In the crucial years of Italian booming in the field of design The Chelsea Boy’s Milan office represented a secure and jubilant hub open to the international design community with constant visits of the designers who will become the most significant players in the worldwide contemporary creative scene. Marc Newson, Jasper Morrison, Naoto Fukasawa, Konstantin Grcic and Michael Young, just to name a few, not only liked to spend time with Irvine, but they elected his studio as their Italian head-quarter to develop their projects.

They were close friends with whom James Irvine shared the passion for design; together they explored the fruitful territory along with the many opportunities that the Italian manufacturing companies could offer.

The project at the Museo del Novecento unveils the intimate bond that linked the British designer – who passed away in February 2013 – to his adoptive city. According to Irvine, Milan represented the quintessential expression of human relationships, where common and everyday habits became a pleasant routine: a quick cup of coffee during his very busy working schedule alone or shared with his team at the studio.

James Irvine has chosen Milan as the permanent base not only for his professional career but also on a personal level, marrying Maria Laura Rossiello, whom today, along with Maddalena Casadei, are carrying on the work of Studio Irvine.

The moment Irvine was entering his own restaurants – as we call them – it was welcome as The English. He was well known by all the waiters who loved to chat with him: the corkscrew Luigi was born during one of these conversations and named upon one of those people. Another example is the Open Chair (produced by Alias in 2007) inspired to the outdoors chairs from the notorious bar Gin Rosa.

Thanks to the collaboration with the Studio Irvine, the installation at the Sala Focus presents a compact version of his beloved treasure boxes. It consists of a solid, macro-representation of Irvine’s most intimate world presenting a selection of objects such as products, prototypes, handmade drawings, different raw materials he would use for his projects. This project aims to be a small-scale tribute to the designer and will undrape for the first time some of his very personal effects.