The historic maison Moynat, founded in 1849 in Paris by Pauline Moynat, opens its first Italian boutique and does so at a strategic moment: Milan Design Week, choosing to actively participate in the event and transforming the new space into a concrete extension of its dialogue with creativity and design. The address is among the most iconic in the city: via Monte Napoleone 3, inside a 16th-century building in the heart of Milan. A context that embodies timeless elegance and cultural value, perfect for welcoming a new chapter in the history of the maison.
Always connected to the artistic world, Moynat has expressed this commitment over the years through collaborations, installations and cultural events. To mark the opening, it invited three creatives – Hall Haus, Marianna Ladreyt and Michael Samuels – to reinterpret one of its most iconic symbols: the trunk. Thus was born the exhibition, divided into three moments.
The first is entrusted to Hall Haus, a Paris-based design and architecture studio founded in 2020, whose practice combines multiculturalism, sports, music, and urban culture to make design more accessible and inclusive. Here the trunk becomes an object of collective sharing: inspired by the energy of sound systems and block parties, the collective creates a dialogue between heritage and contemporaneity. Their monogram “Olympic” merges with Moynat’s iconic “M,” generating a hybrid graphic language. The installation recalls the loudspeaker towers around which communities gather and also reinterprets the “Limousine” trunk, reinterpreting its arched shape as a functional and visual element. The result is a scenic presence that unites and connects.
Next comes Parkour by Marianna Ladreyt, a Parisian designer and artist who works between furniture, fashion and objects with a strong focus on reuse and sustainability. Known for transforming discarded materials-particularly beach inflatables and non-recyclable plastics-into handcrafted creations, here she translates Moynat trunks into a playful, modular installation. Soft blocks covered in patchwork invite the audience to interact: sit, play, move. The trunks’ unexpected silhouettes and their almost couture details become a dynamic playground that reinterprets bespoke travel in a contemporary, participatory way.
Finally, Michael Samuels, a London-based British artist, offers a more conceptual shift in perspective. His work, focused on the transformation of functional objects into nonfunctional forms, is developed through an intuitive and performative process that privileges vintage furniture and objects. In this project, the trunk becomes sculpture: assembled, verticalized and stripped of their original function, the elements are transformed into monumental structures suspended between art and architecture. The works – made from archival briefcases and trunks, including pieces from the London Museum – explore themes of time, memory and preservation. Real architectures of memory thus emerge, where the patina and history of the objects become the absolute protagonists.
[📸 Courtesy of Moynat]
