Luxury Milanese luggage maker Valextra has launched a new flagship store in Beijing to showcase their own stylish brand of innovation and modernity, Xu Haoyu reports.

After Tokyo, Shanghai, Chengdu, and most recently Hong Kong, the Italian luxury luggage and accessories brand Valextra launched its latest flagship store in Beijing.

Located in Taikoo Li in the capital's Sanlitun shopping area, the Valextra Beijing space opened its doors in late March to showcase is contemporary designs and European aesthetics.

The company's CEO Sara Ferrero attended the opening ceremony with London-based Milanese designer Martino Gamper, the interior designer of the new retail space.

Light and color

After opening the dark brass handle adorning the door of the shop's 10-meter-wide glass facade, visitors soon find themselves immersed in a fabulous rhapsody of colors, materials and shapes, where each space is divided by a playful hanging double-tier shelves presenting Valextra's precious creations. Reminiscent of childhood's swings, the pastel-colored shelves suspended from the tall ceilings create a floating display avenue, lending a museum-like feel to the store. The shelves are made of matte-painted metal, linoleum and framed wood, which enhance the contrast with Valextra's leather bags.

The lofty ceilings are not the only element offering a surprise in the store: the light blue terrazzo resin floor scattered with brightly colored brass inserts and edging recreates the geometric pattern of a mandala (an image of a circle surrounding a square, that represents the universe in the Hindu and Buddhist religions) on the floor. Covered in different hues of light pink marbling, the alternate yellow and light blue accents of the walls resonate in harmony with the surroundings.

Gamper, wearing an indigo blue T-shirt he dyed himself matched with wrinkled pants by Japanese designer Issey Miyake, looked composed as he met with visitors to the store.

This is not the first time that Gamper has worked with the brand. In 2015, he designed a boutique for the Italian luxury house in Milan, where he created bespoke store installations using colorful, custom-made magnets.

For the outside of the store, which currently features huge sculpted glass panels, Gamper says he hopes to be able to replace certain areas of the exterior with softer materials if permitted.

He claims that as a designer, he never tries to follow local tastes blindly to please the market. He thinks that design is a personal process, "I really believe that if you make something that you really like, there's a strength in it."

Brand in the making

Valextra was founded by Giovanni Fontana in 1937 with a vision to create the most exclusive handbags in Milan. Catering to sophisticated Milanese women, his iconic store at No 1 Piazza San Babila in the heart of the city, served as a meeting point for the city's elite.

The name Fontana chose for the brand reflected his ethos and the spirit of the time: Valextra was created from the combination of valigeria, the Italian word for suitcase, and the English word extra, to signify "extraordinary".

The brand became popular among international celebrities, who ordered custom-made handbags and travel cases that reflected their lifestyles. Notable customers included the famous singer Maria Callas, Ornella Vanoni, Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, and the former queen of Iran Farah Diba. Many actresses including Sophia Loren, Ira von Furstenberg, Silvana Pampanini, Ava Gardner, were also regular customers.

To celebrate the history of the brand, Valextra relaunched its iconic SerieS to mark the bag's 50th anniversary. The 1961 patent describes the range as "especially appropriate for travel", and the design, which is carried by the Beijing store, was developed with the cultured traveler in mind.

Inspired by traditional doctor's bags, the SerieS features an asymmetrically-cut trapeze shape, an off-center handle engineered for easier carrying and a double internal compartment that fits both business documents and a change of clothes. This piece was created with a male clientele in mind, as they were the most common type of business travelers in the 1960s.

In 1969, following the great success of the SerieS for men and the Carla bag for women, Fontana created the first women's version of the SerieS. Feminine in its proportions and characterized by softer and more sinuous lines, the bag maintained its on-the-go feeling thanks to the double zip and functional array of pockets.

"Valextra was created from the idea that luggage has to be for people on the go, those with a busy life to handle, so it has to meet the needs of the traveler," Ferrero says, adding that while the company values the functionality and beauty of their bags above all else, they have been designed to serve the needs of the modern people looking for a bag to fit every occasion.

"The brand is driven by innovation and modernity. Every product has been built across the history of Valextra, but at the same time, reflects our customers' current way of life," Ferrero says. "We try to make a product that is beautiful, but also meaningful to the people of today."