Viktor & Rolf upside-down store design in Milan

the Upside-Down Store brought together 18th century Scandinavian classicism, 19th century French boudoir-ism, nothing of the 20th century and a 21st century post-historical amalgamation of ideas and styles. It expressed the desire of Viktor & Rolf to turn the world upside-down in their first autonomous store. The store was build without compromise to quality: full herringbone oak parquet, marble mantle pieces and custom-made gold-leafed chandeliers. Entered on a central axes, the store comprised of two shopping areas a perfume section, two fitting rooms and a tailoring room.

Key to the idea, was to have the design work both ways optically; even turned downside-up the image would still work for the viewer in terms of its spatial perspective. In order to achieve this, the store was assembled off-site until all perspectival details were worked out. It was then disassembled and put back together in the Via Sant’Andrea location.

The Viktor & Rolf Upside-Down Store store opened in April 2005 and closed in August 2008.

Design by Siebe Tettero
with Sherrie Zwail at SZI Design (Amsterdam) and CLS Architetti (Milan)
for Viktor & Rolf (Amsterdam).