Habitat Returns to Milan with New CityLife Store

Habitat, the Anglo-French design brand founded in London in 1964 and owned by French group Cafom since 2011, has opened a three-story showroom in Milan's new CityLife Shopping District. The building, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, sits at the entrance of the Galleria Anna Castelli Ferrieri. The brand had been absent from the Italian market for about fifteen years. The return is partly motivated by seeking international visibility during Salone del Mobile. Designer Pierre Favresse, who replaced Tom Dixon as artistic director, has initiated collaborations with designers like Eugeni Quitllet. Favresse, an alumnus of École Boulle and ENSAD in Paris, aims to continue Sir Terence Conran's original recipe: well-designed products made with quality materials at democratic prices, regardless of the designer's fame. The current collection features feminine, curvilinear lines reflecting a French touch and Mediterranean influence. Favresse notes that Conran conceived the first Notting Hill store during a road trip from Provence to Tuscany. Habitat was a pioneer of monobrand furniture stores and accessible design, introducing items like the duvet to British homes in the mid-1960s and to French homes a decade later. The brand's paper catalog was a staple for young couples across generations.