MILAN AT HEART

Moncler heir Pietro Ruffini enlists his father's favorite designers, Gilles & Boissier, to bring Italian flair and cinematic style to a home of his own.

- LAURA MAY TODD

Two decades ago, Remo Ruffini, owner of the Milan-based sportswear brand Moncler, hired the French studio Gilles & Boissier to design his yacht. Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier outfitted the gulet-style sailboat with hand-hewn wooden furnishings and oak-lined walls. Ruffini was so pleased with the results he later commissioned them to furnish several of his residences and to bring their dramatic style to Moncler boutiques worldwide.

Since founding their studio in 2004, the designers have become known for interiors that make a bold impression with monochromatic palettes, classical details, and rich materials such as marble, oak, and bronze. Partners in life and work, they have been tapped for such lavish hospitality projects as New York's Baccarat Hotel and the Mandarin Oriental in Marrakech, as well as stylish European homes from Lake Como to Biarritz. But their collaboration with the Ruffini family has proved the most enduring.

Ruffini in his entryway, where the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Ointment Pink.

Now Remo's elder son Pietro Ruffini, the founder and CEO of the investment firm Archive, which holds stakes in several lifestyle brands and the Langosteria restaurant group, has enlisted the