15 October 2021 – The historic Turin-based company Aurora Penne opens a new boutique in Milan, at number 17 Via San Pietro all’Orto.
The project is part of the company’s investment plan and contributes to the qualitative development of the brand’s physical presence in Italy.
Aurora has chosen an address in Milan which is just a short walk from Via Monte Napoleone, a historic and exclusive space set in the “quadrilatero”, the world’s most famous luxury and fashion district. The prestigious location of the new flagship store will be the perfect setting to display and offer Italian and international customers the Company’s fine writing instruments and a selection of accessories.
“Opening in Milan is a challenge. Now more than ever. We had been planning this for a very long time because Milan is a city where it’s important to be present. We were waiting for the perfect location to come along, and I don’t think they come any better than the “quadrilatero”.
Our boutique aims to offer customers an immersive experience. We have also recently developed an e-commerce channel, with a view to using technology to bring the customer into the shop. Ours is a product of excellence, a handcrafted object to be admired up close and tried out in order to appreciate every detail, as well as its value. I am a great believer in the synergy with digital technology in preparation for the live experience” says Cesare Verona, Chairman and CEO of Aurora.
The design of the boutique was entrusted to the architect and designer Fernando Mosca, who worked to instill all the enthusiasm and passion conveyed by the company during the briefing phase into the environment.
Symbolic and significant, the inspiration behind the design concept is the stroke of the fountain pen. Charmingly and unpredictably, it is transformed first into the objects that furnish the shop and then brought to life in the writing instruments themselves, the absolute protagonists of a setting designed to make the most of each product.
The Milanese boutique occupies an area of approximately 60 square meters divided over two floors. The 45 square meter space on the ground floor is trendy, elegant, warm and welcoming, designed to host the display of the collections and sales; the gallery, on the upper floor, is an exclusive area, a place where you can breathe peace and quiet, dedicated to product customization, as well as events and unique experiences.
“The Milan boutique is a new casket for our products. It is also an international showcase built on the experience matured so far in Italy and the rest of the world. We have worked on a concept that represents the natural evolution of the market and the needs of our attentive customers. We have conceived the shop as an exclusive setting in which to display and proudly showcase authentic excellence of Aurora’s know-how Made in Italy” adds Linda Di Fonzo, Aurora’s Creative and Commercial Director. The entrance façade is full of symbols that tell Aurora’s story, with the logo and the year of its foundation, 1919. An imposing handle on the door is shaped like a classic fountain pen clip. Two LED walls on either side of the door catch the eye with video images of Aurora’s collections, and welcome customers with great style and impact, incorporating the product display into the two display cases on either side of the entrance.
No detail is left to chance.
Crossing the threshold of the entrance, we enter a room ( approx. 3.80 x 9 meters) featuring an exclusive custom-designed sales table. The surface of this table is made of a burnished brass strip supported by three highly original and functional drawer units. This very dynamic and beautifully sinuous design element is echoed above by an equally “dramatic” chandelier, a unique work of art comprised of cylindrical elements, some projected upwards, others downwards, creating a harmonious balance.
The colours in the store are deliberately neutral to allow the products to emerge. The floor is made of Italian walnut wood and the walls are lined with wallpaper decorated with the fine, silver lines of a fountain pen in high-gloss enamel. The furnishings are made of black lacquered wood and the display niches are lined with black or white leather with elegant red thread edging.
The niches on the walls are rectangular, like the precise stroke of a fountain pen. One of them is shaped like a pen nib to celebrate the eternal protagonist of Aurora’s production.
The path through the flagship store is characterized by a crescendo of intensity, conceived with the precise aim of engaging the customer and amplifying their Aurora experience.
At the end of the ground floor space is the staircase, another key element that not only connects the two levels but also becomes an artistic element with a beautiful inscription on the sides by artist and calligrapher Massimo Polello.
The black and white furnishings on the upper floor stand out against an elegant carpet in red, the brand’s favorite colour.
“Linda Di Fonzo and Cesare Verona immediately enthralled me with their passion and energy” – says Fernando Cesar Mosca – “I have tried to capture this positivity and bring it to life in every detail of the store; the concept has been tailored around the product, the real protagonist in every corner”.
Born in Argentina but Milanese by adoption, Fernando Mosca set up his studio in Milan in 1994. His signature style, recognizable in the boutique, is based on a delicate balance between the rigor of an almost minimalist mark and a combination of different, innovative, technological and sometimes even traditional materials.
Aurora’s first boutique in Milan joins those already located in Rome and abroad, in Turkey, Iran and Mexico. The store is a new point of reference for Aurora collectors and enthusiasts in Italy, and represents a new area of communication which the brand intends to use for events and meetings.
Aurora is present in 300 dealerships throughout Italy – specialised shops, shop-in-shops, stationers and jewellers – and has an important distribution network in more than 50 countries worldwide.