Peter Marino Opens a Timeless Homage to Coco Chanel

THE CARDBOARD box that houses a bottle of perfume may not seem like a very inspiring object-but it was the spark that architect Peter Marino needed "To be out there now almost 100 years and still be an icon of modern design, that astounds me," Marino says of Chanel's box Marino, 69, who has been working with the French house for nearly 30 years, often looks to the heritage of Coco Chanel or the brand's longtime designer, Karl Lagerfeld, for cues.

In addition to working with Chanel, Marino collaborates with brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Fendi, Graff and Ermenegildo Zegna According to Marino, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton head Bernard Arnault tells him, "Peter, go for the unexpected." For the Louis Vuitton flagship on Paris's Place Vendôme, which opened in 2017, that meant an 18th-century stone staircase suspended from steel cables and a kitschy gold statue of Louis XIV A peek inside Peter Marino's new Chanel flagship in Manhattan.

Of salvaging brick-and-mortar retail from the siege of online sales, Marino says, "You give customers what they don't have." He points out that his projects come from marketing budgets "You cannot feel a chenille sofa on the internet," adds Marino. . Source