For Milan Design Week 2021, Gucci opened a whimsical pop-up stationery store on Via Manzoni 19 to present its first Lifestyle collection.

Fashioned after the traditional Italian stationery shop and inspired by a cabinet of curiosities, the Gucci Cartoleria is a magical space befitting of Harry Potter, littered with haunted curios such as flying notebooks, self-playing chess sets, endless bookcases, and micro-apartments for mice with Gucci furnishings.

“When I was a child, going to the stationery store and finding pencils, pens, notebooks, games, meant bringing a dream into my daily routine,” says creative director Alessandro Michele. “They were fine, well-made objects that spoke of craftsmanship and that, though part of my everyday life, were able to give off a magical, mysterious and wonderful aura.”

To bring the Gucci Lifestyle collection to life, the Florentine House roped in Max Siedentopf, a familiar collaborator, to produce the campaign. Shot in Tuscany at Castello Sonnino, a 16th-century fortress built by the Medici family, the weird-and-wonderful imagery conveys bewitching, dream-like scenes where houses of cards are larger than life, pencils blossoms like flowers, and a game of backgammon is interrupted by a society of nails.

The actual Gucci Cartoleria may not be accessible to us now, but the collection is. See the eclectic range up close at Gucci Paragon, then pick up a few wonderful items for work, play and rest. Think notebook sheathed in printed canvas, a refillable pen housed in a Demetra case, graphite pencils, glass-domed paperweights, a handcrafted dice set, sleeping masks, pillow, and satin silk pyjamas.

(All images: Gucci)

This article first appeared on Prestige Online Singapore.