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Becoming an architect and interior designer wasn’t something Giampiero Tagliaferri ever thought about as a career, but rather a hobby that he always had a hand in, either at work as the former creative director of eyewear brand Oliver Peoples or just giving out free advice to his friends.
“Designing the Oliver Peoples boutiques across the world — and we opened many — at the beginning it was with other architects and then I started doing it by myself and then weekly it became the favorite part of my job. I couldn’t wait to design new stores because that’s what I was really looking forward to,” says the Italian-born creative in an interview from Los Angeles.
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Tagliaferri’s design of Oliver Peoples’ Milan store was his Midas touch moment. The boutique features two large windows accompanied by a pair of glass double doors against a ceppo di gre marble exterior in the shade of gray and oyster that’s often found around the city.
The space pays homage to the style of Milanese apartments in the ‘50s with its marble floors, wooden fixtures and pale blue walls that are decorated with bookshelves that double up as spectacle racks.
It could also easily be a scene out of Luca Guadagnino’s “I Am Love,” which was filmed a six-minute walk away at the Villa Necchi Campiglio.
Tagliaferri, a swarthy man with Prince Charming hair and an Italian accent, has made a reputation for himself since setting up his studio in L.A. at the beginning of 2022 right after he left Oliver Peoples, where he had stayed for six years. He opened a second studio in Milan last year.
The transition into a full-time architect and interior designer has been a seamless one. Tagliaferri now has a helping hand from tech entrepreneur Adrien Dewulf, who serves as partner in the business.
Joining their contacts books together made the road ahead less bumpy.
“Some of our initial clients were tech billionaires and that helped set up the studio with important projects and with budgets — from a financial point of view it was easy to start those kinds of projects,” says Tagliaferri.
“Our clients are people that are somehow shaping the culture of the future from different industries,” he adds.
The studio primarily deals with high-end residential buildings and a small number of commercial projects in places such as California, Aspen, Paris, Miami and Venice.
There’s always a pull back to Tagliaferri’s Italian roots. He’s currently working on a home in L.A. for Brunello Cucinelli’s daughter Carolina and her husband, Alessio Piastrelli. In 2021, the Italian luxury brand collaborated with Oliver Peoples, which is how he got to know the family and he has since built showrooms for them.
He’s also helping Milanese restaurant group Sant Ambroeus set up another space in New York and is extending the group’s coffee bar in Aspen into a restaurant. The coffee bar features green marble and faux fur on the walls that hints to midcentury Italian design.
“These are projects with people that I feel like I’m a part of their family. I eat at Sant Ambroeus — when I’m in Milan, I’m always there,” says Tagliaferri, whose charisma and passion is contagious.
He adds a personal touch to every project he approaches, even if it comes with a strict brief to break up any rigid or cliché design choices.
In Aspen, he added an element of alpine brutalism to Sant Ambroeus’ location as it’s something that doesn’t exist there.
“I don’t want my places to be extreme on one side or the other. It cannot just be a beautiful space, but then totally uncomfortable or vice versa,” says Tagliaferri.
“Less is more” is his design mantra, which he relates back to growing up in Milan and the city’s hidden beauty. Living in California for the last eight years, meanwhile, has changed the way he interacts with light and the indoor outdoor experience.
Tagliaferri is a collector of auction furniture and trinkets, with many of his jewels coming from Europe and with a sharp eye on Italian and Brazilian design items from the ‘70s.
“I love mixing, but not in the same extreme way as the ‘70s, but tension always comes through when materials are being subtly put together,” he says, adding that he also creates custom furniture.
An upcoming project with the Italian company Minotti will be unveiled during Salone del Mobile that he keeps mute about.
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