Natalino

Natalino is a classic menswear brand inspired by relaxed Italian tailoring with a focus on flattering cuts and authentic, quality materials.

The logo sought to evoke a timeless quality and elegance, with the near-monolinear letterforms drawn closely from a 1930s specimen of Henry Reinhard Moeller’s design ‘Maximum’. We refined this to devise a carefully composed mark with strong presence when seem in stitching as well as large in metal.

Alongside this we worked with Lucas Descroix (Plain Form) to create a bespoke brand typeface Guido and complimentary italic cut. The Regular weight was both a revival and contemporary expansion of the work of a Florentine stone-carver from 1860. The differing proportions of the upper- and lowercase allow for a high level of flexibility when typesetting brand communications. The boxy, structural letterforms are softened with gentle turns and details, such as the detached tail of the 'Q’ and the cross-bar of the lowercase ’t’. The eccentricities of the numberset are informed by the stone carver’s decisions, whereas the whole lowercase and italic cut was created from scratch.

In the course of the project the client secured premises for their flagship store so we brought architects Mooradian Studio onto the project to develop the architectural expression of the brand.

Mooradian studio’s approach developed the clients focus on materials and sourcing. A recycled paper was sprayed over all the surfaces of the shop interior to bind together the disparate elements of the existing building. The texture, which brings an unexpected and pleasingly soft acoustic, echos the undyed wool of the Natalino jackets as well as the rough stone facade of Scarpa’s Olivetti shop which was an early reference.

Expanding on the understated elegance which Natalino’s ethos and the new visual identity embodied; Mooradian devised a curving sculptural rail that stands in the centre of the store. Drawing on industrial dry cleaning references as a solution to the density of the collection to be displayed – a narrow collection but wide range of fabrics – Mooradian Studio collaborated with metalwork design and fabrication studio Mitre & Mondays to create the aluminium elements that run throughout the store.

Polytechnic supported throughout the architectural development, with the architectural response in turn informing our decisions to cut the store signage from aluminium and bond this directly to the glass.

Architectural and print photography by Thomas Adank.