Collaborations between fellow Norwegians Snøhetta and fashion house Holzweiler date back to 2017, when the latter commissioned the former to design a pop-up store for Paris Fashion Week. Snøhetta developed conceptual furniture for the temporary space – pieces that make their return in a new Holzweiler showroom, flagship store and digital retail channel also designed by the trans-disciplinary practice.
This holistic brief came from Holzweiler’s desire to create a seamless experience for its global customers. Whether they should prefer digital, physical or phygital platforms? No matter – the concept itself centres on the idea of ‘interweaving’ the three. And there’s a double meaning to catch there: ‘interweaving’ also references the handicraft behind Holzweiler’s garment and accessory offerings.
Modularity is a necessity for today’s retail environments. But Holzweiler realized that kind of flexibility wasn’t only important for physical spaces, so Snøhetta envisioned for them a grid that all brand dimensions could exist on.
The first step was the showroom-cum-design-studio-cum-offices: the new headquarters, just outside of Oslo, has a curtain grid that accommodates the changing layout needs of all functions. A storage system – developed with walls made of mirrors and idea boards – promotes analogue and digital craft. In the flagship store – located centrally, in Prinsens Gate – that grid is represented via a flexible shelf system. The material continues the spatial narrative of the showroom, and the layout promotes organic interaction.
Holzweiler’s online channel weaves the concepts of both spaces together, with a layout that mimics that same thinking that went into the physical design. The video-based, dynamic site can be easily altered, and colour palettes can be adapted to reflect collections and seasons.
Running a store isn’t merely about sales alone anymore
‘Running a store isn’t merely about sales alone anymore,’ said Susanne Holzweiler, Holzweiler’s brand director. ‘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.’