Barneys New York x Vitale Barberis Canonico. Early spatial sketches and retail framing for a special project in Tokyo.
RACK contributed early spatial sketches to the Barneys New York x Vitale Barberis Canonico project in Tokyo, developed alongside the visual and cinematic language of fffilms.it.
The starting point was not only how to show the product, but how to give it a more elevated presence in space through atmosphere, rhythm, and visual framing.
The sketches explored how textile heritage, product presentation, and retail storytelling could come together in a more immersive in-store experience, drawing on references to Biella, Mucrone, and the wider identity of Vitale Barberis Canonico.
Created in dialogue with Pierangelo D’Agostin (PDA), this early spatial thinking later evolved into the final window displays at the Ginza Flagship Store and Roppongi Store, interpreted by Katsuhiko Taniguchi, creative director of Barneys New York.
For Rack, the project remains an important example of how early visual ideas can shape the emotional framing of a retail environment, before construction, before styling, before the final form is fixed.
What matters at that stage is not only the image itself, but the logic behind it: how atmosphere, product, and context begin to align into a more coherent spatial story.
Even in sketch form, those first gestures can already define how a space will be felt, what it highlights, what it suggests, and how it helps a product carry more presence and perceived value.
The related film case study is available on fffilms.it, where the same project continues through cinematic direction and narrative image-making.
Emotional framing for brand spaces.