S-p-a-c-e Projects created a 1970s-inspired space in Amsterdam for Stieglitz using the clothing brand’s own patterned pieces to paint a scene reminiscent of the era.

Key features

Stieglitz is a women’s clothing brand known for its colourful, loud prints and flare trouser silhouettes. For the brand’s Amsterdam outpost, Stieglitz founder Pien Stieglitz brought in Pepijn Smit of S-p-a-c-e Projects to create an experiential retail space in the centre of Amsterdam, in a popular shopping area with boutique and flagship brand stores. The space is divided into three main sections. A retail space and in-house atelier are split between the front and the back of the ground floor while a secondary office space for the brand is on the first floor. Shaggy rugs, soft rounded forms and a colour palette of brown, red and orange tones are a clear invocation of design influences from the 1970s. 

The rugs encompass retail displays, while shorter-hair carpeting covers the floor, sales point, back wall and rounded tunnel-like corridor which leads to the brand’s in-house atelier space. In the workshop space, Stieglitz's signature flare pants can be made to order for guests on the spot. A communal seating area occupies the ground floor with vintage design furniture pieces in retro playful shapes and colours. Texture and colour are used to create a visually interesting space, while still maintaining a relatively neutral background to let the clothes' prints shine through. 

Frame’s take

Just as Stieglitz reinterprets retro fashion to contemporary trends and tastes, S-p-a-c-e Projects followed the same process. Vibrant patterns and prints are a principal characteristic of '70s design, but instead of overwhelming the space with externally sourced patterns, the designer drew on Stieglitz’s own repertoire. ‘I always start with the core values of a brand,’ Smit told us about his approach to retail design in Frame 144. ‘That leads to a concept, which leads to a design whose certain shapes, colours and details fit that concept. In that way I’m always creating unique spaces because there’s always a different story to tell.’ 

The story here recalls the inspiration period's design style, but Smit's approach smartly lends it an accessible appearance to those who may not immediately connect with a 1970s aesthetic. The decision to exclude other patterns in order to truly showcase Stieglitz's pieces successfully communicates a harmonious brand atmosphere, and the atelier offer engages the purchasing client and the potential alike.