The brilliant personalities of Maurizio Cattelan, one of the most important contemporary Italian artists, and Pierpaolo Ferrari, a long career in the artistic direction of major advertising campaigns and services for fashion and design super brands, from Armani to Kenzo, meet by chance in 2010 while making a jointly commissioned work.

The result is an artistic partnership that gives life to Toiletpaper, the most innovative editorial operation of the last decade, a magazine made up of only about twenty very glossy irreverent and surreal still-life images, without any line of text as the photos themselves actually “scream” out loud.

Maurizio and I love to apply our images to any type of object, so in the same way we enjoyed creating the first “house” signed Toiletpaper.

(Pierpaolo Ferrari, founder)

A name chosen with a provocative spirit, as is in Cattelan’s style, because, if it is true that all the magazines “will end up soon in the toilet”, that is, they are destined to be thrown away soon to say it in a more elegant way, perhaps superstitiously, this could have been kept over time by its readers.

And so it was: 2 issues a year, with still-life photographs constructed as if they were the set of an Oscar-winning film, maximalist, strong, audacious, which have given Toiletpaper the coveted status of collector’s art object.

The success of the magazine, and above all the growing enjoyment of the founding duo, meant that Toiletpaper soon became a creative incubator to be applied to any type of project, from design with the beautiful line of accessories and furnishings created in collaboration with Seletti and Gufram to beauty, from fashion collections to the curatorship of art exhibitions and events up to living.

The development of the brand has also involved the team of collaborators who, over the years, have literally grown inside and “around” Pierpaolo’s house, located in via Balzaretti, in Città Studi in Milan, making it the creative den where all the creations signed Toiletpaper are conceived. Three floors and a rooftop of dreamlike chaos where the visitor is welcomed by the iconic pieces that have made the brand famous around the world: from the wallpaper with colored snakes to the mirrors with lips and the word “shit” up to the cabinets with lipsticks.

Today it has become a “house museum” in all respects and was opened to the public for the first time in 2021 on the occasion of the launch of Toiletpaper Home. In 2022 it was enriched with a new street art project which saw the decoration of the main buildings, which overlook via Balzaretti, with gigantic murals in which the most famous graphics of the magazine are the protagonists. A must-see!

The studio museum opens on the occasion of special events and can be privatized (including the kitchen and rooftop) upon request. On certain occasions of the year, such as the Christmas period, do not miss the temporary store set up at no. 6 of the same street where you can buy all the most famous objects of the brand.

And for those who want to literally immerse themselves in the Toiletpaper mood, even sleeping with it, its creative team has recently completely decorated a beautiful loft in the Arco della Pace area in the same style as the headquarters, part of the new Living project, which can be booked on airbnb.

Whether it’s the magazine, a design object, or the new loft, what is certain is that Toiletpaper always manages to tickle our voyeur spirit, making us have fun and reflect at the same time with acute, superficial depth.

The Secret

In the Toiletpaper house museum also lives Emme (from M Le magazine du Monde), Pierpaolo’s Persian cat, the magazine’s mascot and star of many advertising campaigns who also made the cover of the New York Times.

Useful Info

Toiletpaper
Via Balzaretti 4
20133 Milano
info@toiletpapermagazine.com

For bookings Toiletpaper Loft in Milan: airbnb