Scandi chic: Snarkitecture designs a new pop-up for COS in Los Angeles
In a showcase of aesthetic reflection, a new pop-up in downtown Los Angeles features the clean lines of Swedish fashion retailer COS in a sparse, but thoughtful environment by the Brooklyn-based design firm Snarkitecture. 'The stars aligned,' says Fredrik Carlstrom, founder of the Scandinavian design showroom Austere, which is hosting the installation until the end of the week. 'I think our brands and aesthetics line up nicely.'
With 138 stores in 27 countries, COS is known for bringing refined simplicity to a broader audience; the pop-up at Austere is the brand’s first outpost in east Los Angeles, after opening its first U.S. store in Beverly Hills last year. 'When briefing creatives we tend to have a pretty carte blanche approach; we work with people who generally have a similar aesthetic to us and who have inspired us for the collection,' says Karin Gustafsson, co-head of design at COS, who first worked with the design duo Snarkitecture on an installation for the Salone del Mobile in Milan. 'As a brand we have undertaken various retail installations over the years and love to see the way designers reinterpret our core DNA,' she continues.
On powder-coated cutouts that serve as both graphic signage and room dividers, Snarkitecture drew out essential pieces of the new silhouette, beloved by a certain set of creatives in urban enclaves worldwide: a wider pant, a rounded neck, an architectural coat, and a split-sleeve shirt dress. Hanging on long racks, the clothing display echoes across two parallel rooms and on two floors, and also in a ceiling-height mirror.
Alex Mustonen, co-founder of Snarkitecture, says he found inspiration for the retail project by studying tone and shape details in the current COS collection, including a recurring dusty pink and angular cuts. 'When you look at the visuals, there is an obvious kinship in the minimalist and often monochromatic palette that we’re operating within,' Mustonen says. 'Both of us are interested in reduction and simplicity: how can you do the most with the least, and taking away everything that’s not necessary.'
INFORMATION
The installation is on view until 15 November
ADDRESS
Austere
912 South Hill Street
Los Angeles
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which features a 1990s-inspired riff on the G-Wagon
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Volvo’s ultra-efficient EX30 compact EV gets its first real competition, the new Smart #3
We experience the highly rated Volvo EX30 and Smart’s most recent foray into pure electric cars, the #3. Which is the best executed small SUV?
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
One to Watch: Brooklyn studio Outgoing gives new meaning to the idea of world building
Life and creative partners Brett Gui Xin and Del Hardin Hoyle from Outgoing blur the lines between craft and concept in experimental designs that have the potential for greater application
By Adrian Madlener Published
-
Discover this romantic Hollywood hideaway for a creative couple
Practising her own interiors motto, ‘good design works anywhere’, Mallery Roberts Morgan transforms a 1960s ranch-style house in the hills above Sunset Boulevard
By Mallery Roberts Morgan Published
-
Discover the alchemy of American artists Philip and Kelvin LaVerne
The work of Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, prized by collectors of 20th-century American art, is the subject of a new book by gallerist Evan Lobel; he tells us more
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Sarah Solis’ first furniture collection is an homage to art deco
‘Is it weird to call furniture sexy?’ Los Angeles-based designer Sarah Solis discusses her debut furniture line and new brand and store, Galerie Solis
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Three sleek new design showrooms you need to see in Los Angeles
Three international design showrooms have started a retail design boom in Los Angeles. Here are the stores to put on your radar
By Carole Dixon Published
-
One to watch: Casey Zablocki’s Rocky Mountain surroundings feed into his vast sculptural work
Montana-based artist Casey Zablocki uses one of America’s largest kilns to create monumental ceramic, functional sculptures
By Dan Howarth Published
-
This remodelled San Francisco family home by MEMarchitecture and Studio Volpe is a masterpiece of soothing modernity
A sensitive and coherent approach by the San Francisco-based architects and designers has resulted in a home of tactile beauty, character and comfort
By Shonquis Moreno Published
-
First Look: a domestic idyll by Lucy Stark and Fabien Cappello at the Blunk Space
Inspired by the life and times at JB Blunk's haven of a house in Inverness, a new exhibition of paintings and objects has us dreaming of California
By Hugo Macdonald Published