aesop store singapore

"In our Singapore store, thirty kilometres of coconut husk string, a regional product, was used to construct a dynamic whole-ceiling light fixture. When combined en mass, the seemingly insignificant threads mesmerise and remind one of airline magazine flight maps."

“Geography, climate and light all inform which path we take with our design decisions. For Singapore, we referenced the humble ball of twine with which we wrap and detail our gift boxes. The entire store is framed with meticulously detailed grids that suspend twine from the ceiling. The idea is to work with a sombre material palette in an unexpected way. We’ve used coir matting as carpet and marine plywood to detail our storage units which conceal a palette of Corbusier-inspired coloured wall panels.”

Designed by Melbourne office March Studio, in collaboration with Aesop director, Dennis Paphitis, the new Aesop store in Singapore at Millenia Walk is a great departure from the typical cool and clinical Aesop store interiors. Applied across the whole ceiling, the dangling strings diffuses the light emitting from the naked bulbs nestled within, casting a warm glow onto the simple interior space. The deep fuzziness of the ceiling fixture visually lowers the height of the space, bringing it to a level that is more appropriate for the floor area, forming a flatter spatial proportion that is more pleasant and intimate. Maintenance issues aside, the result is decidedly modern and powerful for such a small space, creating a kind of visual tactility (or physical if you are tall enough) and restrained sensuality that you do not often find in many of the flamboyantly patterned architectural surfaces that are all the rage right now.

bape singapore

Had a little WTF moment when I saw this while walking down Orchard Road last night. This impending arrival of A Bathing Ape in Singapore has taken me a little by surprise, having heard no news about its opening before chancing upon it (I pride myself on being updated with the local retail scene), and the choice of the location in a shopping arcade along a major shopping street. The popularity of Bape has waned considerably since its height during the early 2000s, especially in Japan where it no longer has the same cred nor mystique as it once had; and it is making moves into markets where there is still a somewhat behind-the-curve following.

While I have no interest in the products nor do I associate with the culture surrounding the brand, I do enjoy, in a detached way, the interiors of the various A Bathing Ape stores designed by Wonderwall which I assume will be doing the Singapore store too.

Further down the road, a uniqlo megastore will open at 313somerset in a couple of weeks, which I am also hoping to be designed by Wonderwall who has done the New York flagship and the london Oxford Street stores.

hansel pop-up store

The label Hansel, by designer Jo Soh, has taken over the space of the old Baylene shop at Stamford House and set up a temporary store selling her range of girly candy-esque clothing. The shop interior is a whimsical jurassic landscape of pixelated mountains, cut-out dinosaurs and floating cuboid clouds. Inspired by children's pop-up books, sheets of brown cardboard fold out from the wall to form clothing racks and cartons are stacked to create display shelves, partitions and a counter. The people behind the interior concept is a group of MFA students from the La Salle School of the Arts working under the name Musement. The shop is open till 26 July.




The Hansel Pop Up Shop
#01-04 Stamford House

www.ilovehansel.com/