Precedent work: fashion retailers

For this assignment, I aim to create an environment designed to display clothing. I have investigated precedent examples exploring:
- How clothing retailers display their products.
- How the public interacts and engages with the products.
- How the space is arranged to exhibit the products.

     1. http://freshome.com/2013/10/14/beech-wood-sticks-adorning-the-interior-of-a-mrqt-boutique-in-stuttgart/ 

The MRQT Boutique’s design in Stuttgart was completed this year by ROK, an architectural office focusing on special design solutions for interiors. The store’s unique design refers to a wall containing 22.000 wooden sticks with individual directions and of various lengths. The wall’s entire surface is “decorated” with a fur-like beech wood installation while the rest of the store is characterized by minimalism. Clothes are neatly displayed on simple metallic hangers while the centre of the boutique remains open. “Display stands and shelving in beech wood match the material of the wall installation. Together with the minimalistic interior space featuring white walls and a grinded concrete floor, the store develops a warm and inviting atmosphere for the customers browsing through a well-curated selection of premium street-wear brands.”

Very youthful and urban and perfectly adapted for the targeted customers, MRQT Boutique is a cool place to shop. Rigid forms meet smooth textures, concrete intersects with wood. A contrast highlighted by the exposure of items. What I like most about this store is that it “breathes”, placing you, the client, in the centre of it. It allows you to move freely and relax while shopping without being overwhelmed by the overexposure of products.

     2. http://blogs.elpais.com/del-tirador-a-la-ciudad/2010/12/el-arte-de-apilar-listones-de-madera.html

Slats of solid oak timber is stacked to organise the space. The piles are directly misaligned, leaving space for exhibitors. The boards are cut into different lengths to display accessories and allow for clothing storage. A milling has been inserted into the edge of each board designed to hang clothing.

The remaining part of the small venue of Barcelona and Madrid is more of a vacuum. No more architectural pieces oak, local deletion disappears with black paint and dark materials to be nothing more than a framework in which to display the pile of stacked ribbons. It is a dark chamber with black painted roof, exposed installations, lighting projectors electrified rail, vinyl flooring and dark. 

     3. http://design-milk.com/skim-milk-beige-by-nendo/

Beige is a women’s clothing brand based in Japan, launched by Onward Kashiyama. The minimalist store interior was recently completed by Nendo, and represents the clothing’s focus on simple and functional designs. Nendo ensured the philosophy of the shop would coincide with the brand’s concept.

O-beam steel, which is used in architectural and interior frames, is subtly disguised by curtains. The frame also acts as a modular system used for hanging light fixtures, hanger rods, torsos, and shelves. They are easily reconfigured and re-positioned when desired. Ordinary materials and layout were used to make a highly functional space. Each item is displayed almost as if it were a work of art. The black and white undertone really draws out the materials and content of the space. By removing all of the excess nonsense from the design, a customer will walk into the showroom without being distracted by any unrelated diversions.

     4. http://weburbanist.com/2010/12/06/radical-retail-design-14-shockingly-stylish-stores/

The owners of ‘Romanticism’, a clothing store in Hangzhou, China, wanted an interior that no one could copy. They got that and more with this incredible ultramodern basketweave design by SAKO Architects, which begins with a white mesh ‘skin’ outside the store entrance and continues through the interior space, forming walls, benches and other architectural elements. While you can’t help but gape at the strange beauty of the space itself, the all-white design removes all distractions from the shop’s colorful clothing and accessories.

   2. http://www.homeadore.com/2012/09/28/restaurant-shop-interiors/

Working with the existing architecture to create organic clothing rails between the pillars.