eWalk-Through: Reiss, Bleecker Street
Taking cues from the garden, D_raw Associates creates an urban oasis for U.K. fashion retailer Reiss.
Sheila Kogan -- Interior Design, 5/3/2007 12:00:00 AM
For U.K. fashion retailer, Reiss, D_raw Associates wanted to create a symbiosis between the brand’s identity, the original character of the raw industrial space, and the heritage of the proposed store’s surroundings on Bleecker Street in New York’s Greenwich Village.
To begin the process, the firm stripped down the 5,000-square-foot space back to its bare bones and examined the interior’s existing traits—including its lackluster qualities. Ultimately, D_raw determined that balancing the industrial backdrop with organically-inspired concepts would result in a more visually-engaging space. In essence, their goal was to create an antidote to industrial overload by bringing in the natural elements of a garden.
They discarded their first notion of having an actual garden in the front of the store and instead opted to drape ivy along the roof, letting it cascade down over the top portion of the storefront. To continue this theme inside, they commissioned a graphic mural depicting lush plant life and flowers. Created by U.K.-based design collective Made Thought, the tattoo-inspired mural was painted directly onto the existing exposed-brick walls by tattoo artists from the neighborhood. The same black-and-white pattern was translated into textile designs by Glaswegian print technicians and hand printed on wallpaper. A New York–based team of embroidery specialists copied the graphic onto custom curtains, which were used in the dressing room area.
The most striking and eye-catching aspect of the space, however, is the web-like abstract landscape formed by 4,500 lacquered-steel poles. Meant to bring the outside in, a “courtyard” space is defined by the composition of rods tensioned between the ceiling and the reclaimed oak floor. Within and outside the undulating wall of poles is the functional furniture: 1950’s Knoll black-and-white marble coffee and dining tables and a futuristic-looking resin cash-wrap counter. With hand-crafted chandeliers and spotlights to turn the dark spaces to advantage, the Reiss brand experience—sophisticated and slick—is exquisitely presented to a new audience.
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