16 May 2008 – GAS is set to open its new GAS Flagship Store in one of the main shopping areas in Venice, Calle del Lovo, near the Goldoni Theatre. The mono-brand store will cover an area of 211 square metres over two floors. The GAS image reveals a new look as part of “Magasin Temporal” the brand’s new architecture concept. Respect for and enhancement of the historical and architectural context in Venice has offered the chance to reinterpret the attitude of the GAS brand without turning the current situation around. The project is based on a tailor-made idea, conceived and developed to enhance the historical context and consequently make it work in harmony with the brand. Minimal work has been done to the existing spaces, using a range of reclaimed materials and objects that have been taken out of their original context and injected with new and original meaning. The warm lighting is generated by simply designed light fixtures, while the vintage decor goes hand in hand with contemporary features typical to the GAS concept, such as the Denim Icon, reproduced using alternative materials. These are the components that form the new, exclusively located flagship store. Venice, like nowhere else, provides the ideal backdrop for the GAS men’s and women’s collections, where denim plays the starring role. While the original facade of the building remains as the storefront, the interior is an “emotional” space. The ground floor features an open, atrium-style space, leading to the wardrobe section full of clothes and furniture. The balcony, or “Octagon” space on the upper floor presides over the space below. The central thread that holds everything together is as ever the denim, the company’s core business which is common to the entire collection and is present in every part of the store. Venice acting company Pantakin will perform at the store opening. The event, which is open to the public, is a chance to get together and a gesture of friendship from the company, which is already present in various cities with numerous artistic and cultural initiatives, towards the city of Venice. The Venice store is part of a Vertical Retail development project based on the creation of a network of mono-brand stores in major cities in Italy and around the world, aimed at creating ever greater coherence between the product and the retail point, the GAS home, the place where creativity meets the consumer. The programme of openings, which began in Florence in January 2007 has taken in the following cities: Hong Kong-Causeway Bay, Monaco-Liebfrauenstrasse, Monaco-Wilhelmstrasse, Mumbay-Bandra, London, Vienna, Prague, Palermo, Bangalore and Cologne. It continues in 2008 with Venice and Budapest.