We were brought on board by our long-time collaborators, The Wilson Brothers, to work with radical fashion brand Marni. The project started with a provocative question: In an era where online shopping is the norm, why would anyone visit a physical store?

The answer was to not make it about shopping at all. Instead, we dissolved the boundaries between creativity and commerce. Rather than a structure designed to showcase the brand's products, we wanted to evoke a feeling of creative collaboration through architecture. After refreshingly free-wheeling workshops with their team, we decided to design installations that brought the artistic world of the Marni studio into their consumer stores.

Designed around the idea of a vessel that would catapult Marni's creative world into its stores, we have constructed two installations. The first is a stack of cars and caravans welded together to enclose a fully functioning studio. The second has landed in Shanghai, where a rock-like sculpture within the store encapsulates another studio. Both spaces welcome a rotation of artists-in-residence to take over each studio and make it their own. Although the installations look different, they are both built on the core idea that each artist will have free rein to adapt the exterior to manifest their own aesthetic, meaning each structure collects a history of its own.

In time, this intends to reflect Marni's love of storytelling through craft and the power of cross-pollinating ideas.

These installations are a testament to Marni's devotion to its creative community and culture.

The first artist to take up residency in the Milan store was Icelandic artist Shoplifter, followed by Flaminia Veronesi. The vessel in Shanghai has hosted takeovers by artists Nathan Zhou and Zhang Ji.