Who’s afraid of creative directors? How fashion's most talked-about role is starting to make an impact even far beyond the runways and design studios

The history of the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella dates back to 1221, when twelve Dominican friars were granted the use of Santa Maria inter Vineas, just outside the walls of Florence, and created a botanical garden intended for the convent’s infirmary. More than eight centuries have passed since then. In 1612, the pharmacy opened to the public, and in 1871 it officially became a private company under the name it still bears today. The Officina continues to operate in the same locations in Florence and has built much of its image precisely around its continuity with that past. This is why the appointment of Formafantasma, the design and research studio founded by Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin with offices in Milan and Rotterdam, as Creative Directors feels rather unexpected, at least at first.

If there is a brand that seems to know exactly who it is, it is probably the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. And so the question comes quite naturally. What is a creative director supposed to direct when the identity they are faced with has already existed for more than eight hundred years?