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    Anne Holtrop organises Parisian jewellery boutique around wavy acrylic wall

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    Dutch architect Anne Holtrop has used rippled sheets of acrylic to create a water-like partition inside this Parisian boutique by jewellery designer Charlotte Chesnais.

    The store is set along Boulevard Saint Germain and is the second retail location that Anne Holtrop has devised for the brand.
    Anne Holtrop has designed a boutique for Charlotte ChesnaisLike the inaugural branch – which features a striking acrylic display table – Chesnais wanted this space to present her jewellery in a way that fosters a “unique spatial experience”.
    Holtrop’s answer was to use acrylic again – but this time to construct a towering partition wall.
    A wavy acrylic wall runs through the middle of the boutique”In the first store, we included a very large table that is almost the full size of the space,” he told Dezeen. “In the second store, we flipped this concept as the existing space has a great height and small floor area.”

    The translucent partition runs across the middle of the store and was CNC milled to have a rippled, almost watery surface texture. The divider is also inbuilt with tiered shelves and drawers, meaning any rings, necklaces or bracelets showcased inside seem to float.
    An infinity mirror is one of the few other decorative items in the storeThe rest of the store’s interior was largely kept simple. Walls surrounding the partition were washed with beige marmorino plaster and decoration was restricted to a curvaceous gold sculpture that mimics the form of Chesnais’ designs.
    There is also a trompe l’oeil infinity mirror and a small wooden stool.

    Studio Anne Holtrop creates gypsum walls that look like fabric for Maison Margiela store

    A doorway in the acrylic partition guides customers to a curved flight of stairs at the rear of the store.
    These lead up to a mezzanine-level room that’s dedicated to showcasing the brand’s fine jewellery collection.
    A curved staircase leads up to a room where fine jewellery is displayedAcrylic was used here again to make an expansive wall-mounted display unit. Other surfaces were coated with glossy forest-green epoxy paint.
    A plump sofa was set into the room’s back wall and a thick jade-coloured carpet was been laid across the floor.
    “We wanted to give it a different, more intimate atmosphere, in which you sit and relax like in a little cocktail bar,” Holtrop said.
    The second room is covered with glossy green paintThis isn’t the first time that Anne Holstrop has designed a space for a fashion brand.
    In 2021, the architect remodelled Maison Margiela’s London store, where he inserted a series of gypsum walls that resemble fabric cuttings.
    The photography is by James Nelson. 

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      Studio Anne Holtrop creates gypsum walls that look like fabric for Maison Margiela store

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      Dutch architect Anne Holtrop has remodelled Maison Margiela’s concept store in London adding walls cast in textile moulds to reflect the brand’s garment construction techniques.Located at 22 Bruton Street, the boutique is laid out across 190-square-metres and displays Maison Margiela’s Co-Ed collections, with men’s and women’s ready-to-wear alongside accessories such as shoes, jewellery and eyewear.

      Gypsum partition walls separate the retail space
      The store features a pale, tonal colour palette in keeping with the Parisian label’s all-white studio, with the plaster walls and ceilings retained in their natural finish and floors and fixtures made from travertine.
      A number of the store’s walls and columns were individually hand-cast in textile moulds, leaving behind folds and dents to create the illusion of fabric billowing in the wind.

      Floors tables and shelving are made from carved travertine

      This unconventional casting method is intended to reflect a garment construction technique used by the fashion house that is designed to disrupt the “anonymity of the lining” and reveal the inner workings of a garment.

      Wooden curtain drapes around a lift inside Maison Margiela’s Milan store

      “The gypsum casts in textile formwork translate the ‘anonymity of the lining’ concept into an architectural element,” explained Maison Margiela.
      “After removing the textile formwork, the imprint of the textile remains visible on the surface of the walls and columns, together with the pleats of the textile and volume of the gypsum that pushed the formwork out. The walls and columns are turned inside out – we look at the lining, the interior of the wall.”

      The Bruton Street store houses clothing as well as accessories
      Holtrop, who founded Amsterdam-based Studio Anne Holtrop in 2009, installed items of “misfit” furniture throughout the space. Featuring familiar forms that have been warped and skewed, these were designed to lean and fold around the interior.
      To lighten the store’s travertine floor and carved fixtures – including shelves, display tables and seats – Anne Holstrop Studio developed a technique that involves filling the stone’s natural indentations with colour-contrasting epoxy resin in optical white.

      The gypsum walls are cast in fabric moulds
      “Normally the porosity of travertine is carefully filled with an epoxy in exactly the same colour as the stone,” explained the studio. “With an infill of white epoxy, the porosity of the stone adds an accurate drawing, a staining of the material itself.”
      The finish was inspired by another of Maison Margiela’s characteristic techniques called décortiqué, where haute couture technicians cut through the layers of a garment in order to reveal its construction.
      “All that remains is the skeleton, the core components, which enable you to recognise what the item once was,” explained Maison Margiela. “It entails cutting around the seams to emphasise the structure and detailing.”

      Indentations in the travertine were filled with white resin
      In contrast to the rest of the store, the walls and ceilings of the fitting rooms are coated in layers of hand-brushed, high gloss paint reminiscent of Japanese lacquer cabinets.
      According to Maison Margiela, the store reflects its “evolved visual language” which was developed by John Galliano after taking the helm as creative director in 2014.

      Changing room doors are finished with a high-gloss lacquer
      Holstrop’s gypsum-cast design was first introduced during the label’s Artisanal AW 2018 show, in which Galliano revealed the structures, interlinings and inner padding of clothes that would normally be concealed.
      Photography is by Henry Bourne.

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