MACHAS

A Year In Style: Jonathan Calugi for la Rinascente

As the most prestigious department store in Italy, la Rinascente is a real icon. Its 9 flagship stores showcase the best Made-in-Italy and international brands, but in the words of the CEO Alberto Baldan, la Rinascente “is a place that tells stories”. 

The department store penchant for storytelling combined with an unmistakably Italian flair for design and luxury resonated with Jonathan Calugi’s minimal, elegant and inclusive visual language.

Jonathan was commissioned throughout 2019 to illustrate the store’s several activations and experiences from Easter to Valentine’s Day, both in-store and online.

The result is a series of sophisticated minimal artworks that helped la Rinascente to visually engage its customers in style all year round.

“Working for a brand like la Rinascente was a wonderful experience because as the brand’s visual heritage holds an immense experience and artistic value,” Jonathan says. “The initial inspiration for this collaboration came from my more artistic and minimal style. This pushed me to find the best language to represent with few lines and a limited colour palette the complex and fascinating worlds that populate their stores. The language that I developed works both for the single image and the more complex patterns, and tells a story that begins every time you start to follow the line.”

See more of Jonathan’s work here.