Cloudy Wellington’s new silver-lined store

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Stolen Girlfriends club's foiled interior acts as an "inverted disco ball" to draw customers in, says the brand's founder Marc Moore.

Stolen Girlfriends club’s foiled interior acts as an “inverted disco ball” to draw customers in, says the brand’s founder Marc Moore. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The space is described by Moore as "Anti-retail".

The space is described by Moore as “Anti-retail”. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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Anticipation ramps up as you follow the 20m-long, blacked-out threshold that delivers you to the dramatic, amorphous silver space.

Anticipation ramps up as you follow the 20m-long, blacked-out threshold that delivers you to the dramatic, amorphous silver space. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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A sinuous ceiling-mounted garment rail wraps through the space.

A sinuous ceiling-mounted garment rail wraps through the space. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The bespoke display objects include blade-like shelves of stainless steel that cut through the curving walls.

The bespoke display objects include blade-like shelves of stainless steel that cut through the curving walls. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The main area leads to an internally facing 'anteroom' to give customers the luxury of privacy.

The main area leads to an internally facing ‘anteroom’ to give customers the luxury of privacy. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The fitting room colour in a tint of 'drunk tank pink’ — the colour of choice for police holding cells — was chosen for its calming effect.

The fitting room colour in a tint of ‘drunk tank pink’ — the colour of choice for police holding cells — was chosen for its calming effect. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The retail space creates "a white noise and visual static stage for fashion that increases the prominence of products on display", says Tsujimoto.

The retail space creates “a white noise and visual static stage for fashion that increases the prominence of products on display”, says Tsujimoto. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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Stolen Girlfriends Club jewellery on display in the new flagship store.

Stolen Girlfriends Club jewellery on display in the new flagship store. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The design brings together the sculptural shaping of space, art, and contemporary fashion.

The design brings together the sculptural shaping of space, art, and contemporary fashion. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The design was partially inspired by Stolen Girlfriends Club's fashion shows.

The design was partially inspired by Stolen Girlfriends Club’s fashion shows. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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The exterior punctuated with slot apertures that reveal tightly prescribed interior views.

The exterior punctuated with slot apertures that reveal tightly prescribed interior views. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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From the street, the 150sqm flagship store resembles a blacked-out nightclub.

From the street, the 150sqm flagship store resembles a blacked-out nightclub. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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Curved, blacked-out walls aim to create a sense of anticipation and to slow down shoppers, providing a visceral and social experience.

Curved, blacked-out walls aim to create a sense of anticipation and to slow down shoppers, providing a visceral and social experience. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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Framed curated views further enhance the sculptural art-meets-fashion design of the store.

Framed curated views further enhance the sculptural art-meets-fashion design of the store. Image: Thomas Seear-Budd

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Stolen Girlfriends Club expands into Wellington, New Zealand with a new flagship store designed by Jasmax and Alt Group.

Stolen Girlfriends Club, the contemporary fashion brand known for its independent spirit, has announced a new flagship store for Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.

Opening on September 15th, the new store at 98 Victoria Street adds to the label’s two Auckland stores and fast-growing international audience.

“The time was right to expand; to capitalise on our growth and direct our energy into creating a new benchmark for Stolen, not just in New Zealand, but globally,” says Stolen Girlfriends Club creative director and co-founder Marc Moore.

The bespoke display objects include blade-like shelves of stainless steel that cut through the curving walls. Image:  Thomas Seear-Budd

Moore, with creative director Dean Poole from brand partner Alt Group, architect Jun Tsujimoto, principal at multi-award-winning architecture practice Jasmax, and Anna Hill, head of interiors at Jasmax, developed a concept to capture the brand’s independent spirit and energy in built form.

Tsujimoto and Poole had previously worked together on sculptural installations and immersive architectural-art environments. Tsujimoto’s architectural experience also spans experimental Tokyo retail architecture.

On the well-known fashion corner, three ideas collide: the sculptural shaping of space, art, and contemporary fashion. It is also a three-part progression of colour – black, silver and pink – punctuated with ideas about curated renewal and replenishment, and a commitment to finding special uses for utility-grade materials.

“The store concept runs counter to what you might expect in terms of retail attraction and conversion. It’s actually kind of ‘anti-retail’,” Moore says.

Poole says it is a “silver-lined capsule, one-part Warholian factory and one part Richard Serra – a Faraday cage with no cell phone reception.”

Tsujimoto describes the sculpted interior with rippling walls of textural silver foil as, “a white noise and visual static stage for fashion that increases the prominence of products on display.”

Stolen’s collection release parties, which they claim have achieved mythological status over time, were a key design driver.

The main area leads to an internally facing ‘anteroom’ to give customers the luxury of privacy. Image:  Thomas Seear-Budd

“This retail concept is also about amplifying anticipation into surprise while also, perhaps paradoxically, trying to slow down the shopping, viewing and fitting experience to provide a visceral and social experience,” says Tsujimoto. 

From the street, the 150sqm flagship store resembles a blacked-out nightclub. Image:  Thomas Seear-Budd

From the street, the 150sqm flagship store is hiding in plain sight. Resembling a blacked-out club, it materialises as a void punctuated with slot apertures that reveal tightly prescribed interior views, making store renewal and replenishment a curatorial act. While store access is purposefully slowed down, anticipation conversely ramps up as you follow the 20m-long, blacked-out threshold that delivers you to the dramatic, amorphous silver space.

Inside, the bespoke display objects include blade-like shelves of stainless steel that cut through the curving walls, and a sinuous ceiling-mounted garment rail that wraps through the space. A visit to the oversized pink fitting rooms — one either side of an anteroom — reveals the third part of the spatial progression.

The fitting room colour in a tint of ‘drunk tank pink’ — the colour of choice for police holding cells — was chosen for its calming effect. Image:  Thomas Seear-Budd

“The fitting rooms face into an anteroom as opposed to into the shop, which speaks to privacy as a form of luxury. You can remove yourself from the shop floor, and enter these beautiful pink rooms,” Tsujimoto says.

Poole suggests the fitting room colour is a tint of Baker Miller Pink, aka ‘drunk tank pink’ – the colour of choice for police holding cells all over the world. It has a calming effect.

However, Tsujimoto prefers to describe the fitting rooms as like a “secret song at the end of an album” – a luxurious space designed for a comfortable and private fitting experience – the opposite of the online shopping experience people have become accustomed to over the past few years.

With its distinctive architectural language, sculptural shaping of space, and art-meets-fashion approach to product curation, Stolen Girlfriends Club is set to make a refreshingly unexpected retail statement in Wellington.


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