MILAN — New York City-based textiles and wall coverings house Schumacher has landed in Italy. Schumacher, which was founded by Parisian Frederic Schumacher in 1889 and rose to fame during the Gilded Age, opened its doors in Milan’s upscale Brera district on Tuesday.
The location has an entrance on both Via Fiori Chiari 28 and Via Pontaccio 19 and is the house’s third in Europe, following recent openings in London and Paris.
Schumacher Italy’s managing director Elisabetta Bono told WWD that creating relationships with interior designers and decorators is key to the brand’s success in a discerning design community like Milan.
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“Our target is creatives who are really striving to create something truly unique,” she said.
More than a showroom, she pointed out, the new location is an embassy for the brand, where private clients and professionals alike can get lost in the Schumacher world, which enticed 19th century decorator Elsie de Wolfe and writer Edith Wharton. During the Gilded Age, the firm catered to New York City’s private mansions and later undertook grand custom commissions for properties like the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Fashion collaborations have been a driver for the storied brand from the start. Its first fashion tie-up was with French fashion designer Paul Poiret in 1930, and in 1958 it produced a collection of prints with visionary designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
In 2024, the American firm released a collaboration with the lifestyle brand founded by Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz, which included a collection of fabrics, wall coverings and trims that reflect her eclectic runway fashions and South American spirit.
In 2021, it bought edgy wall coverings firm Backdrop to appeal to younger generations. Also on Tuesday, Backdrop unveiled a four-piece wallpaper collection that filtered archival Schumacher designs from the 20th century through its own surreal, abstract lens.
