors with customised graphics.

In the hall of mirrors, China is depicted by delicate shades of gold: the VIVACE table, with sculptural legs like bamboo stalks and a top decorated in rosy-hued silver leaf; the VENUS console with a lacquered glass top with gold leaf embellishments on the back; the VIRGOLA bookcase with its hanging shelves; and the VISO sofa with its curved profile.

Drawing inspiration from "Arabian Nights" atmospheres are the new edition of the CLUB bar cabinet, with its blue leather interior; the pouf with its soft lines; and the screen – all upholstered in the same grosgrain fabric with plant-themed embroidery. Armani's own panther statues return in embroidery form on the VERVE decorative cushions. Influences from Berber culture can be found in the MORFEO bed in canaletto walnut wood, upholstered in geometric-patterned velvet, and in the ESAGONO coffee tables, upholstered in fabric with special tassel appliqués. On the MIRO multifunctional cabinet, the intense blue and iridescent reflects of the lacquer is instead inspired by the garments of the Tuareg, to whom Giorgio Armani has also dedicated a historical clothing collection.

Corso Venezia

During the Salone, the display windows of the Armani/Casa boutique at Corso Venezia 14 will create the perfect harmony with the rooms of Palazzo Orsini. Inside the boutique, laid out over three floors, new editions of iconic pieces will be on display, including the Logo Lamp — a point of origin for Armani/Casa — in its all-new version with a walnut wood and greige lacquered slatted lampshade. Among the new features on display is the greige colored bookcase made to contain a special edition of the Treccani Encyclopedia, in a limited and numbered series whose volumes are signed by Giorgio Armani.

The outdoor collection will also be on display, complete with new items: a corner set-up, a two-seater sofa, a low table, a two-seater sun lounger and a round table. The range of decorative items is also vast, with stylised animals in semi-precious stones such as jade and labradorite; the FRISBEE multi-layered rotating candle with its precious white gold, yellow gold or rose gold foil detail; and the sophisticated box of three PEGASO candles, available in white gold, yellow gold and rose gold versions, complete with a snuffer. Designed specifically for the Salone, the glass container of the VOYAGER candles feature decorative details from Andrea Appiani's fresco in the Sala Ovale of Palazzo Orsini. The permanent collection of decorative items proposes an entirely new guise for the board games, contained in leather-clad boxes with an all-over logo pattern in different shades of blue. The games on offer include Mikado, dominoes and playing cards, with their multicoloured marbled resin components. The collection also features the FOLIE valet trays and decorative boxes, made of ice-white technical leather with horn-effect plexiglass details, in addition to the FUMO basket made of the same material. The set of six VESTA trays is particularly sophisticated, made of lacquered wood with a mother-of-pearl inlay, a detail also seen on the VESTA lamp.