Miami: Mad for Marni

Miami's first Marni store opened in the Design District during the annual crush of activities for Art Basel Miami Beach. I had a chance to visit the outlet recently and noticed a healthy flow of customers browsing the Italian designer’s bold-patterned clothing and accessories seemingly suspended from undulating silver racks. Sybarite, the UK-based architecture group that designed other freestanding Marni stores, including flagships in Milan and New York, handled the art deco-inspired design of the Miami outpost. A sales associate reported steady business and confided that “people [here] seem to get [the design concept],” which is encouraging news in these slower economic times.