Rinascente Roma

The Collection of Stores that began 150 years ago continues growing with the arrival of a second flagship store to be opened in the heart of the Capital on October 12.

Right in the center of town, steps away from the Trevi Fountain and Piazza di Spagna, Rinascente will be opening its second flagship store on October 12, 2017. That’s nearly 150 years after the inauguration of its first one in Milan and exactly 100 years after the Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio coined the name on commission of its new owner, Senatore Borletti in 1917.

The building located in Via del Tritone on the corner with Via dei Due Macelli has been carefully restructured over the last 11 years to perfect harmony with the neighborhood, enhancing its precious cultural-historical heritage. One absolutely extraordinary element, yet another treasure from Ancient Rome, is the archeological site brought to light that can be visited on the basement, the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct that Emperor Augustus inaugurated in the Year 19 BCE.

The new department store also incorporates and envelops a smaller building erected in the early 1900s known as “Palazzetto”, an authentic “building inside a building” that adds an element of suggestion to the store’s display architecture on different floors. Another defining architectural element is the cavaedium, a central court that brings light and splendor to every floor. The rooftop terraces on the 6th floor complete the food hall’s offer of original and refined cuisine with a breathtaking view of one of the world’s loveliest cities.

The new Rinascente department store is unique in its class, superbly presenting the best of the worlds of fashion, beauty care, design, and gourmet food offerings from Made in Italy’s most prestigious brands and their international counterparts on eight floors. The building’s remake was entrusted to famous architects and designers, some of whom had already lent a hand in restructuring the Milan flagship store and others in the Collection.

The architecture in Rome clearly inspired Vincent van Duysen – who also designed the Ground Floor and the 1st Floor - in establishing the order of the elements, their composition, and the harmonic rhythm that ensues. The alternation of light and shadow, full and empty spaces emanates balanced beauty where the most prestigious names in jewelry, luxury accessories and sunglasses find the ideal setting for a presentation of timeless classics alongside must-have novelties, rewarding shoppers with a perfectly satisfying experience.

The same tone of contemporary elegance extends to the 1st Floor, and proves perfect in the staging of the spectacle of beauty assigned to the best brands of cosmetics, latest-generation beauty care products, the most exclusive fragrances, and the make-up favored by the stars.
One part of the floor is dedicated entirely to lingerie by the names that make women dream in an atmosphere of ethereal seduction.

Universal Design Studio drew its inspiration for the Men’s fashion floor from 20th century Rome’s metropolitan architecture and an abstraction of the city square.
The Shoe Area hosted in the “Palazzetto” abounds instead in elegant details taken from the grandiose halls of Rome’s princely palaces.
The design of the product display elements and furnishing pays homage to the Architect Franco Albini, who designed the Rinascente store first opened in Rome’s Piazza Fiume in 1960.

The 3rd floor hosts The Lofts and Rooms Project signed by Paolo Lucchetta’s RetailDesign. The layout makes the distinctiveness of each stylist’s collections perfectly perceivable. Nearly half the floor is divided into Rooms, or shops in shop around the perimeter hosting the most prestigious names in men’s formalwear. The floor’s central area is set up as Lofts dedicated to smart casual with fewer partitions and more particulars that graphically transmit the idea of really being in Rome. Sneakers, the real icons of male fashion and style in recent years, are showcased in decor with unexpected particulars. With its more intimate and reserved interiors, the “Palazzetto” provides the perfect location for the underwear and beachwear collections.

The entire floor dedicated to high-end women’s fashion designers is enveloped in the most absolute elegance. Designer India Mahdavi makes it her tribute to Rome, for her the center of the world, the living memory of all that remains despite the cruel passage of time. This approach comes clear in the perfect harmony of the divisions of space. The interiors of the “Palazzetto” displaying luxury footwear are given the form of a veritable library of textures, while the rest of the floor vaunts a decidedly more modern and minimal appeal. The world’s finest brands in feminine luxury are proposed in the ideal setting for the exaltation of their status as objects of desire.

The 5th floor is an expression of the creativity of CLS Architetti. The horizontal surfaces reinforcing the idea of “container” evoke the architecture of ancient Rome, and most clearly evident in the clean-cut lines and coffered ceiling that recalls the Pantheon. The metal structure of the product display elements defines the interiors of the shops in shop, giving them a more contemporary look that extends to the perfect selection of Italian and international brands of more casual, everyday fashion graced by the right accessories.