100 Years of LA RINASCENTE

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Photo © CondéNast/La Rinascente

A hundred years have passed since Gabriele d’Annunzio, at the request of Senatore Borletti, renamed the Bocconi department store Rinascente. The poet, not surprisingly used a verb instead of a noun: rinascente is a past participle whose etymology (from Latin partem capit) literally means “to take part”. This is what la Rinascente is about: a reality that took part in the Italian history, interpreting and changing costumes with its constant search for novelty. A verb that expresses an action that repeats itself over time with a surge of constant change.

Text by © Simone Tempia

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To celebrate 100 years of the art of “being Rinascente” and the exhibition STORIES OF INNOVATION, La Rinascente Magazine asked me to reinterpretate the ten letters of the name as a visual introduction to ten brief texts written ad hoc for the occasion by Simone Tempia.

The art direction by Oliviero Piccoli and the careful direction by Diletta Dincao (from CondéNast Italia) who put this little all star team together has been flawless, as usual.

Letters behind characters (typo spoiler alert!) are made with the gorgeous Bianco Serif Heavy by Alfatype.