Burberry plaid cast as resin for Opening Ceremony displays by Sabine Marcelis
Burberry's signature tartan is cast in resin panels to form backdrops for displays at Opening Ceremony stores, created by Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis.
The furniture pieces were designed to present the British fashion house's Autumn Winter 2018 collection, and a capsule range made specifically for Opening Ceremony at its stores in New York and Los Angeles.
To mark the first collaboration between the two brands, Marcelis created a series of freestanding clothing racks, wall-mounted fixtures, and tables to present the items.
She took inspiration from the tartan plaid that Burberry has used for its garments and accessories since the 1920s, and used it to inform large translucent panels that form sections of the displays.
The pattern comprises thick black strips and thinner red lines overlaid on a beige background, which Marcelis recreated with coloured resin that she set in different-sized blocks.
The black lines in the panels are also extended as metal frames, which form supports for the resin and rails for hanging clothes from.
"Marcelis has taken the iconic Burberry plaid and extruded it into a spatial experience," said a statement provided by the designer. "The vertical and horizontal lines extend to become frames and surfaces on which the collection can be displayed and presented on."
Based in Rotterdam, Marcelis commonly experiments with colour and materials in her work. Her projects to-date include mirrors featuring tonal gradients, created with Brit van Nerven, and surfaces in a Parisian fashion store that give different degrees of reflection and colour refraction, developed with OMA.
The resin pieces for Burberry and Opening Ceremony are cast so that the stripes run through the material above and below one another, rather than a simple two-dimensional pattern printed onto the surfaces.
"In true form to her signature search for exploring material qualities, a unique way of casting resin in varied layers and transparencies creates an unexpected depth to the materiality," Marcelis' statement said.
Burberry's AW18 collection was the last to be designed under creative director Christopher Bailey, who left Burberry earlier this year after 17 years with the company.
It was presented in a catwalk show during London Fashion Week in February 2018, which featured a prismatic lighting installation by United Visual Artists.
Both the main collection, and the capsule designs for Opening Ceremony – available from July 2018 – feature a rainbow version of the Burberry check created in support of LGBTQ charities.
"These exclusive items, featuring logo jersey and towelling pieces from Burberry's archive reissued in colourful rainbow motifs, will be part of a broader offering including the much sought-after 'rainbow vintage check' tote bags and caps," said the statement from Marcelis.
Riccardo Tisci, who took over from Bailey, released a redesign of the fashion house's logo and monogram created with Peter Saville earlier this month.
Opening Ceremony frequently works with designers from fields outside fashion to create unusual displays for its stores. Previous collaborators include Max Lamb, Faye Toogood, and Harry Nuriev of Crosby Studios.
Photography is by Eric Petschek.