Pink has never been our go-to color to start with and more often than not, its use is just too much to handle for most designers.
But, as always, we can trust India Mahdavi, the 52 year-old Iranian-born, Paris-based architect-designer whose talents we’ve admired and covered for a long time.
This time, we are falling for her work for REDvalentino. Together with REDvalentino creative directors Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, Mahdavi envisioned the dreamy, romantic atmosphere of the girly retailer’s Rome flagship store located between Via del Babuino and Via Margutta, close to Piazza del Popolo.
Glass and brass, pink and gold, Mahdavi’s signature curved form and padded texture – all this evokes a sweet but not sticky-sweet feminine atmosphere. Seating like white cubes of ice-cream and pink puffs of powder.
One might think this will all lead to just too much pink, but this isn’t the kind of pink that drives us crazy. This is a warm peachy color, perhaps not even pink at all, in the end. Of course, the entire 180 square-meter (1,937 sq.ft.) space is beautifully balanced by the almost entirely blank white upper section. The eye is not inundated with visual cues or nervous, redundant details.
And if we weren’t sold at the pink and the curves, the overall retro feel seals the deal.
Mahdavi is known for designing renowned hotels and restaurants including London’s Connaught and Claridge Hotels and The Gallery at Sketch, the Monte Carlo Beach Hotel in Monaco, and the L’Apogee in Courchevel and Cafe Francais in Paris. Tuija Seipell.
