Craft by Patricia Urquiola. The Basement, Max Mara. © Filippo Messina/Atcasa.corriere.it

Last night, the design crowd oohed and aahed over Patricia Urquiola’s latest Craft display, set within Max Mara’s newly opened concept store, The Basement.

In occasion of the current Salone del Mobile in Milano, Max Mara has inaugurated a 1,400 square metre space beneath its flagship boutique in Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Created under the supervision of design guru Rossana Orlandi, The Basement by Max Mara marks the maison’s foray into the design world.

In a recent interview given a few days before Craft’s official opening, Orlandi remarked, ‘Creating a space for fashion and design in Corso Vittorio Emanuele is no easy task. We have begun with a vast range of playful pieces which cost from as little as 5 and 10 euros, but have also included pieces such as those by Established and Sons and Gio Ponti. It will be interesting to see what sort of customer will step inside this space. Not much is known about it yet, but I feel it has a large potential.’

Patricia Urquiola’s creations are a hot favourite with design lovers, a fact which comes as no surprise considering her gloriously distinct style. In The Basement, visitors may admire and purchase her latest porcelain range created in collaboration with Rosenthal, one of the world’s leading creators of quality porcelain.

Urquiola has not only provided her home accessories for Max Mara’s design space, but has also supervised the boutique’s current shop window display, which features a fabulous Piaggio Ape loaded with Urquiola’s Canasta and Crinoline chairs for B&B Italia.

‘When I was in the Philippines, the locals who worked on the prototypes would come in with their Ape packed with all sorts of things…I would say, ‘I don’t want to travel in this air-conditioned car, I want to travel with them!’…Work in the end is a game, it should be fun, and I hope this is what the shop window display communicates.’