Jim Kapelson, one of the 3 brothers who along with their dad runs the family clothing business, Kaps Menswear, called me one day and asked if I would take a look at all 4 of their stores and come up with something more progressive and reflective of the line of high end European men’s fashions his store carries. Having just returned from Italy and seen how the Italians market their clothing, I said sure!
We went through all the properties and decided that we would built the first prototype at the Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill.
The idea was to ‘frame’ each line of clothes and provide a gallery of frames each highlighting a different line or brand of clothing. The store front was in fact designed as 2 deep frames in which mannequins and other types of displays could be shown. Between the storefront displays was a double glass door surrounded by another mahogany frame which you walked through to enter the store.
One in the store the theme repeated itself in various ways in the dressing rooms, tailoring area and check out counter.
The walls and ceilings were painted a soft cream color to give the atmosphere of the space a warm soothing feel. Lighting was a combination of concealed lights in the display frames, adjustable track lights on the ceiling and metal pendant lights in the middle of each of the structural bays.
The juxtaposition of sophisticated materials and shapes with the casual arrangement of the displays and furniture gives the shopper a good feeling of what it feels like to wear these fabulous European men’s designs.
Tags: Commercial Design //
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