This is a few months old, but never mind. Ab Rogers Design created this London store interior for Russian fashion brand Emperor Moth last autumn.
Photos are by Morley von Sternberg.
Below is a statement from Rogers about his design concept:
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Emperor Moth is a new, fresh, dynamic, Russian fashion label designed by Katia Gomashvili. Katia has commissioned ARD to create a new store in Mayfair and in Moscow, including all the branding and packaging. The store is to open on the 12th October.
After the inspirational experience of meeting Katia and discovering her creative sensibility we soon realised this was going to be a very inspiring project. When we saw the brand and the product, Emperor Moth’s exceptional use of vivid colour, the constructivist patterns and the dynamic emotions we started to become really excited.
Then after visiting Moscow, seeing the extraordinary city and the way its residents relate to it, the people, the parties, the hospitality we realised the full potential of this project. We felt that by using mirrors and movement we could cover the space in the vivid colours that are found in Katia’s clothes. In effect, the clothes become the graphics, the wallpaper, the skin that surrounds the space.
Inspired by Nikki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden and Robert Smithson’s mirrors the idea has been to create a voluptuous internal space. Entering this space that is covered in mirrors, is like entering a new environment, experiencing an emotion you haven’t felt before – a new type of light, a new type of space.
Mirrors can act as camouflage, reflecting and continuing what is around them, portholes into the world around us, maybe even the universe. Multi-faceted mirrors bouncing light and conjuring illusions, continuously reflecting people back at themselves, creating strange, abstract forms.
Mirrors have always fascinated, from the Russian constructivists to the Faberge eggs. Mirrors can show preciousness, dynamism, modernity and nostalgia. They are central to the concept of the new Emperor Moth store.
We have created a striking, inspirational, experiential store that showcases the wonders of Emperor Moth. Shopping in the Emperor Moth is unlike shopping anywhere else in the world. It is a fresh and unique experience. We have liberated all the voids within the space, removed all unnecessary objects and structures from the interior and the facades, creating one open space.
A multi-faceted mirrored tent occupies the space. This singular mirrored skin encases, encloses and invades the shop, so that everything is everywhere and yet no-where. Is it real, or is it a trick of the imagination? Is it an object, or is it an illusion?
The floor is inspired by the sky, by the sea, by the air. It acts as a cool calming element. It fuels the mirrors, providing a pool of colour, a backdrop against which to enjoy and understand the environment that you have entered.
We have also been inspired by animated Puppets; by historical puppet culture from Pinocchio to Being John Malkovich. Puppetry has a way of taking inhuman looking objects and making them truly seem alive, puppets are timeless objects that do not suffer from trends in the same way that fashion does. Through simple movements the dynamic Emperor Moth clothes take on a personality of their own.
Central to this is a collection of dancing puppets wearing the striking Emperor Moth clothing. They showcase accessories and everything that is for sale. The clothes are the decoration. They are the colour, the warmth, and the soul. The mirrors are the skin that celebrates the soul of the space.
We are incorporating projection into the scheme bringing another extraordinary layer of liquidity, movement and colour to the space. For the lighting there are a collection of free-standing high quality floodlights, one light on each puppet.
The window displays will explode into the street, contaminating the outside world with an explosion of energy, life and excitement. It will fascinate passers-by, inspire them and electrify them.