Designing environments for fashion stores

The Arcabi Associates Architects Studio from Florence has for many years been in close contact with the taste and nature of people who “live creatively” and, together with them, has designed and built boutiques, showrooms, deparment stores, malls, headquarters and commercial offices for the most important fashion brands all over the world.
Most of their projects for fashion brands were conceived through an interpretation of different cultures and identities, thus creating “concept spaces” suitable for enhancing fashion design products and creations.
The idea behind this book was developed from the desire to descrige the different processes and methodologies used for the creation of differereng stores. It is a “method” that the Arcabi Associates Studio has been experimenting with for many years and that has become the Studio’s “planning system”. The purpose was not to show a type of design that was an end in itself – that is, a design aimed at ambellishing and sometimes meeting creative ambitions that have nothing to do with the concept space concerned. Instead, the intent was to show a a type of design that assisted the selling process and where quality and function harmoniously facilitated a point of contact between supply and demand and fashion creators and their clients.
This book’s purpose is to describe the designing process of different fashion stores, from the smallest to the biggest ones, in a simple and direct way by analyzing the Studio’s most significant projects. This process is based both on rules that are well-established in the clothing sector and on the Arcabi Associates Studio’s direct experience.

In 1998, architects Aldo Cappa Marchello, Elisabetta Grassi and Ilaria Sassolini decided to establish the Arcabi Asociates Studio. The three partners merged their professional experiences with the purpose to create a modern architectural office that could compete in an international market with very high planning and construction standards. A few years later, Antonio Frecentese, a lawyer with extensive managerial experience wigh some of the most famous Italian fashion brands joined the team. Thus, the Arcabi Associates Studio had finally become a modern firm, capable of meeting the increasingly complex needs of the global market.
Each of their projects is characterized by constant research and by a great attention to detail. In the needs of a market that is rapidly developing, and to the continuous evolution of social environments.
Moreaover, a solid and well-established team of professionals – architects, engineers, designers and graphic designers – have been working for years with Arcabi Associates for the Studio’s different activities. The accurate research and innovation behind every project is supported by leading companies in the field of material supply and technological solutions, and by marketing and cool hunting consultanst, who are experts at identifiying the different market trends.

Author: Arcabi Associates
Size: cm 20×22. Illustrated with more than 200 color images
Isbn: 9788840400242

INDEX:

PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
STORES
PRELIMINARY MEETING AND BRIEFING
PRELIMINARI DESIGNING STAGE
Designing single.brand store
Designing multi-brand store
STORE WINDOWS A DISTINGUISHING MARK AS WELL AS AN INSTRUMENT OF COMMUNICATION
Flagship or concept stores
Malls and shopping centers
Store window in city streets
ARCHITECTURAL SPACE ANALYSIS
Single component elements
FLOOR
Stone
Stone and resin
Resin
Leather
Fitted carpeting
Metal
PVC and linoleum
Carpets
WALLS
WALL FIXTURES
Modular panels with flexible fixtures
Modular panels with flexible, niche fixtures
Wall racks
Wall racks with frame modules
Linear wall racks with “curtains”
Wall racks with modular panels
CEILING
Lines
Offset volumes
Channels
Beams
Modular chandeliers
Plasterboard surfaces
Opus incertum
CENTRAL PIECES
Showcases
Tables
Display bases
Seating space
VERTICAL CONNECTIONS
Stairs in line with the architectural space
Stair in contrast with the architectural space
TEXTURE
COMPOSIITON
New Concept Design Store Sisley – MIlan, Italy
Stefania Mode – Trapani, Italy
Single-brand boutique – Macau, China
XXI Beck – Chelyabinsk, Russia

Author: Arcabi Associates
Size: cm 20×22. Illustrated with more than 200 color images
Isbn: 9788840400242