Dimore Studio Flirts With Darkness

Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci are famously low-key, but the Milanese masters behind Dimore Studio have been keeping busy. Their presence was felt all around town during Milan Design Week, and not only at the two restaurants—Trattoria del Ciumbia and the landmark Grand Hotel et de Milan’s ornate Caruso Nuovo—they recently finished.

Attracting major crowds was their usual transformation of a historic Via Solferino apartment, which the duo completely draped in a dark fabric to forge the atmosphere of a pitch-black tent during a star-studded night. Arrayed throughout are vignettes of the studio’s furnishings that—owing to the lack of a true domestic backdrop, or any at all—are afforded the space to truly exert themselves. The nocturnal mood befits the offering of leopard-print daybeds, scarlet velvet armchairs, and gilded room dividers, which glimmer in the cosmos and float with an air of ‘70s decadence.

Touches from that era pervade Interni Venosta, the duo’s brand-new collection of made-to-order furniture in partnership with Tuscan manufacturer Fabbri Services. Echoing the visionary spirit of the late Italian designer Carla Venosta, it blends timeless Milanese elegance with the linear minimalism of seminal American artists Donald Judd, Carl Andre, and Walter De Maria.

The initial line encompasses a septet of objects, from a classically framed glass coffee table to a Space Age ceiling lamp, all crafted with luxe materials like brushed steel and walnut. It quickly became one of last week’s most anticipated debuts, owing in no small part to its photogenic location: the quaint plaster workshop of Gipsoteca Fumagalli e Dossi in Brera, where a smattering of in-process maquettes bring Dimore’s rigorous touch into focus.

All photography by Andrea Ferrari.