The Coexistence of Architecture and Fashion
Architects and Designers tend to be more alike than one might realise. They both aim to create user-specific and reliant solutions. But when luxury brands are in conversation instead of being parallels these two fields elude the best qualities amongst one another. A lot of famous designers time and now use architectural concepts and ideologies to augment their brands. Flagship stores, fashion show set designs, and even the brand’s designs are just a few vistas of incorporating architecture in this field.
The Parisian brand Louis Vuitton has recently converted itself into an institution of design and culture, making itself a part luxury fashion brand and part museum. This master move by the brand fused Art straight into their very identity.
The Story Behind the Flagship Stores
The idea of a high-level atélier stems from creating an all-around 5-star experience for the buyers. It is no longer just about fashion retail but instead about the entirety of the shopping experience. These flagship stores showcase the most exquisite pop-up art installations, and eateries, and withhold every single item available in the company. The more iconic the building, the more luxe the brand. These architectural creations are known to increase a brand’s revenue vastly. The structure of these stores is a depiction of the brand’s story and the identity it has built over the ages.
Celine, Milan
A mark of sophistication and understanding of women, Celine is one of the first luxury brands in the market. The brand’s message of modernism and revolution is what can be read through its marble shed inlaid store in Miami, US. Built under the supervision of architect Valerio Olgati the store is the perfect picture of a futuristic brand with the most interesting use of architecture to showcase the same. The angled columns, and the marbled interiors, with a touch of ingenuity by using blue-green Pinta Verde for the walls bring together the entire place.
Tarun Tahilliani, Bombay, India
The Indian designer Tarun Tahilliani brought the feeling of Old Bombay right into his flagship store. The elegance and the rawness of the Bombay streets are reflected through and through this store. Covered in Art Deco motifs the boutique tries to refocus people’s attention to Indian crafts and heritage. The fluted glass, the jali works, and the beige interiors create a serene environment that allows one to appreciate the displayed products and acknowledge the true beauty of the designer’s works. Tahilliani didn’t want the store to just showcase the ‘Maharaja Aesthetic that India is known for but add a sense of contemporariness to it that shows everyone the path to a modern India where we take our Indian culture, arts, and crafts and present them in a new light.
Gucci, Shanghai
The 17,000 sq ft spread two-storeyed structure is lined with a golden glass facade. The opulence of the brand is indicated clearly in the polished rose gold finish and rosewood detailing. Every store of Gucci has its own identity but they each share a sense of luxury that the brand in itself holds. The architecture of the store takes its identity from the heritage of Gucci and also the city it’s built-in. Various luxury materials have been used throughout the structure to parade their sumptuousness. The store is inlaid with corrugated glass, rosewood, marble, and polished pink gold.
Prada, Tokyo
The Kaleidoscopic-looking structure houses six stories of all products by Prada. The building is quite literally connected to the environment; it’s built-in and acts just like a garment. The Prada store in Tokyo is an attempt to conceptualise culture and retail. The shopping experience can be multi-faceted and that’s the idea this building follows. The glass facade along with the grid-like pattern creates a barrier between the outside world and the building interior while at the same time giving a peek into what the building entails. Prada has always been a brand of constructivism, contemporary ideas, and unconventionality all of which is exhibited by Herzog and De Meuron.
Louis Vuitton, Maison Seoul
One of the biggest names in the world of Architecture, Frank Gehry collaborated with Peter Marino to bring together the Louis Vuitton flagship store in Seoul. Much like Gehry’s previous works this venture explored deconstructivism to render a futuristic, post-modernist structure. Louis Vuitton has always been at the top of the architecture game when it comes to their flagship stores. This one particularly illustrates an ‘out of the box’ or ‘ Impressionable’ ideology. Built on rich history, the brand is the face of innovation and Gehry did not miss out on that.
Beyond The Building
Luxe Fashion has been using architecture beyond just the aesthetics of its stores. Fashion shows over the years have become more theatrical than before and the set of the show plays a major role for these high fashion brands. Creative structural designs, spatial understanding, and an understanding of architecture at brief help build an impactful set. Similarly, the concepts of architecture are evergreen and have been used by designers for years now. One of the most highly recognised Dutch designers Iris Van Herpen is known for her kinetic, sculptural, and anatomical designs. These designs are widely influenced by architectural concepts. It is known that the designer got the idea for her designs when she found out about the 3d printing facilities used by architects to visualise their ideas.
Fashion and Architecture are both humane fields. They might run in very different sectors of the market but have been empowering one other time and again. Architecture talks of an individual as a user constantly trying to make their life easier and more comfortable whereas fashion looks at the same individual as a consumer who needs to be adorned and made aware of their singularity. On multiple occasions, some of the brightest minds bring together these two segregated imaginative forces to create an idyllic landscape of culture, tradition, and the future.
REFERENCES:
- Author links open overlay panelAnnamma Joy a 1 et al. (2014) M(Art)Worlds: Consumer perceptions of how luxury brand stores become Art Institutions, Journal of Retailing. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022435914000037?fr=RR-2&ref=pdf_download&rr=8a295bfbcf1216d5 (Accessed: 14 July 2024).
- The best luxury fashion stores in the world (2023) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc75CfAQXJk (Accessed: 14 July 2024).
- Architectural knowledge is ‘very useful’ in fashion says Iris Van Herpen | virtual design festival (2020) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54dmrXyUgJQ&list=WL (Accessed: 14 July 2024).
- Sagredo, R. (2021) Céline flagship store / Valerio Olgiati, ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/901267/celine-flagship-store-valerio-olgiati (Accessed: 14 July 2024).
- Cabigiosu, A. (2020) An overview of the luxury fashion industry, Digitalization in the Luxury Fashion Industry: Strategic Branding for Millennial Consumers. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7355146/ (Accessed: 14 July 2024).
- Deodhar, N. (2022) Tarun Tahiliani launches stunning new flagship store in Mumbai’s Dubash House, Architectural Digest India. Available at: https://www.architecturaldigest.in/story/tarun-tahiliani-launches-new-flagship-store-in-mumbai-dubash-house/ (Accessed: 14 July 2024).
