to hear that the effect was as we had
hoped.»
«You’re really by yourself even though
it’s a big space, and even though the
architecture is rigorous and graphic, it’s
not imposing or too grand,» he continued.
«It’s really an intimate place. It’s quite
beautiful.»
•
•
FIRST FLAGSHIP BOUTIQUE
IS COVERED WITH GREY FELT
A
rchitecture & Associés was asked to create an
unobtrusive design for the duo’s recently opened
store on Rue Saint-Honoré, close to Paris’
famous shopping square Place Vendôme.
«We said we would like a store that’s invisible or a store
that’s hardly there because often we find store designs very
intrusive and just too much,» said Viktor & Rolf co-founder
Viktor Horsting.
Grey was chosen to line the interior as it provided a simple
environment to showcase the duo’s products and is also
used in the set designs of the brand’s catwalk shows .
«We wanted to create an environment where the clothes
would really stand out,» said Horsting. «Grey is a very
good colour as a backdrop because it’s very neutral. It’s a
total surreal experience because you’re in an environment
that’s entirely made out of fabric, but at the same time it’s
something architectural. We like that surrealism.»
The store houses men and women’s ready-to-wear clothing,
accessories such as bags and shoes, plus the brand’s line of
fragrances.
Neoclassical elements such as arched niches along the walls
and a colonnade of arches running over the staircase create
shadows to break up the monochrome.
Shelves for displaying products sit in the niches, some of
which are illuminated with white light from behind similar to
the ceiling panels.
The felt also muffles the sounds of browsing shoppers in an
attempt to make the large 650-square-metre store feel more
intimate.
«We wanted to emphasise the personal experience of
shopping,» Horsting said. «I have to say that it was a little bit
of a guess. Of course we thought that the felt would change
certain acoustics of the space but we couldn’t really imagine
it, so when we were there over the weekend we were glad
The store will be on Rue Saint-Honoré,
just a stone’s throw from the Place
Vendôme.
•
VIKTOR & ROLF’S
The store opened last week to coincide
with Viktor & Rolf’s twentieth anniversary,
which was also marked by the house’s
return to haute couture in July. The
designers will show their Spring 2014
collection in January next year.
The miscellanea of the Viktor & Rolf
world will all be available at the boutique:
men and women’s ready-to-wear, shoes,
the iconic «Bombette» line of bags and
leather goods, glasses, accessories and of
course, the line of fragrances.
Driven by a taste for the paradoxical, the
designers desired an eternal environment
for their ever-changing collections, in their
own words: «a striking world where every
and anybody’s desires or fantasies can be
borne upon what we do».
The innovative design, conceived by
Pierre Beucler and Jean-Christophe
Poggioli of Architecture & Associés,
combines the palatial grandeur of
Renaissance Italy with the classicism of
the French tradition for a startlingly avantgarde universe.
The spirit of unorthodox innovation that
has always driven Viktor & Rolf, whose
work has often been characterised by its
subtle exploration of scale and shadow,
inspired the architects towards a spectral
architecture crafted entirely of grey felt.
This single-material strategy makes for
a phantasmagorical space of shifting
apparitions where the uniform surface of
the walls, floors and furniture, as a kind
of all-enveloping interior skin, creates the
effect of complete unity.