![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bar-Deco-by-CORE-Washington-DC-300x300.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/new.jpg)
The upbeat contemporary spirit and Canadian ancestry of the Dsquared2 brand are cogently expressed in this new flagship store in downtown Milan, which presents a theme-oriented project of great originality that draws on movie imagery to bring into play an astonishing variety of visual ideas. The voluminous premises have been transformed into a sort of forest — partly metaphorical, partly recreated with poetic realism — onto which decisively modern elements have been grafted via a succession of alternating smooth hi-tech and chunky materials that inter-react with uncanny sensuality.
Walls composed of timber planks stacked one upon the other and treated in an autoclave to enhance the smell of sap and natural hues of the wood are stationed near the entrance where they accentuate the three-dimensional effect of the window and can be rearranged according to the season.
In the case shown here the storefront is decked out with a pool of water that ends with a woodland backdrop that is multiplied in tall mirrors at either side.
Around this nucleus placed more or less at the epicenter of the storefront — which also influences the visual flow of the composition — the route through the store is given rhythm via shifts in the level of the black concrete floor, and the full-height partitions clad in black leather with steel profile tops and reflective bronze backdrops that create deep display niches along the longer walls.
The floor dais then dips down to a more intimate section with softer materials and evocative elements: on the marmot-colored carpet that accentuates the lengthwise extension of this section of the interiors, the display units are composed of tree-trunks and the scene ends with an upholstered backdrop in padded suede complete with matching bench-seat, surmounted by deer-horn light-fittings that offer a quasi-surreal twist to this curious contemporary forest chamber.
Similarly, the paired fitting-rooms comply with the sylvan theme, offering neat little chambers with stone walls and fireplace and birch-woods, are inhabited by animals, all generating a magical effect that is amplified by the mirrored surfaces all around.
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0001_1_720.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0003_1_720.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0004_1_720.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0004_2_500.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0004_500.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0005_500.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Image-0007_500.jpg)
![](https://retaildesignblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/dsquared2.jpg)