Styled by Viviana Volpicella.The plant-filled terrace with restored 19th-century furniture.A collection of black and white photographs line a hallway.The master bedroom, with framed 19th-century embroidered Chinese textiles above the bed.An antique display case and an American horn chair with a leather shopping bag, ankle boots, and a wool hat, all by Tod’s.An 18th- century French dining table with 1950s chairs and a Dimore Studio light.Facchinetti worked with design doyenne Nina Yasher, owner of Nilufar gallery, for her fall 2014 installation that featured a mix of 1950s furniture, Stilnovo chandeliers, an early-1900s portrait by Giovanni Boldini, and one of Lucio Fontana’s “slashed” bronze wall sculptures.The set for spring 2014 included a console table, couch, chandelier, and rug created by the Milan interiors firm Dimore Studio. In 2007 she was appointed the creative director at the fashion House of Valentino, on the retirement of Valentino Garavani. Uniqueness was, well, unique in that every piece was available to purchase online directly after the runway show. Facchinetti was equally obsessive about the choice of materials, colors, and finishes, many of which were the result of her antiquing jaunts. The layout has been left intact, but the marble and parquet floors have been restored, as has the stucco on the walls. Anja Rubik comes out as #1, with Freja Beha Erichsen and Lara Stone not far behind. As told to: Christine Whitney While it’s not the first time a designer has challenged herself to work in a new way, with intriguing returns (consider Jil Sander’s +J for Uniqlo, even though it's less expensive than Uniqueness), Facchinetti is thrilled to be experimenting with something she described as, “a chance to work in the new reality we are all in, a reality that is being driven by the Internet. Those qualities are also evident in the rest of the apartment, which she approached with the same energy and aplomb, filling the rooms with an eclectic mix of objects ranging from opulent 18th-century cabinets and rustic Italian chairs to sleek Stilnovo lights, which were fashionable in Milan in the ’60s. She was determined to preserve the sofa’s threadbare amethyst-colored velvet, only to concede defeat and track down an identical fabric with which to reupholster it.
A welcome return to the fray for Alessandra Facchinetti, formerly of Gucci and Valentino, and now all raring to go with a new project called Uniqueness, launching this fall. He celebrated her birth in 1972 by writing the title track “Alessandra,” and he remains so popular in Italy that his latest solo release topped the albums chart this spring. Facchinetti’s mother was an important influence on her, not least in passing on her love of antiquing; likewise her grandmother, an imposing figure, who was always immaculately dressed and coiffed, and a passionate cook. But Facchinetti has now severed ties with Pinko in order to join Tod's as its creative director, replacing Derek Lam. “She was incredible: a real mamma to her family, spending all day in the kitchen, cooking, cooking, cooking,” Facchinetti recalls. © 2020 Future Media Group. {WWD}Valentino's been an utter disaster since Valentino left. For her most recent presentation, Facchinetti created a series of rooms inspired by those in a favorite film, Luchino Visconti’s 1974 Working on her apartment was the best possible preparation for art directing the Tod’s shows. She has also indulged her love of unusual color combinations and symbolism by mixing masculine and feminine or historic and contemporary references in her designs, as she does in her own clothes: popping a 1950s men’s rain cape found on a vintage spree in London over a laser-cut cotton shirtdress from the Another of her innovations is the sophisticated design of the sets for the ready-to-wear shows, which have been held in Milan’s Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, a museum sponsored by Tod’s. Creative director Alessandra Facchinetti designs the accessory brand's first clothing collection The starting point for the hall was an early-1900s American armchair with an animal-horn frame. In the kitchen, it was the 18th-century chinoiserie crockery she has collected for years, which is surrounded by stacks of antique silverware, beautifully crafted cutlery, and books of the traditional Italian recipes her grandmother loved. Alessandra Facchinetti (born 2 June 1972 in Bergamo) is an Italian fashion designer. The piece prompted Facchinetti to assemble groups of images on the walls around it: framed butterflies that she prizes for their vivid colors; 1920s photographs of young Berliners sunbathing nude by a river that she picked up in a junk store in Rome; and evocative backstage shots of her Valentino shows. Styled by Viviana Volpicella.The roof terrace is not particularly large, nor is it blessed with spectacular views, and when What a job. Accents included a pair of Lady chairs, by Marco Zanuso for Arflex, and pale mauve roses.