Marni takes over Cucchi

Marni is turning Milan’s Pasticceria Cucchi into a branded café for more than Design Week alone. The fashion house’s takeover runs from April 20 to July 15 at the pastry shop founded in 1936. (dezeen.com) The project will put Marni-designed plates, milk jugs and sugar sachets into regular service at Cucchi, with the space reworked by Milan interiors firm RedDuo Studio. Visitors will be able to use the café from morning cappuccino through evening aperitivo during the three-month run. (dezeen.com) Milan Design Week 2026 officially runs across the city from April 20 to April 26, with Salone del Mobile at Fiera Milano Rho from April 21 to April 26. Marni’s installation starts with that calendar, then stays open long after the fairs and parties end. (comune.milano.it) (dezeen.com) That longer schedule fits how brands now use Design Week in Milan: not only to show furniture, but to stage restaurants, bars and temporary interiors across the city. Dezeen’s 2026 preview lists Marni x Cucchi alongside installations by Audi, Prada and Loewe spread through the week’s citywide program. (dezeen.com) (visitmilano.org) Cucchi is not a neutral backdrop. The café says it has operated as a family business for three generations since 1936, and Wallpaper reports it became known as a gathering place for poets, artists and socialites. (pasticceriacucchi.it) (wallpaper.com) Marni is framing the collaboration around everyday Milan rituals rather than a runway or showroom. A press release distributed through FashionUnited said the concept covers “the morning cappuccino,” “an espresso at the counter” and “the aperitivo,” using the café itself as the setting. (fashionunited.uk) The design language is expected to mix Cucchi’s historic interior with Marni’s graphic codes. Coverage from Wallpaper and Pause said the project uses red and green patterns and was developed under creative director Meryll Rogge with RedDuo Studio. (wallpaper.com) (pausemag.co.uk) For visitors, that means the takeover will be encountered less like a ticketed exhibition than like a normal stop for coffee and pastries in one of Milan’s oldest cafés. By mid-July, the branded crockery and paper goods are scheduled to disappear, and Cucchi returns to its usual service. (dezeen.com)