Francis’ World Brings Color and Charm to Front Street for the Summer
June 9, 2026
Dimorae Home and Francis’ World: Living With Art is part of the Downtown Alliance’s RE:Store program, which is bringing six pop-ups to Lower Manhattan for the summer. Learn more about the program here.
When Francesca Furian, the artist behind Francis’ World, applied for and was accepted to the Downtown Alliance’s RE:Store program, she knew that a collaboration was the way to go. “I felt it was a perfect match,” she said. “My idea was never just a retail store. I wanted to create a place where I could showcase my work but as part of a lifestyle, part of the creative world I live in.” As a self-described natural “problem-solver,” when faced with the somewhat daunting process of actually opening a store while also juggling her children during the summer, she realized two heads are better than one.
“I thought why not invite my friend Dimorae Home?” she said, referring to Dimorae Home founder Giulia Dal Cerro. “I designed two lines of tableware for her and the project aligned with her, too. We also have a shared family situation, so we would be helping each other.” Thus, the collaboration between the two was born, now manifested as a shared pop-up store at 190 Front St. through Labor Day.
Furian’s work consists of colorful block prints of iconic New York City landmarks, like the Domino Sugar Factory, the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island and the charming brownstones that line the streets of Park Slope, where the artist lives and works. Her art shares the same exuberant use of color that Dimorae Home uses to such great effect and when it’s seen in situ in the pop up on Front Street, the collaboration just makes sense. Furian, whose background is in industrial design, took a more artistic approach to the actual design of the store itself, so that the space worked with, not against, the product. “I designed the space as a house, as a domestic environment, because we really wanted to convey the idea of sharing an experience, sharing our roots,” she said.
Part of the experience over the summer will include block printing workshops, Furian said, as well as other opportunities for art and community building that will roll out over the next few months. The store is meant to show the full range of the artistic process, not just the finished product. “The idea is to create a space that feels welcoming and also alive, where people can not only buy artwork or objects, but also experience the creative process behind it,” she said. Visitors buying a block print can also peek behind the curtain of how their art got made or they can take inspiration from the store’s layout on how to style their new pieces at home.
What really makes the shop special, though, is the legacy of the neighborhood itself. Furian and collaborator Dal Cerro are both recent immigrants from Italy, and for Furian, opening a store in the Seaport, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Manhattan that was intrinsic to trade and opportunity in Manhattan’s earliest days, is a nice bit of historical parallelism. “Ships were arriving from Europe with immigrants and economic opportunities,” she said. “I’m an immigrant. I’m from Europe. I have something to offer. I fell in love immediately.”
Stop by the shop at 190 Front St. for a little taste of Italian hospitality, Wednesday through Sunday, from 11-6 p.m.
Megan C. Reynolds is a writer, editor, and author. She lives in Brooklyn.
