AD Project
To coincide with the 2017 Milan Furniture Fair and in collaboration with the prestigious Spanish home décor magazine AD, Massimo Dutti invited award winning Milanese artist Rossana Orlandi to use artistic pieces from her gallery to decorate the window displays of the Massimo Dutti store on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan.
Rossana Orlandi is a well-known gallery owner and trendsetter who became famous in 2002 when she turned an old factory into the Spazio Rossana Orlandi, which has since become a hub of cutting-edge design in Milan.
Spazio Rossana Orlandi has limited edition pieces, contemporary furniture from prestigious designers and a laboratory for both emerging and established designers such as Piet Hein Eek, Tom Dixon, Maarten Baas, Nacho Carbonell, Massimiliano Adami, Manuela Crotti and Riccardo Dalisi among others, all personally chosen by Rossana.
The specific artistic project that Rossana Orlandi will direct in the Massimo Dutti window displays included a selection of iconic pieces such as the Damiano Spelta and Nika Zupanc armchairs or a large graphic portrait by Rossana herself.
How did you start out in the world of design?
I come from fashion and the truth is that, rather than working in fashion, I worked with fabrics. It’s a world where you work two years ahead of when the collections come out. That same forward thinking that is required to create the fabrics and draw up the colour charts for upcoming fashions, means you need to follow current cultural and social trends. And design, my current point of reference, forms part of that too.
What qualities does an artist need to exhibit in your gallery?
Their project must be exciting, it must grab your attention. Why? For several reasons, how it has been thought out, what it does, how it is made, its creativity, the materials used. These are all components.
These days it’s particularly difficult because it’s all been done before. Finding pure creativity these days is hard. As I said, during the 15 years I’ve been doing this work, it has become harder to find interesting projects. This year I’m pleased with the new projects we have presented. What is essential is for the projects to be innovative and to offer honesty and distinct creativity.
“
Design
has always been
my point of
reference.
”
Are you aware that you have become an icon?
I realise that I am an icon, although I don’t really understand why, maybe because of my enthusiasm.
Your glasses are also iconic.
People always ask about my glasses. We are inseparable for two reasons: first, because I can’t see a thing without them. (Laughs). When I was little, my eyes were my best feature and when I found out that I had poor eyesight, I was really disappointed. I started wearing small Camille Cavour-style glasses but because I’m really nosy and I move my eyes a lot, the glasses bothered me because they were too small, so I decided to start weaning large glasses. I tried lots of different models, but in the end I decided that the big ones suited me much better than any others. So much that we’ve even reproduced them. The best thing was people stopping me in the street to tell me how pretty the glasses were. When people come to try them on they don’t buy them because they say they suit me better. And the second reason, and this is the truth, the other reason for them to be so big, with dark lenses, is that they hide my wrinkles. (Laughs).
@rossana_orlandi
What were your requirements for choosing the pieces for the MD window display?
I chose the pieces I loved the most. We had Damiano Spelta with his fishing rod, which I personally think is extraordinary. We included Lotersztein (Australian) with his seat, which is beautifully designed and also extraordinarily comfortable. Also the divine Marre Moerel lamp that I found in Spain and she was able to send it to me within five days. She created a very well built structure.
Where in the world do you feel most inspired?
There isn’t a specific place, I find inspiration everywhere. In nature, from a country itself, the street. The place where I do most of my thinking is where I can concentrate, where my thoughts can flow freely and I can give myself advice. I also come up with solutions from gazing at the sky.
