Marni takes over a café

Marni is turning Pasticceria Cucchi, one of Milan’s best-known historic cafés, into a public installation for Milan Design Week and keeping it open through July 15. (wallpaper.com) The project, called Marni x Cucchi, opens with an event on April 19, 2026, ahead of Milan Design Week, which runs from April 20 to April 26. Marni said the takeover will last more than three months and remain open to the public rather than operate as a trade-only showroom. (fashionunited.uk) (forbes.com) Pasticceria Cucchi sits on Corso Genova and dates to 1936, when Luigi Cucchi and his wife Vittorina opened it as a “caffè concerto,” or café with live entertainment. VisitMilano and Locali Storici d’Italia both list it as one of the city’s long-running historic venues. (visitmilano.org) (localistorici.it) Marni said RedDuo Studio designed the space around a red-and-green palette, with polka dots and stripes carried across tableware, textiles, pastry boxes and staff uniforms. Coffee cups and saucers from the project will also be sold at Cucchi and at Marni’s Via Montenapoleone boutique. (fashionunited.com) The café will also host twelve Thursday “Caffé Concerto” music nights during the run, with live performances scheduled around aperitivo service. Marni said the drinks offer will include a Martini-curated Spritz menu with Bianco and Bitter Spritz. (fashionunited.uk) That format fits how Milan Design Week works now: the fair still centers on Salone del Mobile, founded in 1961, but Fuorisalone events spread across the city and pull in brands, designers, editors and tourists. Forbes said more than 300,000 visitors come through the fair alone, while off-site exhibitions now fill neighborhoods including Brera, Tortona, Porta Venezia and Isola. (forbes.com) (vogueadria.com) Fashion labels have used that citywide format for years, but the Marni project pushes further into hospitality by taking over a functioning neighborhood institution instead of mounting a temporary showroom display. Wallpaper said the aim is a brand moment that visitors can enter as customers, from breakfast through aperitivo. (wallpaper.com) (fashionunited.uk) Marni has already tested food-and-retail hybrids elsewhere, including its Marni Café in Tokyo’s Ginza Six. In Milan this spring, the brand is using a 90-year-old pastry shop instead of a purpose-built set, putting its design language into a place locals already know. (marni.com) (localistorici.it) If the installation lands, visitors to Milan Design Week will not need an invitation, a buyer badge or a showroom appointment to see it. They can walk into Cucchi, order a coffee, and sit inside Marni’s version of a Milanese café. (wallpaper.com) (fashionunited.com)