Addicted To Retail

ATR EXAMINES THE CREATIVE BOUNDARIES AROUND DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL INTERGRATION COMING TOGETHER TO DELIVER A RICH SHOPPING EXPERIENCE.

IN THIS REPORT WE ADDRESS THE INDUSTRY IMPACT OF THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19.

U.S. SHOPPERS CAN EXPECT SOME MAJOR CHANGES WHEN THEY RE-ENTER RETAIL STORES NATIONWIDE AS CITIES, STATES AND REGIONS BEGIN LIFTING SOME OF THE RESTRICTIONS PLACED AMID THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 OUTBREAK AT THE TOP OF 2020. 

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: AMKK installation "Drop Time" at FLOWER HUDDLE Presented by FRAGMENT x AMKK x S.U.C.C. in Tokyo.

As a followup to his 2015 showcase at N.HOOLYWOOD’s Mister Hollywood Space in Osaka, all-around creative Hiroshi Fujiwara launched the second installment of his “FLOWER HUDDLE” exhibition in Tokyo’s The Mass gallery. The event was organized by Fujiwara’s fragment design, Seika University Culture Club (S.U.C.C.) and flower artist Azuma Makoto’s AMKK. Dissected into three separate rooms, the show was devised to create an organic flow that seamlessly leads from one narrative to the next.

In 01, the walls are filled with framed floral pieces from the likes of Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Francois Halard, Richard Hamilton and Nick Knight. A concrete staircase to the left of the entrance provides access to 02, a glass-walled room that hosts the “Drop Time” segment. In this portion, the installation’s centerpiece is a bouquet of decaying flowers paired with clocks, personifying the sentiment that beauty is fleeting and temporary. Directly adjacent to 02 is another flower-filled space that houses Fujiwara’s releases as limited designs: collaborative T-shirts, tote bags, retaW air fresheners, playing cards, vases and stickers.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: //The Flip Flop by Renesa Architecture, Terminal 2, Mumbai International Airport, Maharashtra, India.

The new pop-up store designed by Renesa studio offers a clear spatial interpretation of the brand’s product identity at the Mumbai airport. Opium, a well-known premium lifestyle eyewear brand houses unique spatial elements set against a grid of time and space vividly illustrating Renesa’s bold design ideology.

In a retail space stacking multiple products, the ‘ways of display’ determine an impression of the space to a great degree. Thus, the intervention sought to conceive a visually attractive space, articulating the functional moments.

Starting with the arched entrance, framed by a stark neon sign of the brand, customers are guided through the one-way design that animates and illuminates the pop-up store. For a person passing by, the dialogue created between the design and store is that of an interactive component that invites the customers to delve into the store.

The design centers around a distinct and iconographic product presentation that allows different levels of interaction based on the client’s needs. Defined by its gridded pattern, the shelving units delineate themselves through the flip-flop. Each pair of glasses sits on its own mini stage exaggerated through a neon green accent. These shelves give the monotonic space a richer way of extension, allowing the customers to speculate the space and products with interest.

The process followed a grid of 8x4 inch tile that extends to the walls, flooring and furniture. The idea was to create a captivating store that conceptually references what eyewear does; tint or enhance the image.To incorporate this notion, the modules were repeated arbitrarily throughout the space to create complexity.These modules while curving in to the store were broken by neon green, mirror and collapsible shelves to create the illusion of recesses or volumes looming out from the walls. Thereby, articulating the language of design not only through repetition but also through recourse to everyday store typologies.

The curved line to which the design adapts and configures develops seamlessly continuing on to the cashier desk unit. The desk conforms to the homogeneity of the design centralizing and distributing the circulation of the store space by being located in the middle. Flanked on either sides by mirrors, a semblance of movement is created that emphasizes each display in a symmetric perspective.

The project is not merely about designing an optical store, it is to createan ambience in which public space and private space are deconstructed and placed in the same field to maintain a strong visual character. The result is an eccentric experience through a simple vision of color blocking.

(Retail Category – 2019-2020)

130 sq. ft.

Photographer - Niveditaa Gupta

(https://niveditaagupta.myportfolio.com/)

Clients - TEAM OPIUM

Mr.Ronak Sheth, Ms. Vidhi Sheth , Mr. Mudir Shaikh.

Design Team -

Renesa Architecture Design Interiors, NEW DELHI, INDIA.

• Sanjay Arora - Founder| Principal Architect

• Sanchit Arora - Studio Head Architect| Concept Design Head/Sketches/Graphics.

• Vandana Arora - Interior Designer| Decor Head

• Virender Singh- Studio Technical Head.

• Akarsh Varma - Architect

• Jagdish Bangari - Architect / Graphics.

• Aayush Misra - Architect

• Prarthna Misra - Architect / Graphics

• Tanushi Goyal - Architecture Intern.

• Navdisha Kukreja - Interior Designer Intern.

• Ayushi Gupta -Architecture Intern.

• Anushka Arora -Architecture Intern // Text

• Contractor - Mr.Ajay Kumar // Design Realm Studio.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Dover Street Parfums Market, Paris, France.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Apple Fifth Avenue Reopening in NYC.

Apple today reopened its landmark Fifth Avenue store, located on the corner of Central Park, one of the greatest public urban spaces in the world. Set against the backdrop of the famous General Motors Building by Edward Durell Stone, the site has a long history; a sunken urban plaza in the 1960s that was filled-in at turn of the Millennium, it was later transformed in 2006 into one of the most photographed attractions in the city with the insertion of the iconic glass cube, Steve Jobs’ defining symbol for Apple Fifth Avenue.

Through the careful peeling back of layers of history and the sensitive restoration of the cube, Apple Fifth Avenue seeks to revive the plaza by making it more accessible from three sides, reinforcing the progressive and innovative spirit that is emblematic of Apple. The project is the result of a close collaboration between the design team at Apple led by chief design officer, Sir Jonathan Ive and the integrated design and engineering teams at Foster + Partners.

Sir Jonathan Ive commented: “The Fifth Avenue store was and is a continuation of Steve’s vision for Apple, with its iconic transparent cube, which is one of the most visited places in the city. The new design seeks to build on the original idea and create a public plaza that celebrates the vibrant nature of New York City. It gifts Manhattan its greatest new urban room, a celebration of city life, diversity and creativity.”

The plaza is the perfect stage for celebrating Apple’s passions: photography, music, art and design, coding, and more. Wide steps along the edges invite people up into the space, to gather in a bustling epicenter of urban life. Stone seaters shaded by trees and bordered by linear fountains along the edges of both 58th and 59th Streets create a place to rest and a quiet buffer from the busy traffic, alongside two discrete auxiliary entrances that enhance access to the store below.

Nine beautiful innovative mirrored ‘Skylenses’ are arranged in a grid either side of the glass cube. These public sculptures allow visitors to interact with the famous New York City skyline in a completely new way. Their seamless curved surfaces create a place to sit while providing a reflected perspective of the city’s architecture. The skylenses feature an innovative circulatory cooling system beneath the top surface, designed to absorb solar energy and offer frost protection, allowing people to use them throughout the year. The mirrored glass floods natural light into the expanded store – double the size of the previous space.

At the center of the plaza is the distinctive glass cube, signifying the hub of activity and drawing life into the store below. Visitors descend under the light-flooded glass cube, down a new circular lift and spectacular stainless-steel staircase. Each element from the elevator drum to the stair treads is made with mirrored stainless steel, reflecting the sights and energy from the surrounding area. The carefully chosen materials completely dematerialize the form and the infinite reflections of light and the skyline create an exciting and stimulating experience.

A grand hall beneath the plaza matches the energy of the public square above, with a backlit, cloud-like ceiling made from a three-dimensional curved fabric innovatively combines artificial and natural light to match the changing tones of daylight through the day – producing an experience that has never been achieved before. Even in low-light conditions, the intensity is higher around the skylights and gradually recedes away from it, giving the impression of natural light flooding the interior. A ring of lights around each skylight contains focus lighting that highlights the products on the display tables. The ventilation system is discreetly integrated within the stone floor and responds intelligently to the levels of occupancy and outdoor weather, optimizing energy usage.

Stefan Behling, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners, said: “Inspired by the original vision of the sunken open-air plaza, we wanted to completely dematerialize the roof of the store and flood the interior space with daylight. The Skylenses literally bring the skies underground and the innovative tunable white light ceiling allows us to match the exact wavelengths of sunlight at different times of day, blurring the boundary between inside and outside.”

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: White’s Dry Cleaners in Montreal, Canada.

If you are visiting Montreal’s White’s drycleaners for the very first time, it’s very likely that your first thought will be that you’ve stepped into the wrong place: rather than the dour, non-descript setting that we’ve grown accustomed to expect from such establishments, the space both feels and looks like an impeccably renovated luxury Parisian store. Inspired by traditional Haussmannian Parisian apartments and fuelled by a minimalist aesthetic of contemporary sophistication, the brand’s new flagship store in the residential neighbourhood of Boucherville was designed by Montreal-based Ivy Studio as part of a visionary plan for a new kind of drycleaners based on a fully transparent production line, the use of eco-friendly products, and an overall upscale customer experience.

The designers drew from the architectural language of historic Parisian apartments to create a reception space of classic elegance and understated sophistication. A predominantly white colour palette is complemented by handmade terracotta tiles, which are laid in a herringbone pattern alluding to parquet flooring, while the monolithic black marble counter makes for a fascinating focal point. Discrete wall mouldings and brass details, including a minimalist chandelier handmade by local design studio Lambert & Fils, further enhance the sense of Parisian poise, as does a 4-metre high bookcase where eco-friendly products are displayed as if they were luxury beauty merchandise. Despite the austere sensibility of the décor the store doesn’t feel antiseptic or stuffy thanks in part to a frosted glass divider that allows customers to have a glimpse of the commotion of the workspace behind it, and the whimsical seamstress’ counter that has been designed like a cloakroom window.

The store is complemeted by an off-site laundry facility in the centre of the city for easy distribution, which has also been designed by Ivy Studio, mirroring the store’s minimalist aesthetic, attention to detail and monochromatic palette. Visiting either site, one thing is for sure, once you visit White’s, picking up your dry-cleaning will never be the same again.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Bowl Cafe in Kiev, Ukraine.

AKZ Architectura has designed BOWL Café in Kiev, Ukraine, transforming a traditional 1930s apartment into a nutrition-focused hospitality venue. The 58sqm site was stripped back to reveal a brick and concrete shell, along with some historically telling decorative elements that AKZ transitioned into the new design.

The dominant material is a sturdy metal mesh, used by the architects to form a long communal bench seat, chairs, stools, and dining tables with steel bases topped by glass. The long, narrow site is open and communal, with the mesh seating to one side, and an ordering counter to the other.

Aiming to challenge the conservative stereotypes of the post-soviet system, AKZ blurred the boundaries between zones for eating and relaxation. Rather than providing separate tables, the shared layout encourages a social dynamic between patrons and prompts a new understanding of the urban café ecosystem, functioning as a space for people to gather and connect.

Amongst crisp white rendered facades, irregular, jagged patches of the old brick are left partially exposed, bringing warmth to the otherwise sterile combination of bright white and stainless steel. Adding to this, the architects uncovered ornate soviet wallpaper from the previous apartment, adding a homely sense of authenticity against the steel.

Grey marble ribboned with natural gold and pink hues is used for the café’s counter and bathroom benchtops, a contrasting element of luxury against the predominant raw industrial materials. Infinito strip lights by Davide Groppi cross beneath a baroque plaster fixture. Puddle-like mirrors balance the otherwise strict, straight lines of the café.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Flannels London flagship.

North England retail behemoth Flannels has opened its first four storey 18,000 sq ft London flagship on Oxford Street. Photography: www.theotzia.co.uk

It’s unusual for an early 20th century artwork to inspire the concept behind a multimillion pound, multi-floor, multi-brand retail space. When Italian architects pconp and artist Riccardo Previdi began devising Flannels’ latest 18,000 sq ft flagship boutique on Central London’s Oxford Street, intriguingly, Odilon Redon’s 1903 pastel drawing Ophelia was their first reference point. ‘It offers a dreamlike view,’ explains Filippo Della Lucia, project leader at pconp. ‘It subverts classic ideals, aligning with Romanticism and Symbolism. It’s about a new means of experience.’ Adds Previdi, ‘The artwork has been the source from which to draw everything we needed.’

New experience is integral to Flannels’ latest landmark opening. The retail behemoth – first opened in the North of England in 1976 – is in the midst of an astonishing expansion. It currently boasts 44 locations in the UK, and has opened 17 new stores in the last two years, including a May-opened 20,000 sq ft Newcastle store, designed by London and Miami-based Argent. Ambitiously, Flannels plans to open another 60 outposts by 2022.

A host of the Flannels’ luxury competitor’s have recently opened flagships and multibrand spaces further West on Bond Street – the world’s third most expensive retail street – including Celine, Loewe, Givenchy, and Alexander McQueen, while Matchesfashion’s 2018-opened experiential townhouse is a stone’s throw away in Carlos Place. But Flannels has found its first London home on the East End of Central London’s most famous buzzy high street, neighboured not by high end boutiques, but by Marks & Spencer and Muji. ‘We wanted to make a statement with the new location,’ says Michael Murray, head of elevation at Flannels. ‘Oxford Street is one of the best shopping destinations in the world, so it’s the perfect spot for us. We want our shoppers to feel part of a community – everyone is welcome.’

The majestic four floor space is a playful melting pot of references, bringing together everything from the prismatic tones of Odilon’s Ophelia and its ethereal, gothic elements to Arts and Crafts emblems, Brutalism to Baroque, Batman to Bladerunner. Inside, it houses men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, from a roster of established and emerging labels, including Burberry, Off-White, Versace and Ganni.

‘We call it Incompiuto’ says Lucia of the flagship’s interior, which is conceived around the idea of a gutted home, comprised of different and mismatched layers of wallpaper and flooring, all peeled back to reveal slivers of different decorative strata. Modular fixtures include wall panels emblazoned with bold chevron stripes, inspired by Italian medieval architecture, or printed with William Morris thistle and acanthus patterns, blown up to hyperbolic size and imagined in bold pop colour. Zipping between decades, movements and genres, pconp has focused on the ‘everyday’, using materials like galvanised metals for fixtures – ‘a treatment used for trays in hotels’ – and splodgey colourful Silipol columns, ‘used in the Milan Metro system’. Geometric black and white marble flooring, antique Persian rugs and ecclesiastical bespoke chandeliers, inspired by 1970s furniture designer Paul Evans, complete the postmodern puzzle.

Employing everyday materials and drawing from a breath of influences, pconp – which has also designed spaces for Gucci, Tom Ford and Saint Laurent – aims to create a more inclusive and widely interpretable concept of luxury. On the second floor, a concept space will also host roving services and experiences and guest collaborators and concessions, including takeovers by The Shoe Surgeon, Watch Anish and Bang & Olufsen. Flannels will also debut a Style & Collect service, allowing shoppers to purchase styles online and pick them up in store.

‘We think luxury today culminates as a story to be told,’ Lucia explains. There are numerous narrative strands to be sought across Flannels’ four floors in London’s Soho; another chapter in the retailer’s unfolding bricks-and-mortar tale. §

Location

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Homme Plissé Issey Miyake Store in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo – One of the greatest pleaters in history, Mariano Fortuny, understandably kept his signature process a secret. The complex silk tightness that gave the world the Delphos dress was closely guarded in his Venice factory until his death in 1950. The greatest living pleater today, Issey Miyake, also kept his process somewhat hidden to consumers. That is, until this year.

At the new Homme Plissé Issey Miyake store in Aoyama, 20 per cent of the location’s generous 225 sq-m are devoted to a fully functioning pleating machine and its accompanying equipment. Instead of process secrecy, the intent is now completely different: the brand wants visitors to experience ‘the joy and excitement of making things right in front of them.’

Three days a week, for an hour in the afternoon, several engineers from the Internal Pleats Laboratory – the company department where new pleating technology is developed – demonstrate how the clothes are made. They feed the machine a T-shirt cut and sewn 1.5 times as large as the finished size, and after 10 minutes of whirring and pressing closely guided by human hands, out comes a pleated creation.

This isn’t, in theory, the first time the brand has been somewhat transparent about its signature process. In early 2016, during the Work of Miyake Isseyexhibition at the National Art Centre in Tokyo, a machine was on site, with two engineers working on Ikko Tanaka-related fabric. It’s akin to what Fendihas done at their Colosseo Quadrato headquarter-opening exhibition in Rome and what Dior did at the Couturier du rêve showcase at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, with master artisans on site working by hand on fur and leather, respectively. But this is the first time that Issey Miyake makes technical production part of the in-store purchase experience: shoppers get to see how the (beautiful) sausage is made, something that can in turn inspire a heightened sense of respect and appreciation for the garment they’re about to buy. It’s a quiet statement about slow fashion, the value of timeless purchases and a strong example of a on-brand and non-gimmicky physical retail experience.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Crash Baggage Pop Up in Shanghai, China.

With intrepid branding, key players such as Rimowa and Away have turned luggage into a fashionable, desirable category – but their retail experiences lag behind in terms of excitement. An adventurous Italian brand called Crash Baggage is changing that, boldly showing how physical buzz can match the online one.

Shanghai – Post-LVMH Rimowa has spearheaded the way into turning the creatively staid luggage category into a fashionable, desirable and even collectible purchase – the brand is behind limited-edition collaborations with the likes of Supreme, Virgil Abloh and Olafur Eliasson. Its retail spaces, though, still exist in bland pre-LVMH times. Key competitors, such as Away and Horizon, have fallen into the same anodyne trap. Using a hip suitcase might be exciting, but buying it in person is still a humdrum experience.

Crash Baggage, an Italian brand founded in 2013, is showing the sector how to do in-store fun the right way. For its pop-up space at Shanghai’s Galeries Lafayette, the company recruited Frame Awards 2019 Emerging Designer of the Year Alberto Caiola to come up with an experience that would speak louder about the brand’s philosophy – no-rules travel, handle without care – than its tongue-in-cheek pre-battered suitcases could.

Crash did not save the fun exclusively for its social media posts, unlike its competitors, and it literally paid off

That resulted in a bright yellow installation featuring a chariot riding to nowhere – a stationary bike holding a herd of piled-up suitcases behind. It made no logical sense, but it made business sense: the brand reaped sales and awareness results due to this temporary outing. In other words: Crash did not save the fun exclusively for its social media posts, unlike its competitors, and it literally paid off.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Glossier Pop-Up Shop in Seattle, WA.

Beauty brand Glossier has teamed up with landscape designer Studio Lily Kwong to create a pop-up shop in Seattle that is filled with plant-covered mounds and splashes of pink and purple.

Located in the city's Capitol Hill neighbourhood, the temporary space occupies a linear, ground-level space measuring 1,100 square feet (102 square metres).

The design was conceived by Glossier's in-house team in collaboration with landscape designer Lily Kwong, who runs an eponymous Brooklyn studio. The team drew inspiration from the area's natural topography, including Mount Rainier and a popular neighbourhood park.

"After talking to people in the area and doing some on-the-ground research, we were really inspired by everyone's love for nature and how it seemed to be a unifying theme within the community," said Kendall Latham, Glossier's senior environmental designer.

"With Glossier Seattle, we wanted to capture the mood of the surrounding landscape and represent the juxtaposition of nature and technology in the city."

Visitors step into a bright space filled with plant-covered mounds of varying sizes. Live moss, Mexican feather grass and flowering shrubs are among the array of species used to adorn the hills. All of the vegetation is indigenous to Seattle and was locally sourced.

"Studio Lily Kwong worked with horticulturists and plant experts to make sure we incorporated grow lights and implemented a maintenance plan to properly care for the plants," the studio said.

White display pedestals are positioned throughout the shop. Designed to be highly adaptable and scalable, the rectangular wooden blocks are topped with Corian surfaces. The company is able to reuse the stands in all of its pop-up stores owing to their flexibility.

Walls are painted a stark white, which contrasts with the verdant hills and raw pine flooring. The team incorporated large-format imagery that is rendered in tones of pink and purple, which draws upon Glossier's signature colour palette. The space also features wall-mounted mirrors lined with thin strips of light.

All of the company's beauty products, from makeup to lotions and serums, are available to test and purchase. Customers can also buy a limited-edition water bottle for $15 (£12), with a portion of the sales going to a local homeless shelter.

Also unique to the Seattle shop are reusable tote bags and "plantable" postcards, with wildflower seeds embedded in the paper.

"Glossier Seattle, like all of our offline spaces, is designed to be a pinnacle of engagement for the community we've cultivated online, and an immersive embodiment of Glossier in real life," the team said in a project description.

The Seattle shop, which is open through 7 July, comes on the heels of Glossier's pop-up shop in Miami, which featured a design influenced by the city's art deco architecture. Last year, Glossier hosted pop-up stores in San Francisco and Chicago.

Launched in 2014 as an online company, Glossier opened a showroom two years later in its New York headquarters designed by Rafael de Cardenas. Last fall, it unveiled a three-storey flagship store in Soho designed by Gachot Studios and PRO. It also has a bricks-and-mortar space in Los Angeles.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Yakafu DIY Bakery in Anji, China.

Anji, China – Yakafu is a DIY bakery – that is, a spot where people can buy ready-made bread and pastries on the ground floor, along with a do-it-yourself area on the first floor where visitors can learn how to make them on their own. The space, designed by Shanghai-based studio KCA, is part of the growing trend of experiential retail/hospitality spaces in China, where the workshop is king and is allotted a permanent location within the layout.

We spoke with KCA founder Kostas Chatzigiannis to discuss the three key takeaways this project can reveal about the changing Chinese hospitality market.

[+] KEEP BETTING ON DAIRY

Let’s put it this way: if it’s got butter, it’s better. Or, in the words of Greek-born Chatzigiannis, ‘the dairy industry is rapidly growing in China, mainly because of Western dietary habits entering the daily life of the Chinese, such as a morning or afternoon coffee, a dessert break or ice creams,’ he explained.

That means that the novelty of dairy still hasn’t wore off: the country’s proverbial lactose intolerance is slowly giving way, and consumers are interested in finding novel ways to consume ice cream, chocolate, coffee drinks and pastries. ‘That explains why there’s a process in preparing coffee similar to the tea ceremony, where you actually have your beverage made in front of you by an appointed barista.’

If it’s got butter, it’s better

[+] DIDACTIC FANTASTIC

The first floor of Yakafu is a Do It Yourself area, where adults or children can learn how to bake their own bread, cake or pastries, and decorate them. Take note: that means the 300-sq-m bakery basically has a space specifically and permanently devoted to workshops.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: NikeLab Chicago Re-Creation Center c/o Virgil Abloh in Chicago.

Nike and designer Virgil Abloh have opened a temporary NikeLab space in Chicago where architects and designers can host workshops with the local community.

The Re-Creation Center pop-up opens today at 673 North Michigan Ave. It offers the local youth mentoring and workshops, as well as access to exclusive Nike products.

Abloh, the founder of fashion brand Off-White, has hand-picked creatives to lead the educational programmes.

These include Ann Lui and Craig Reschke, founders of local architecture firm Future Firm; Thomas Kelley and Carrie Norman, founders of US firm Norman Kelley; fashion designer Alyx Harch; graphic designer Chuck Anderson; and photographer Paul Octavious.

Ten Chicago creatives will get to work with Abloh and the selected mentors for eight weeks, starting today and ending 28 July. It will culminate in the presentation of a final project by the students.

Sign-ups for additional workshops will also be available via Nike's Snkrs applications.

Billed as a "power plant of a different kind", the temporary space is designed with a simple, industrial aesthetic.

It is divided into separate areas, including one for the store and the other for the workshops. A marbled grey flooring and industrial metallic shelves run throughout. The cabinets are used to store design materials and the exclusive Nike product, which will be made available to NikePlus members on the application.

The entrance to the space is wrapped by a wrinkled, papery material and translucent screens. One of these is inscribed with the space's slogan "A Power Plant of a 'Different Kind'".

In other areas, the see-through walls are packed with material that looks like old Nike products.

Large metal desks with glass tops provide space for working in the design studio. Additional materials such as threads and rolls of paper are held in storage cabinets below.

Black speckled stools made from Nike Grind, a material that recycles old Nike products, form the seating. This provides a nod to the Reuse-a-Shoe initiative and installation in the space, where worn-out athletic shoes are turned into Nike Grind material.

The recycled material will later be used to build a community basketball court in Chicago for the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star in February 2020.

The NikeLab Chicago Re-Creation Center c/o Virgil Abloh will be open until 28 July.

The space marks the latest collaboration between Abloh and Nike. The duo previously worked together to produce tennis player Serena Williams' kit for the 2018 US Open and recreate 10 of Nike's most iconic sneakers in 2017.

Abloh has become one of the hottest names in design, having first gained recognition as a longtime collaborator of rapper Kanye West.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Hipanda Flagship Store in Shibuya City, Tokyo.

Tokyo – One would have expected the first Hipanda flagship store in Japanto include some form of the angry folivore found in its logo – the miffed bear branding is such a pop marvel that the V&A included the initial prototype in its China Design Now exhibition in 2008. Indeed, the first Japanese flagship for the massive streetwear label features a Kusama-like mirrored labyrinth in black and white, mimicking the colours and patterns of the ursine fur.

But just like the Chinese brand subverts the expected cuddliness of the panda bear by presenting a grumpy version of it, dubbed the anti-Hello Kitty, it also throws a curve ball in this new store by turning it into its own version of a ghost house.

Designed by Curiosity, the space uses light and AR tech to create a series of personalized pathways that lead customers in search of an invisible ghost.

How does it work? For starters, the search starts the minute customers point to the façade with their phones, as the furious bear jumps out at them, bursting through a splash of mercury-like confetti. Then, by way of both digital and analogue interactions – the former mostly AR, the latter mostly light-based – the host’s presence is revealed among the t-shirts and hoodies on the racks and hangers, which move to the beat of his supposed steps. In another room, a sea of bouncing balls jump through the handheld device, until the sullen host materializes inside a foggy chamber.Think of it as trying to catch an adorably scary Pokemon inside a mysteriously lit minimalist haunted mansion.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Subtype Retail Space in Melbourne, Australia.

The Subtype retail space designed by Melbourne creative studio, Noise Noise Noiseamplifies a distinct materiality as a fundamental basis for the curated product selection on display.

Opened on 20th April 2019, the store is set in the basement level of Melbourne CBD’s iconic Hero building. The environment pays tribute to the building’s history – maintaining existing built structure and exposed bones, telling the story of the past whilst overlaying space-age industrialism as a juxtaposition in the true sense of the word.

Subtype’s new retail space defines a refined language for the brand to speak to the consumer and truly creates a significant moment for the retail landscape within Melbourne. Thoughtful design details exist throughout the space – from the aesthetic to the functional.

Linear grid formations create height and define space within the sneaker gallery, as limited release sneakers are precision placed in perfect unison on matte white steel shelves. Recessed cool white LED lighting further enhances the linear effect as each shelf helps to exaggerate the product on display. Reflective checkerplate floor is laid in the same meticulous grid formation as the panelling on the walls, utilising a traditionally industrial material in a new way sparks interest from those who wander down the basement level stair case - capturing light and creating its own artistic reflections adding to the mood of the interior.

Seating throughout was custom designed by Noise Noise Noiseand manufactured locally in Melbourne. The upholstery form is bulbous in character, furry ‘slug-like’ forms sit languidly over linear mirror reflective bases. Upholstered in distinct petrol green Raf Simons mohair fur – the seating contrasts luxe, soft form with the industrial space it surrounds, inviting the customer to be seated and dwell for a little.

The central fixture for the apparel gallery is an oversized mirror clad cylindrical rail, whose base and top are almost UFO like in appearance. Layering white neon rings with round mirror suspended ceilings over these fixtures allows for the reflection and distortion of space – the perfect photo opportunity that promotes the question of ‘How?’

Scaffolding is utilised as a prime opportunity to create height through space, the design works in layers of thick acrylic shelving under lit with LED and a square formed mirror base. A mannequin army is stands in a triangular formation over its reflective surface. Creating rooms within rooms ensures each brand is able to be showcased in its own ‘concession’ that relates to the product identity.

Fitting rooms are positioned in an angular zig zag formation, and clad with corrugated galvanised sheeting. Grey rubber triangular bench seats are placed into the corners for each fitting room ensuring a surface to sit and place one’s belongings. Serving as the essential selfie backdrop the silver reflectivity of the fitting rooms has been posted over and over on Instagram channels.

Amid the retail space, the need for installation and activation is essential to maintain relevance and interest with the fast paced market. Built into the store is a hidden brand activation room, whose considered design creates the perfect ‘canvas’ for reinterpretation – walls that are able to be skinned time and time again, large scale projection, recessed fixturing and power/data equipped. Adidas launched the Alphaedge 4D sneaker in this space for the opening weekend complete with hypervision projection, laser art and illuminated footwear plinths that sat hand in hand with the geometric pale green sole of the Alphaedge 4D shoe.

Finally, the point of sale acts as the last memory of the store experience – a solid concrete counter shroud is clad with a layer of dipped galvanised mesh. A mirror drinks tub sits at one end of the ‘bar’ ready for beverages to sit chilled on ice for launches, and a glass accessories display box is cantilevered off the other end of the point of sale, softly illuminated with the Subtype logo inset within its layers. Behind, stainless steel and glass doors create the notion of a ‘fridge’ with mirror internals, wire shelving and LED perimeter illumination. This is once again a nod to the power of brand installation space whilst being commercially situated.

Subtype is an environment that invites the customer to discover, to dwell and to divulge their experience across their social channels. A statement making retail space that inspires creativity and expression.

Client: Subtype

Design: @noise.noise.noise.studio

Photography: Arnaud Domange @arnauddomange

Build: @nrg_projects

Steel: @hitechstainless

Lighting: @lpalighting

Technology: @seen_technology

Upholstery: Aspire Home Inspiration

Signage: Golden Signs Australia

Project start date: 19.02.19 / Project completion: 20.04.19

Contact:

Noise Noise Noise

19 Hall Street Yarraville VIC

Australia 3013

Blair Cooper (Creative Director)

+ 61 415 107 793

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Blue Mountain School in Shoreditch, London.

Blue Mountain School unfolds behind the shimmering silver façade of this corner site on Redchurch Street. In the tradition of house museums, the building is a puzzle of rooms and uses, playing host to a fashion archive, exhibition spaces, a kitchen and wine room, a perfumery, listening spaces and various room sets by international designers.

6a led a three-year collaboration with Hostem to transform the six-storey building. A monolithic oak stair is surrounded by walls of galvanised steel and glass bringing transparency and connections to the various multipurpose floors. Soft plaster surfaces cover new and old walls, its natural pinks and greys forming a consistent background to art, clothing and ceramics. Raw oak floors run through the building, aging and patinating over time.

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: Sneakersnstuff’s New Los Angeles Store.

Tomorrow, March 26, Sneakersnstuff will open the doors to its sixth flagship store worldwide. Located on the Venice Beach Boardwalk in Los Angeles, the 3,500-square-foot space is inspired by the surrounding neighborhood and influenced by the city’s rich history.

Interior architect designer Jenny Askenfors of Bofink Design Studio designed Sneakersnstuff LA in partnership with the SNS team. At the core, the new store serves as a celebration of Los Angeles and the elements that make Venice particularly special. Specifically, the large curved table in the mix of brands section points to Venice, Italy canals, while the legs of the furniture are meant to mimic gondola poles.

Additional standout design elements inside Sneakersnstuff LA include a custom floor logo with shells picked from Venice Beach, sunset gradient arches also inspired by Venice, and a car door and seat replica at the fitting area that pays tribute to Los Angeles car culture.

Furthermore, designated sections for various brands adhere to their own themes. The Nike space is then highlighted by a Cortez piñata, as well as a basketball fountain, while the adidas area points to Venice’s famed Muscle Beach, with its sculpted barbells and dumbbells.

The Sneakersnstuff Souvenir Shop is an extension of the Venice Beach Boardwalk. This area will house SNS-branded souvenirs including custom tie-dye hoodies, graphic T-shirts, frisbees, water bottles, key rings and more.

Sneakersnstuff LA is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sneakersnstuff Los Angeles 1011 Ocean Front Walk Venice, CA