Valextra Presents: Vocabolario

Download here Valextra Vocabolario Journal

As Salone del Mobile 2024 ignites the design energy of Milan and puts it on a world stage, we are honoured to present our collaboration with Bergamo-based Studio Temp that sees the arrival of our immersive installation, Valextra Vocabolario, to our Via Manzoni flagship.

Fusing radical architecture, state-of-the-art handbag development, and best-in-class customer service with the idiosyncratic Valextra Spa, Valextra Vocabolario comes to life through floor-to-ceiling aluminium blades that transform our minimalist flagship boutique into a maze of frosted panels in V-shaped intersections and whimsical blush carpet across two floors.

Visible through the windows of our famed John Pawson-designed boutique in a nod to our founder, Giovanni Fontana, observing clients on the street from our original San Babila boutique, Studio Temp’s brutalist direction creates a bold statement of geometric lines that mirror our own exactness in urban craft. The result is the unique and mesmerising visual identity of Valextra Vocabolario.

The Iside Onda

Both centrepiece and masterpiece of the project, the Iside Onda is Valextra’s first 3D-printed handbag - a Futurist, curvilinear expression of the original Iside trapezoid design sculpted from a biodegradable and renewable corn filament.

Our Iside icon has been reinterpreted using 3D-printing technology, transforming it into a new-era object of desire amalgamating cutting-edge material research with traditional leather techniques. Its rigid, sculptural structure is varnished by hand, complemented by smooth black-on-black Palmellato leather details and hardware to create an artisanal heirloom.

Valextra Assoluto

At Valextra Vocabolario and through an exclusive collaboration with our esteemed Milanese neighbours Rinascente, Valextra unveils Valextra Assoluto, a unisex capsule collection of regenerated nylon handbags that embraces modern engineering alongside artisanal ideals of craftsmanship inherent to the brand since its inception in 1937.

Engineered in all-black ECONYL^® yarn, with sleek monochrome hardware, this high-performance luxury series is a new expression of Valextra’s dedication to elevated object design and material innovation manifesting in streamlined handbags that align with our design sensibility of ergonomic urban elegance. Alongside a multi-pocket utility Shopper and pod-shaped Bumbag (inspired by the 1968 Tric-Trac bag), a folded Backpack with a V-shaped fold is the collection’s hero piece, with its compact, design enriched with accents in our signature Millepunte leather.

Quiet details play protagonists, as concealed black matte or polished palladium zippers, V-shaped quilting and tonal jacquard logo webbing straps join a new matte black ‘V’ hardware device, evolving our reputation of Italian craftsmanship with responsible developments in the production cycle.