The House of Coffee: Starbucks and Milan, a New Creative Chapter
A cocktail among coffee machines that look like Renaissance turbines, warm lights bouncing off the marble of the former Palazzo delle Poste, and Milan outside flowing as ever, just with a slightly more curious air. The opening cocktail event the other night at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Piazza Cordusio marked the debut of The House of Coffee, a new cultural platform through which Starbucks chooses to speak to the city — and beyond — using the language of art, design and smart collaborations.
At the launch, alongside many familiar faces from the star system, were Carlo Capasa, Agostino Iacurci, Virna Toppi, Korlan Madi, Francesca Mesiano, Massimiliano Locatelli, Francesco Murano, and also Gene Gallagher, son of Liam and member of the band I Villanelle. Curated by Sarah Andelman, the visionary mind behind colette and now founder of Just An Idea, the project turns the Roastery into a fluid stage where coffee becomes a pretext and the community the real protagonist. “Milan has always been a source of inspiration for Starbucks,” says Esther Van Onselen, Vice President Brand & Customer Experience EMEA, stressing how this space is “our most immersive location in Europe.”
The chapter unveiled the other night coincides with Milan Men’s Fashion Week in January 2026 and stems from a collaboration with Lucas Zanotto, an Italian artist known for his playful, instantly recognizable style. His graphics dress a K-Way waterproof jacket, a pair of Nordica skis, and even a dog puffer jacket by Poldo Dog Couture with a matching travel bowl — objects hovering between functionality and irony, strictly in Starbucks green and white. “Art, design, coffee and collaboration: hard to ask for more,” Zanotto smiles. And while, between an espresso and a drink, people are already talking about the next chapter — The Apron Project, arriving in February during Women’s Fashion Week — The House of Coffee makes its intentions clear from the start: not a branding exercise, but an open dialogue. Six weeks of events, installations and urban rituals to remind us that, in Milan, even a cup of coffee can become a cultural statement.
Text: Germano D’Acquisto
Photos: Niccolò Campita
