Downtown Design
redazione 15/05/2025

New openings in New York

Porada, Vitra, Lualdi, Bisazza open new showrooms during NYCxDESIGN Festival

Companies defy tariffs and continue to invest in the American market. On the occasion of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, numerous Italian and European brands are opening new showrooms in the most representative Manhattan neighborhoods for the design world. So the current political and economic moment does not seem to be holding back relations with America, which in recent years has been a key destination and a privileged interlocutor for Made in Italy companies.

Porada, Vitra, Luadi, and Bisazza are therefore the realities that at this moment are betting on a deep and lasting relationship, telling their savoir-faire to an evolved public and admirer of quality design.

Infinity by Porada

Infinity by Porada

Porada opens its new store in the city at 185 Madison Avenue 34th Street. This is the first on the market and the third single-brand store, after Milan and London. The opening thus demonstrates the remarkable growth of the company, which has built its brand on excellent cabinetry and elegant style-a philosophy that the company has decided to tell its story starting in major design capitals. The New York store thus hosts Porada’s best sellers, alongside the latest novelties for the living and sleeping areas, which are increasingly complete and rich in their offerings.

Vitra showroom

Vitra showroom

Vitra is banking on the vibrant energy of Chinatown, at 46 Bowery, just south of Canal Street. Inside a 582-square-foot loft on the third floor of the building that formerly housed the famous Jing Fong restaurant, the showroom is shown as an extremely bright and open space. New York occupies a special place for the company, having played a central role in its origin story: it was during a walk through the city in 1953 that Willi Fehlbaum, the founder of Vitra, first came across the designs of Charles and Ray Eames, inspiring him to become a furniture manufacturer. The new store recaptures that legacy by adding the contemporary touch of the latest collections, and thus becoming a reference point for Vitra and Artek in the market.

Lualdi Boiserie – Photo © Sara Magni

Lualdi Wall & Door - Photo © Sara Magni

Lualdi Wall & Door – Photo © Sara Magni

Lualdi (like Boffi, we talked about it here) shifts its presence in the city, choosing the very central and exclusive Madison Avenue, at number 180. Present in the United States since the 1990s, Lualdi has built a solid connection with the American market, starting with early collaborations with Carl Magnusson, Knoll’s design director at the time, and with iconic projects such as the offices of City Bank and TCP Petcoke, both in New York. The choice of a new location on Mad Ave, with its 200 square meters, responds to the need for a space that could tell the story of the product not only through technical detail, but especially through an immersive fruition in the settings.

Bisazza flagship store, New York

Bisazza flagship store, New York

Bisazza also sets its sights on Madison Avenue, just before, at number 130. The Street inevitably confirms itself as a prime destination for high-end design, counting the main brands of Italian furniture. Bisazza transfers here its expertise in interior design and decoration, including custom, always accompanied by the extreme creativity that colors and composes its mosaic collections.

Our latest stories

In Paris, design travels through time
Minutes icon
2 minutes

In Paris, design travels through time

Design Miami/Paris returns for its fourth year to L’Hôtel de Maisons with its largest program to date. 31 galleries and over 20 monumental installations create a dialogue between historic design and the avant-garde, featuring works that span 140 years of creativity

Agenda
Margraf: 120 years of the future
Minutes icon
2 minutes

Margraf: 120 years of the future

Roberto Xompero, CEO of Margraf, reflects on the company's 120 years. It's a legacy that looks to the future through innovation, design, and sustainability, transforming stone into a design material capable of speaking an ever-contemporary language

Design
24 hours in the Greek islands
Minutes icon
9 minutes

24 hours in the Greek islands

As autumn begins, summer nostalgia starts to set in. The antidote could be an immersion in the contemporary art circuit on the Greek islands. A slow-paced journey through the exhibitions of Hydra, Andros, and Chios, for a profound experience far from the urban chaos

Design
Rivolta Carmignani at home
Minutes icon
1 minute

Rivolta Carmignani at home

In Milan’s Porta Venezia district, a new space designed by Galli Cavalcabò interprets the brand’s textile savoir-faire through a concept inspired by the intimacy of home

Retail
UNIQLO: a place to pause by Desalto
Minutes icon
1 minute

UNIQLO: a place to pause by Desalto

The Unlimited seating system and Mini Clay side table furnish a reading and relaxation area at UNIQLO’s Piazza Cordusio store in Milan, bringing Italian design into dialogue with Japanese fashion

Design
The three dimensions of surfaces
Minutes icon
1 minute

The three dimensions of surfaces

Renowned for its ability to create organic shapes for walls and ceilings, the Wood-Skin® platform evolves into Presentform, a new starting point for shaping space

Design