Soft landing

Cashmere specialist Loro Piana debuts its first furniture designs and devotes an entire floor of its new Tokyo store to interiors

- NICK VINSON

Visitors to Loro Piana’s new 700 sq m Ginza flagship, designed by Japanese architect Jun Aoki, will discover a top floor dedicated entirely to Loro Piana Interiors. It’s the first time the house’s upholstery, curtains, and wall and floor coverings have been presented under the same roof as the men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collection and leather goods. Also on display is a sofa, a daybed and four armchairs, Loro Piana’s first foray into furniture design (after having supplied upholstery fabrics to select furniture makers for some time).

Until now, the interiors collection has been presented in standalone showrooms in Milan and Paris, as well as in showrooms within the Decoration & Design Building in New York and the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, as the majority of business comes through architects, interior designers and high-end furniture makers. The interiors collection launched in 2006, with furnishing and upholstery fabrics woven in cashmere, wool and linen. Around the same time, the brand also launched the most luxurious floor covering of all time, the aptly named ‘One Step to Heaven’ (W*107), woven in 100 per cent cashmere and produced as rugs or wall-to-wall carpets on special looms that can manage 4m widths.