For Milan Design Week 2015 Lee Broom took over a street of disused shops on Via Alfredo Cappellini to create ‘The Department Store’, his largest exhibition to date with the launch of twenty-five new products.
Encompassing furniture, lighting and accessories, the show featured new materials and new interpretations of those used in previous collections. Each piece incorporated traditional manufacturing techniques in innovative ways to produce this highly original body of work, all of which was presented in a dramatic series of interconnected department store-inspired vignettes.
Lee Broom’s trademark theatrical style of presenting his collections was elevated for this show, striking the balance between formality and fun with modernism and nostalgia.
The Department Store invited the visitor on an immersive journey through a cinematic pastiche of a store across two floors. Upon arrival, visitors encountered windows dressed with new products in a scenographic style. Entering on street level, guests moved from tableau to tableau through the exhibition, with each environment representing a surreal take on a different department – including The Perfumery, Ladies Accessories, Gents Fitting Room, Book Store and Haberdashery.
Each department acted as a backdrop, finished in Lee Broom signature grey to accentuate the colours and materials of the new pieces. The final area was The Stock Room displaying Lee Broom’s most popular and iconic pieces from past collections.
The Department Store became one of the highlights of Milan Design Week 2015 and was included in The Top 15 shows out of 1500 across the city in the prestigious Milano Design Awards 2015. The exhibition was praised by many publications worldwide including New York Times, The Evening Standard, The Telegraph, Architectural Digest and Monocle.
Other projects
Divine Inspiration – Milan Design Week 2022
Scented Candle Collection – London Design Festival 2021
Lee Broom Penthouse New York 2021
Maestro – London Design Festival 2020
Kaleidoscopia – London Design Festival 2019
NYCxDESIGN – New York Design Week 2019
Park Life – Australia and Asia Tour 2019
Observatory – London Design Festival 2018
Observatory – Milan & New York Design Weeks 2018
On Reflection – London Design Festival 2017
Time Machine – Milan Design Week 2017
Opticality – London Design Festival 2016
Lee Broom New York Store 2016
Salone del Automobile – Milan Design Week 2016
The Flower Shop 2015
The Department Store 2015
Nouveau Rebel – London Design Festival 2014
Crystal Bulb Shop 2013
Public House, Milan 2012
Salon Collection – London Design Festival 2011