Valextra Presents: Vocabolario

Discover our immersive design collaboration with Studio Temp for Salone del Mobile 2024.

Download here Valextra Vocabolario Journal


As Salone del Mobile 2024 ignites the design energy of Milan and puts it on a world stage, we are honoured to present our collaboration with Bergamo-based Studio Temp that sees the arrival of our immersive installation, Valextra Vocabolario, to our Via Manzoni flagship.

 

Fusing radical architecture, state-of-the-art handbag development, and best-in-class customer service with the idiosyncratic Valextra Spa, Valextra Vocabolario comes to life through floor-to-ceiling aluminium blades that transform our minimalist flagship boutique into a maze of frosted panels in V-shaped intersections and whimsical blush carpet across two floors.

 

Visible through the windows of our famed John Pawson-designed boutique in a nod to our founder, Giovanni Fontana, observing clients on the street from our original San Babila boutique, Studio Temp’s brutalist direction creates a bold statement of geometric lines that mirror our own exactness in urban craft. The result is the unique and mesmerising visual identity of Valextra Vocabolario.

 

 

The Iside Onda

 

Both centrepiece and masterpiece of the project, the Iside Onda is Valextra’s first 3D-printed handbag - a Futurist, curvilinear expression of the original Iside trapezoid design sculpted from a biodegradable and renewable corn filament.

 

Our Iside icon has been reinterpreted using 3D-printing technology, transforming it into a new-era object of desire amalgamating cutting-edge material research with traditional leather techniques. Its rigid, sculptural structure is varnished by hand, complemented by smooth black-on-black Palmellato leather details and hardware to create an artisanal heirloom.


 

Valextra Assoluto

At Valextra Vocabolario and through an exclusive collaboration with our esteemed Milanese neighbours Rinascente, Valextra unveils Valextra Assoluto, a unisex capsule collection of regenerated nylon handbags that embraces modern engineering alongside artisanal ideals of craftsmanship inherent to the brand since its inception in 1937.

 

Engineered in all-black ECONYL® yarn, with sleek monochrome hardware, this high-performance luxury series is a new expression of Valextra’s dedication to elevated object design and material innovation manifesting in streamlined handbags that align with our design sensibility of ergonomic urban elegance. Alongside a multi-pocket utility Shopper and pod-shaped Bumbag (inspired by the 1968 Tric-Trac bag), a folded Backpack with a V-shaped fold is the collection’s hero piece, with its compact, design enriched with accents in our signature Millepunte leather.


Quiet details play protagonists, as concealed black matte or polished palladium zippers, V-shaped quilting and tonal jacquard logo webbing straps join a new matte black ‘V’ hardware device, evolving our reputation of Italian craftsmanship with responsible developments in the production cycle.

 

Valextra Spa

Valextra Vocabolario envelopes the entire floor space of our Via Manzoni flagship as Studio Temp’s metal labyrinth parts to reveal Valextra SPA. This dedicated leather goods repair service for clients is realised as a tongue-in-cheek wellness installation where the work of our artisans can be admired alongside a structure representative of a space-age sauna.

 

Continuing the theme, it is clad in embossed aluminium panels and featuring an engraved viewing window, the life-size sauna conceptualises Valextra’s dedication to extending the life cycle of our products. At the Spa, Valextra offers clients access to specialty cleaning, repairs, buffing and polishing, and re-lacquering of our signature black Costa edging that outlines the architectural silhouette and meticulous construction of Valextra designs. Especially for Salone del Mobile, Valextra has issued limited edition Valextra SPA merchandise in partnership with Studio Temp, including terry cloth towels, satin sleep masks, and laser-cut aluminium trays.

 

Immersive, evocative and progressive, Valextra Vocabolario fuses our artisanal engineering expertise with advanced material innovation while celebrating the collaboration that is essential for all design to flourish.