Concept stores around the world: the must-sees of exclusivity - El Mostrador
Have you ever been to a concept store? Have you heard of a concept store? Do you know what a concept store is? Whatever your answer, whether out of curiosity about what it is or because you are interested in knowing more about them, here is a list of the most famous and unmissable concept stores around the globe.
If we break down the word into the meanings of each one of them, it would be “concept store”. Although for most of us we would be just as ignorant of taking the theoretical to the practical, we told them that it would be a kind of what we know in Chile as a “multi-store” but with exclusive, unique and carefully selected items.
A concept store can be a store that mixes fashion brands, with a restaurant and an art gallery for example. Or, a homewares store with luxury accessories and a cafe. And it could also be a luxury fashion brand store with a special curatorship from an expert with items that are even sold only in that store and that is mixed with toys, jewelry, food, etc.
Do not stay out of this global synergy between fashion, gastronomy and art that is gradually taking over the souls of aesthetic lovers. Write down these must for your next trips and enjoy!
10 Corsican
It is the first concept store in the world. Created in Milan in 1990 by gallery owner and publisher Carla Sozzani, it is a complex of shops and restaurants. It combines points of sale that show and sell works of art, fashion, music, design, gastronomy and culture.
The complex began with an art gallery and a bookstore. Other spaces soon followed: a design and fashion store in 1991, the 10 Corso Como Cafè in 1998, a small hotel (with just three rooms) in 2003, and the Roof Garden in 2009.
Currently located in: Milan, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and two locations in Seoul.
In Milan also an unmissable: Excelsior.
The iconic but sadly closed Colette
Those of us who had the opportunity to go to Colette once know how nostalgic it is that they decided to close their doors permanently at the end of 2017. Colette was a French fashion, streetwear and accessories retailer.
The 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) three-story store concept was located in Paris and contained display space, a bookstore, and a "water bar" serving more than 100 bottled water brands. You could find exhibitions of big brands like Chanel that made pop up stores on its top floor, or exclusive limited edition lines from different collaborators.
The boutique was founded in 1997 by Colette Roussaux; her daughter, Sarah Andelman, has been active as creative director and purchasing manager in recent years.
The store is known for stocking the early collections of fashion brands and designers who became famous later, such as Jeremy Scott, Raf Simons, Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, Mary Katrantzou, Sacai, Simone Rocha, Christopher Kane, and Olympia Le Tan. It also Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, etc.
We can only mourn its sudden closure and dream that something similar will ever exist.
As Karl Lagerfeld himself said: "It's the only store I go to because they have things that no one else has. I buy watches, phones, jewelry there, really everything. They have invented a formula that cannot be easily copied, because there It's just a Colette and she and Sarah are 200 percent into it."
Will someone be able to create again a space so well achieved that it meets the expectations of the clients at such a level in every way? Let's hope so.
Dover Street Market
The dazzling shop on Dover Street, London. The market was created by Rei Kawakubo of Japanese fashion brand Comme des Garçons and her husband Adrian Joffe.
The store sells all Comme des Garçons and complementary high fashion brands, young creations, streetwear such as Balenciaga, Brain Dead, Céline, Daniela Gregis, Dreamland Syndicate, Golf Wang, Gucci, Hussein Chalayan, JWAnderson, Lanvin, LOEWE, Maison Margiela , Marni, Nike, Proenza Schouler, Ovelia Transtoto, Raf Simons, Rick OwensRoberts Wood, sacai, Stussy, The Row, Thom Browne, Valentino, Vans, Vetements and many other brands.
Wanting to differentiate itself from your run-of-the-mill retail store, or luxury design curatorship, Dover Street Market has sought from its inception the underlying concept of building a new kind of store that celebrates creativity, censors conformity and ignores established principles of commerce. common.
It was founded as a place where street fashion would collide with luxury, young designers would align themselves with world famous icons, artists would jam installations, designers would be free to create their own spaces.
With the aim of creating wonderful chaos. It's a giant store and unlike anything you've seen before, all the floors are very different from each other, and they have a really impressive selection of products. Where you don't see the classic of fashion brands, but a really impressive groundbreaking proposal.
gucci garden
Although it does not meet the criteria of mixing several brands, since you will only find Gucci products in it, it does perfectly meet the rest of the requirements: it is a store that offers exclusive products that you can only find in this store located in Florence , Italy.
There is a museum with iconic pieces from all times of the brand, and also - as if that were not enough - it has a luxury osteria in charge of nothing more and nothing less than the winner of three Michelin stars Massimo Botura.
An unmissable if you visit the Italian city, clearly with prior reservation for the restaurant that has a waiting list of at least 4 months.
In Chile
We had to name a Chilean example and that is that those of us who are stuck here in the country also have the right to go to these famous and coveted concept stores. Metanoia is a very good example of good curatorship, quality of excellence in its products and originality that I have not found in other stores in Chile.
Located at Alonso de Córdova 4212 1C, as they describe themselves, "it is a concept store that goes beyond the barriers of the usual trade, associating itself with the language of galleries and art centers."
Pola Thomson, the store's owner and curator, could not have expressed it better. You can go for a walk and dive into their handbags, shoes, clothes, watches, headbands and even toothbrushes and hair.
