When Emanuele Farneti took the helm of Vogue Italia in January 2017 following the death of legendary editor Franca Sozzani, he left the office untouched for a full year.

” A lot of fashion history had been made in those rooms, I wanted to pay respect to that heritage. But after 12 months had passed, it was time for a change.

We thought that inviting some of the best names of architecture and design to take over our rooms for a week was the best way to turn over a new leaf,

Opening the doors of Vogue Italia to our friends and readers [the event is open to the public] was a clear statement of inclusivity. And the enthusiasm and energy of all the visitors abundantly repaid our efforts.” ……………… Emanuele Farneti  ( editor Vogue Italia )

Life in Vogue, which opened on April 8, at Vogue Italia‘s Piazza Cadorna office.

Only in its second year, the fashionable riff on the show house model is already a must-see of Milan’s Salone del Mobile fair.

For the 2018 Salone, Mario Bellini decked the corridors, Antonio Citterio revamped the graphics office, and Patricia Urquiola pulled out the Yves Klein blue carpet and curtains to create her modern office fantasy.

Participants in this year’s show—called The Interior’s Cut, a crossover reflection around fashion and design—include British fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, Beirut–based duo David / Nicolas, and Milan-based architect Massimiliano Locatelli.

The wardrobe, a 360 degree room with the season’s latest fashions, accessories, and shoes.

” With so many people passing by, business as usual would definitely be complicated.” …………  Emmanuele Farneti

So for Milan Design Week 2019, Vogue italia staff will pack up and move to other areas of the Condé Nast building.

After all, there’s a magazine to make.

David / Nicolas

Like so many designers today, Beirut-based duo David / Nicolas were thinking about how to instill an office with the feeling of a home. For their workspace, they placed a monolithic desk front center but surrounded it with homey furnishings such as their Chaise Maurice, designed for Nilufar gallery, a new rug for cc-Tapis, and dark wood paneling from their Supernova collection for Carpenters Workshop.

“ We imagined a person—elegant, sleek, classic, with a touch of madness.”  ……. David / Nicolas

Massimiliano Locatelli

Milan-based architect Massimiliano Locatelli reimagined a Vogue meeting room as, in his words, “ a kind of déjeuner sur l’herbe,” or luncheon on the grass.

Inspired by Paris’ Désert de Retz, the verdant office space is planted with Locatelli’s own furniture designs as well as Le Corbusier’s Escargot lamp by Nemo, which Locatelli calls “an homage to the architect I consider my major teacher.”

Ana Kraš

“ I wanted the space to still look like an office, Almost like an archetype of an office.” …….. Ana Kraš photographer and designer of her workspace.

So she recreated her own Lower East Side studio, filling the room with her furniture designs and prototypes, and covering the walls with a figurative, hand-drawn mural.

Studio Proba

New York’s Studio Proba reinvented the snack room with a smattering of shapes and colors and a custom vending machine dispensing San Carlo potato chips alongside three not-yet-released Studio Proba sculptures.

“ The room now is a space that is inviting and will make you catch that little creative break that you need during a busy work day,” …….Studio Proba.

Jonathan Anderson

“ It’s a mix of classic British elements, like a yellow paint you’d find in a stately British home, with more modern pieces like a simple low-sitting oak desk.” ………….Jonathan Anderson British fashion designer

The room centers around a 16th-century Henry VII cupboard and a petite stool by textile artist Anne Low.

Storage Associati

Even before the Life in Vogue project was announced, Storage Associati had office design on the mind—coincidentally, the studio just bought a new space for their firm.

They used the opportunity to test out ideas for their future workspace, bringing in their own furniture—all-brass desks and leather-wrapped chairs—and pairing them with other high-octane custom designs.

Rafael de Cárdenas

Inspired by NASA’s concept of Ultima Thule, or “beyond the known world,” Rafael de Cárdenas of New York–based firm Architecture at Large imagined what might take place in the Vogue Italia offices 20 years from now.

“ It is meant to feel as if you’ve walked into a laboratory that connects the past and present world to our future” ……… Rafael de Cardenas

Accordingly, he employed a set of Shiro Kuramata chairs, a gilt bronze Napolean III–style desk, and a floor lamp by Philippe Starck.

Pierre Marie

Tasked with decorating the Talent Room, Paris-based designer Pierre Marie says, “ I wanted to create a suitable space for inspiration.”

He covered the walls with two luminous new tapestries, woven on Manufacture Robert Four’s looms in Aubusson and devised a stained glass for the single window in the room.

To give the place a personal touch, he brought in three lamps of his own design as well as the periwinkle blue archive boxes he uses to stay organized.

Photos by Delfino Sisto Legnani