Repurposed materials layered over existing elements lend this Milan retail space an aesthetic far from the typical department store.

Architect firm Gonzalez Haase, a long-time partner of fashion retailer Modes, oversaw the store’s design– located in Milan’s Piazza Risorgimento.

Rather than gutting the space and starting anew, the studio retained what was already there, using new additions of furniture and partitions to create form and order inside the store.

Stainless steel shelves create space to display clothes and accessories – adding to the industrial atmosphere inside the shop – while blue velvet-covered benches, reminiscent of children’s shape toys, offer a place to sit.

But the biggest demonstration of Modes’ commitment to the reuse and recycle philosophy is the shiny silver drapes used to screen off areas of the space. They’ve been rescued from the fashion retailer’s 2022 Assembly installation, where they were previously used as part of an inflatable canopy.

The Milan space is Modes’ seventh outpost in Italy.

Modes Milano P.za Risorgimento, 8, 20129 Milano MI, Italy

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