Indice Studio has opened its doors in Grey Lynn, bringing Driade — and now FontanaArte — to Auckland’s design landscape.
There’s a stretch of Richmond Road where the city feels briefly suspended — leafy, sunstruck, with the background hum of Grey Lynn’s cafés and garden-hemmed villas. It’s here, at number 453, that Indice Studio has found its place — a gallery-like space dedicated to furniture and objects that lean toward the lyrical.
At its core is Driade — the Italian brand known for its theatrical, boundary-blurring designs — now returning to a bricks and mortar store in New Zealand through the lens of Indice Studio’s founders, Hannah Skinner and Sarah Handy.
The two met in the mid-90s and quickly discovered a shared affinity for Driade’s idiosyncratic forms. For Hannah, it was born from her time spent in Milan working with the brand, then later representing it through her family’s business. For Sarah, who formerly worked in fashion and design businesses, it was a collector’s devotion.
“The pieces I’ve held onto longest, the ones I still love, are from Driade,” she says. “They have that quality of becoming part of your life, not just in the way you live with them, but how they feel. Hannah and I both connected over that.” The showroom is a moody jewel box of a space that opens out to a lush garden courtyard — home to their growing outdoor collection. Vintage Driade by Philippe Starck and Enzo Mari sit alongside more recent releases by Faye Toogood and Konstantin Grcic.
“There’s a lot on offer in Auckland,” says Hannah, “but we saw a space for something with a little more whimsy, a little more delight. Driade’s handwriting is both progressive and deeply human — they know how to make a statement.”
In recent months, the studio has expanded its reach, now also offering the work of Milanese lighting house FontanaArte. Founded in 1932 and long associated with figures like Gio Ponti and Gae Aulenti, the brand brings a legacy of craftsmanship and glass innovation to the mix. It’s undoubtedly a fitting pairing.
