Storey Studio Creates a Walkthrough "Memory Bank" For Range Rover
Three adjoining rooms each explore the ways in which we connect to our past.
Hearing of a car brand in the context of Milan Design Week often induces a pretty hefty eye roll. Over the past few years, as “non-traditional” design brands have continued to pop up with fringe installations during the annual furniture fair, there’s been plenty of fair discourse around their goal and purpose.
However, in the case of Range Rover, which marked its second major installation this year, you have to give them their flowers. For both their offerings, they’ve brought on board (and given total credit to) an independent design studio. Last year, it was Nuova, and this year, they’ve turned to Storey Studio.
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
For the 2026 installation, the focus was on their bespoke services. This was interpreted through the concept of “Traces”, and the ways in which certain colours and visual prompts can trigger memories. “We saw it as this idea of pulling from a memory bank to inspire you to make choices,” Storey Studio founder Robert Storey told Hypebeast. This manifested in a series of three interconnected rooms, each with a distinct identity: “Memory and Color”, “Memory and Motif”, and “Memory and Material”.
For the first room, Memory and Color, the Range Rover team commissioned a film directed by Felipe Sanguinetti (whose previous clients have included the likes of Chanel, Louis Vuitton and the Royal Opera House).
For the film, Sanguinetti drew on his Argentine roots – tracing moments of creativity from his childhood to current day, with each section anchored by a specific hue. Storey Studio’s spatial design saw the space clad in mirrors, creating an infinite reflection. Above, a lightbox mirrors the colors used in the film. “We used mirror throughout the installation to speak to this idea of infinity, and infinite choice,” Storey adds.
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
In the next room, Memory and Motif, things become much more zoomed in. Champagne gold vitrines display intricately embroidered artworks by Hvass and Hannibal, Lisa Rampilli, Petra Borner and Jules Julien, each based on their respective memories of Milan. Below visitors’ feet, plush carpet marks a texture change from the hard floor in the previous space – an intentional shift from Storey Studio to create a quieter and more enveloping surrounding.
It’s not until you get to the third and final room that you actually encounter a Range Rover. Located in Memory and Material, the one-of-a-kind model is named the Pearl of Tay, inspired by the freshwater pearl of the River Tay in Scotland.
Again, Storey Studio wanted to change the experience from the ground upwards. This room features crunchy black gravel, as though you were walking on the river bed, with pearlescent undulating fins running across the length of the ceiling, mimicking the water.
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Courtesy Of Range Rover
Flanking either side of the space are vitrines filled with objects curated by Bard, an Edinburgh-based gallery specialising in Scottish craft and design. “As you’re walking around the room, you discover these different pieces,” Storey says. “It evokes this idea of excitement at finding something on the riverbed.”
Finally, the installation concludes with a cafe, designed in collaboration with Gubi. Inside, pieces include Pierre Paulin’s F300 lounge chair, Daumiller chairs, and Obello Lamps.
Range Rover x Storey Studio’s “Traces” installation was open for the duration of Milan Design Week, which took place from April 21 to 26.
