Holzweiler Flagship Store
Snøhetta has designed the first Holzweiler flagship store, located in Prinsens Gate in Oslo. The project is a result of an ongoing collaboration with the Norwegian fashion brand, which started out with the design of conceptual furniture for the Holzweiler showroom during Paris Fashion Week in 2018.
In the spring of 2019, Holzweiler’s new Snøhetta designed showroom, flagship store and digital retail channel were completed, aspiring to take the brand to new heights and expand their audiences. Together, the three projects form a holistic effort aiming to create a seamless retail experience for Holzweiler’s global customers in both the digital and the analogue sphere.
Upon entering the store, guests are welcomed by an unconventional, curved passage made of paper that lends a serene ambience to the store. The entrance resets the visitor’s mind and allows them to enter the space at the heart of the store. Visitors are then greeted by a room covered with 3,000 handmade, ragged, mustard-colored tiles that create a warm and vibrant backdrop for the displayed garments.
Central to the brand’s identity is the grid structure that can be seen in the stripe and square pattern typically found in the brand’s scarves and other central garments. The notion of the grid has been picked up and developed in various ways throughout the design of the flagship store through a flexible shelf system that is present throughout the store.
The store’s custom-made furniture picks up on the materiality from the showroom with its organic shapes and use of warm oak, adding a contrast to the finely polished concrete floor.
The point of sale is a brushed, stainless steel cabinet placed alongside the wall. The look and placement change the dynamic of how customers interact with the staff, and allows for a more natural interaction, placing the personnel next to the customer instead of hidden behind a counter.
"Running a store isn’t merely about sales alone anymore. With the new showroom, flagship store and website we wanted to create spaces that tell a story and that strengthen the relationship between Holzweiler and our customers. We still believe in physical retail, but we think that it needs to be paired with compelling digital retail experiences that can create synergies with the physical stores and enhance the brand universe."
- Brand Director Susanne Holzweiler
The collaboration between Snøhetta and Holzweiler is pushing the boundaries for and blurring the lines between retail in the digital and the analogue sphere.
