Hasta La Ideas

Raw concrete and colourful fabrics are combined in this fashion store in Dubai by London designers Studio Toogood (+ slideshow).

Studio Toogood designed the boutique for Dubai fashion brand Mahani, introducing cast-concrete and monolithic forms intended as “an antidote” to the glamourous opulence of shops elsewhere in the Emirates.

Richly coloured drapes divide the space, while stools designed by Faye Toogood are upholstered in bright satin, providing relief from the plain concrete surfaces.

Garments can be hung from simple black railings that run along the perimeter of the store or suspended from discrete hooks that protrude from the walls.

Bespoke pieces of furniture constructed from metal mesh are used to display items such as shoes and jewellery.

A concrete catwalk spans the length of the store, providing opportunities for fashion shows and events, while white animal sculptures are dotted around the edges of the space.

A chandelier made from bare light bulbs hangs from the ceiling. Elsewhere, angled spotlights are combined with suspended strip lights to add to the store’s raw aesthetic.

The final addition is an in-store bakery serving tea, coffee and desserts made by food design collective Arabeschi di Latte, who Studio Toogood previously collaborated with on an installation where participants were served black food at midnight in a darkened apartment.

Other projects we’ve featured by Studio Toogood include a bar where guests selected wine by smelling scented totem poles and an installation featuring boxes decorated with multi-coloured electrical tape.

See all our stories about Studio Toogood »
See more retail interiors »

Here’s a description from Studio Toogood:

Studio Toogood’s design for the new Mahani – Dubai’s first concept store – is an antidote to the polished slickness of modern retail in the Emirates.

The walls and fittings of the store – which opened in May 2013 – are cast in raw concrete, creating a neutral, Modernist-inspired environment to showcase the fashion-forward collections on sale.

The ascetic qualities of the space are offset by subtle touches of femininity, including richly coloured drapes and satin upholstery on bespoke pieces designed by Faye Toogood; meanwhile, a series of animal sculptures add a playful element.

Mahani’s in-store “bakery” serves tea, coffee and sweet treats by food designers Arabeschi di Latte, while a dedicated catwalk area running the length of the boutique allows for exclusive shows by cutting-edge and emerging designers.

The interplay of Studio Toogood’s monolithic modern interior with the soft femininity of the directional clothes makes Mahani an exciting, exclusive and distinctive new fashion destination in Dubai.

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Studio Toogood appeared first on Dezeen.

News: collapsed UK furniture retailer Dwell is to reopen five of its 23 stores following a deal with the company’s original founder – but furious customers of the old company are claiming their orders will not be honoured.

Dwell, which ceased trading on 20 June 2013 with the loss of 300 jobs, held an estimated £1 million of customer deposits when it went into administration.

The company’s Facebook page has been flooded with comments by customers saying they have lost money. “I phoned up this AM only to be told that the order I placed on 25th May is null and void,” wrote Mags Mckie. “£500 worth of orders deleted from my account,” commented Susan Lowe Barrie.

“I was waiting for 4 chairs to be delivered,” said Margaret Jones in another Facebook comment. “Phoned customer services today and was told would def not get the order now and should contact bank to claim back payment. Was told I could reorder from new company as chairs were in stock.”

Dwell announced on Wednesday that Aamir Ahmad, who founded the brand in 2003 but left in November 2012, had agreed a deal to rescue the company and save 150 jobs.

He said in a statement: “Our priority lies with the customers and suppliers who have been let down by the former management. We are working hard to try and resolve the issues, in particular outstanding customer orders.”

He added: “Although we are not legally obliged to, we are doing everything we can to find a solution for customers who have lost out.  Our primary goal is to help customer and suppliers regain their trust in the dwell brand.”

Ahmad advised customers with outstanding orders to check the company’s social media platforms for advice. However Dwell’s Twitter account said: “Please note we are no longer dwell Retail Ltd. Previous orders will not be fulfilled, as we are now a new company.”

Customers reacted angrily to the tweet. “I’ve just been told by customer services that they’re not honouring deliveries, but I can buy from the new company!” said Andrew Lansdell on Twitter yesterday. “I’m only a customer and am £857 short, what are you going to do about that?” asked another customer.

The operator of Dwell’s Twitter account appeared to feel sympathy for customers’ plight, writing: “F***ing snakes indeed. I didn’t get paid by them either.“

Dwell reopened its online store this week and will reopen five high-street stores from Saturday 6 July at Tottenham Court Road, Westfield London, Westfield Stratford City, Lakeside shopping centre in Essex, and Barton Square in Manchester.

Dwell, which specialises in contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories, opened its first store in Balham, south London in 2003.

Here’s the announcement of the rescue from Dwell’s blog:

Dwell, the furniture retailer, has been saved from disappearing off British high streets thanks to its founder Aamir Ahmad returning to lead the company. Ahmad’s plan will save over 150 jobs and keep the business operating from at least five stores and the web.

From Saturday 6th July, dwell will reopen their stores in Tottenham Court Road, Westfield White City, Westfield Stratford, Barton Square in Manchester and Lakeside in Thurrock. Talks with other landlords are underway with a hope that additional stores and jobs can be saved. Dwell’s online store (www.dwell.co.uk) will also reopen on Thursday. Advice to customers who have outstanding orders will be available on the company’s social media platforms.

Ahmad founded dwell with his family and friends in 2003 and successfully grew it over 9 years, but along with his co-founders was replaced in November last year. He will be stepping back in to run the business as CEO. Ahmad comments: “Our priority lies with the customers and suppliers who have been let down by the former management. We are working hard to try and resolve the issues, in particular outstanding customer orders. Although we are not legally obliged to, we are doing everything we can to find a solution for customers who have lost out. Our primary goal is to help customer and suppliers regain their trust in the dwell brand.

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as design retailer Dwell reopens appeared first on Dezeen.

The London store of Swedish denim brand Nudie Jeans has been fitted out as a repair station to mend old jeans (+ slideshow).

Original architectural features in the shop such as crumbling mouldings have been kept along with rough plastering to give a vintage appearance.

On the ground floor clothing and accessories are displayed on metal shelves, while more garments are hung on rods suspended from the ceiling.

Sewing machines threaded with orange cotton are lined up ready to fix customers’ ripped attire.

One wall, painted petrol blue to match the exterior, has a grid of white hooks to hang jeans from their belt loops.

Curtains made from patches of old fabric form circular changing booths against a tiled wall in the basement.

More clothes are set on a metal cabinet topped with wood, additional shelving and rails against the white and plywood surfaces downstairs.

Wooden blocks laid on the floor like bricks are covered with rugs made from recycled denim, reinforcing the repair and reuse concept.

Nudie Jeans creative director Maria Erixon Levin used a Gothenburg food market as a reference when designing the shop.

Other related stories include a pavilion built by G-Star Raw to display their clothes at Tokyo Designer’s Week 2007 and an installation of lightbulb arches in a Diesel gallery.

We spoke to Miguel Fluxá, head of shoe brand Camper, at the opening of the brand’s lastest New York boutique where he explained why all their shop interiors are different – read the interview here.

See more retail interiors »

Read on for the press release:

Swedish organic denim house, Nudie Jeans, this month debuted their first UK concept store, and officially their first Repair Station in the world, in the Soho district of London, UK. The 15th concept store for the brand, London follows Stockholm, Tokyo, Los Angeles,Zurich, Barcelona, Sydney and Nudie’s own backyard Gothenburg.

“We are very excited to be opening our first UK store, which will give us the opportunity to really tell our unique concept. The UK is one of our biggest profile markets and our store will meet the demands we have seen for our brand globally,” says Andreas Åhrman, Sales & Marketing Director.

Standing in a prominent location on the corner of Berwick and D’Arblay Street, the 100-square-metre store is presented over ground and basement floors, with a 40-square-metre showroom housed above. The interior concept is designed by creative director Maria Erixon and inspired by a Gothenburg food market, featuring raw and rustic vintage fixtures juxtaposed against a stark bright backdrop, while carefully preserving the beautiful architectural features.

The London store houses the first official Repair Station globally, and offers customers a complimentary repairs and alterations service by one of the experienced Denim Specialists.

The repair and reuse initiative reinforces Nudie’s ardent strive to set a new standard in sustainable production. With Nudie’s extensive range of unisex fits and washes, the store will be the faultless place for London and international visitors alike to find a perfect pair of jeans guided by seasoned denim experts.

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by Maria Erixon Levin appeared first on Dezeen.

Interview: we caught up with Miguel Fluxá, head of shoe brand Camper, at the opening of the brand’s Nendo-designed boutique on Fifth Avenue in New York last month (below). In this short interview, he explains why the company uses different designers for each of its global stores for cultural, rather than business, reasons (+ slideshow).

Designers as diverse as Jaime Hayón and Shigeru Ban have designed stores for Camper. “The world today is becoming a little bit boring, everything is becoming the same,” says Fluxá. “So we thought it was interesting for the brand, and for the cities, to do different designs from one place to the other.”

As a family-owned company, Camper is able to experiment with different design approaches without worrying too much about the commercial impact, he says: “Some concepts work better than others but we don’t measure it really.”

See all our stories about Camper. Below is a transcript of the interview:

Marcus Fairs: Tell us about yourself.

Miguel Fluxá: My name is Miguel Fluxá. I work at Camper and I’m a member of the fourth generation of the company. My great grandfather founded the business 136 years ago and I’m from Mallorca, where Camper is from and where my family comes from. This week we’re in New York, at the store opening on Fifth Avenue that we just did with Nendo.

Marcus Fairs: How did Camper start?

Miguel Fluxá: The story started in 1877 when my great grandfather founded the first shoe factory in Spain, 136 years ago. He had the idea to make good-quality shoes. He was a farmer and he probably didn’t speak any English and he probably didn’t have any money, but he went abroad, to France and England, and he came back after a couple of years with the machinery to set up a shoe factory.

Then after many years, in 1975 my father joined the family business and created Camper as a brand and he incorporated this heritage of knowing how to make quality shoes with design and comfort. He tried to make well-designed shoes that you can wear every day. This is the basis of the product today.

To that we added some cultural values. We come from Mallorca, from the Mediterranean, there’s a slow way of life there. Camper means farmer in Mallorquin, which is the language we speak in Mallorca, and when you mix all these ingredients together, you get Camper. I think the success has probably been trying to make something different, something original with quality.

Marcus Fairs: Camper uses different designers to create different store interiors around the world. Why did you start doing this?

Miguel Fluxá: When we started to open stores outside Spain we thought it was interesting not to repeat them. The world today is becoming a little bit boring, everything is becoming the same. So we thought it was interesting for the brand, and for the cities, to do different designs from one place to the other.  We started to do this many years ago and it’s something that has given us a lot of identity and has worked quite well over the years.

We’ve worked with many people, from Martí Guixé, a Spanish designer, who has a sense of humour and irony, to Mariscal, who’s also Spanish, to the Bouroullec Brothers, the Campana Brothers, Alfredo Haberli, some Japanese designers – Nendo and Tokujin Yoshioka, Shigeru Ban who’s an architect, because we also work with architects, Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Grcic, a lot of people actually.

Marcus Fairs: Do you do this for cultural or commercial reasons?

Miguel Fluxá: It’s more a cultural thing. We’re lucky to be a privately-owned company, a family-owned company, so we look at the long term and we try to do things that we like to do. Of course we think it’s of benefit to the brand. It’s given a lot of identity to the brand, and customers recognise it.

Marcus Fairs: Do you measure the commercial impact of the interiors?

Miguel Fluxá: Some concepts work better than others but we don’t measure it really.

Marcus Fairs: Footwear, especially sports footwear, is getting really technological with high-tech materials and embedded technology. Is this a path Camper may follow?

Miguel Fluxá: We are interested. For sure we are interested. The DNA of the brand is more in natural leathers, European leathers, and this is our heritage. We are shoemakers, we’re not a sports brand. But it’s true there are more and more techniques, more and more materials. For example in the outsoles there is a lot of development in the lightness of the materials, and also in the uppers.

Marcus Fairs: What’s your opinion of New York?

Miguel Fluxá: Personally I love New York. I spent six months here when I was young. For me it’s probably the capital of the world. A lot of things happen here. A lot of good culture, architecture, museums, food, everything. It’s good to come here from time to time especially if you come from an island, which is completely the opposite.

Marcus Fairs: Do Americans appreciate design in the same way Europeans do?

Miguel Fluxá: In America they do have a good tradition of architecture and design. It’s true that it was probably more in the forties, fifties and sixties than today. But I think there are people who appreciate design, European design. Our design is more European, more refined and more casual, but there are a lot of people here who appreciate it.

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a little bit boring” appeared first on Dezeen.

Over a thousand ghostly white shoes protrude from the walls of this New York store for shoe brand Camper, designed by Japanese studio Nendo (+ slideshow).

Nendo arranged the shoes in a regimented pattern across every wall, intended to look like they are “walking on air”. Each identical shoe is a replica of the Camper Pelota, the brand’s most iconic footwear collection, and is made from white resin.

“When designing such a big space you have to face the challenge of how to use the upper half of the walls to display the shoes in areas with such high ceilings,” says Nendo. “Our new approach involves making models of the Pelotas shoes and decorating the walls with them to fill the space and create the feel of an orderly stockroom.”

There are a handful of openings at the base of the walls for displaying the current collections, which can easily be spotted due to their stand-out colours.

More shoes are displayed on white platforms in the centre of the store, while recessed openings house the brand’s sock and bag collections.

Nendo developed a similar concept for a store in Osaka, where shoes appear to walk around the store on their own. The designers also previously completed a stand covered in books for a Camper exhibition in Barcelona. See more design by Nendo.

Located on Fifth Avenue, this is the fourth Camper store to open in New York, following one by fellow Japanese designer Shigeru Ban where shoes are hidden within a zigzagging wall. Other interesting Camper stores include one in Lyon with never-ending staircases and one in Malmö based on ice cream colours and lolly sticks. See more Camper store designs.

Photography is by Jesse Goff.

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by Nendo appeared first on Dezeen.