Luxury, shopping, Madison Avenue 

Whilst 2022 ended on a positive note, 2023 got off to an even better start, and waving the Italian flag. At 747 Madison Avenue, on the corner with East 65, at the turn of the year, Versace inaugurated its new flagship store, taking over from Givenchy.

The shop, in perfect Versace style, is a riot of marble and ceramics in shades of white and light gray, interspersed with Greek motifs on the floor and golden detail in the finishes. Behind the glass doors, as in all similar stores, two or three young men in dark suits discreetly check out anyone who approaches and takes a photo from outside.

At the junction with 65th street, you find the most famous brands. It is a coveted space; it is where Madison Avenue manages, at times, to be totally silent, without cars for a few seconds, almost on a human scale

In this area, at the junction with 65th street, you find the most famous brands. It is a coveted space; it is where Madison Avenue manages, at times, to be totally silent, without cars for a few seconds, almost on a human scale, detached from the hubbub on the corners of the avenues that run alongside, one overlooking Central Park and the other closer to the East River. Here, you can find the complete collections, for both men and women, by Versace and other Italian designers. The new boutique is part of a lot of new commercial spaces, 28 in all, including four restaurants.

“Why Madison?” replies one of the store employees, smiling, who however prefers not to give their name, “just take a look around, the beauty of the buildings, the store windows, here taste is everywhere.” 

But it is not only Versace who represents Italy on Madison Avenue. In addition to Stefano Ricci, who inaugurated a new store on the corner with East 57th in mid-December, there are Giorgio Armani (Madison and 65th) and Valentino (Madison and 69th) and other brands. It's not just about the very high-rank customers - different from visitors to the more touristy Fifth Avenue - but it’s also because here the stores become part of the architecture of the buildings, like the enormous rectangular window of Mignoni, the spaces of Dolce & Gabbana and Prada, or the art deco of Frette, and Loro Piana, Bottega Veneta, Etro, Buccellati, Giuseppe Zanotti, Elventy, Cesare Attolini, Marina Rinaldi, Achille Salvagni Atelier, Beretta.

Already a hundred years ago, this street was the headquarters of most of the biggest agencies in the world, to the point that referring to Madison was another way of saying advertising. Advertisers discovered it in the 1920s, architects in the 1950s, followed by New Yorkers and the big Italian brands. Nothing happens by chance. Madison Avenue has become the Little Italy of fashion and taste like never before.