Jil Sander designers Lucie and Luke Meier receive a chance to leave their mark on the Jil Sander brand. The co-creative directors work with esteemed British architect John Pawson to design a new Jil Sander concept store in Tokyo. Their first collaboration, the new 268 sqm. space is located in the Omotesando district.
“My vision for the store was always of a place charged with a sense of quiet depth and permanence, where the first thing you register is the atmosphere, rather than the architecture : simple, meticulously pared back spaces where people feel comfortable and where the focus falls naturally on the clothes”.
John Pawson
According to Pawson, Lucie and Luke Meier were intimately involved in the project and brought a fresh perspective to the design process.
The facade, at street level, is a long window that rather than displaying the collections serves the purpose of giving an immediate overview of the interior, of its volumes, proportions, structure and mood. It is a transparent threshold which spills out into a fluid space drenched in daylight marked by a large evergreen banyan tree ascending between floors.
One of the key words of the project is ‘proximity’. The barriers between interior and exterior vanish: the mirrors draw the outside inside and the inside out. This allows the store and its content to be placed on display.
The beauty of the project is in the simplicity of gestures. Pawson uses local craftsmen for the construction and for design he focuses on utility, performance and function.
Where possible Pawson uses raw textiles, natural dye processes and sustainable materials leaving them mostly in their natural color. The soft red-yellow hue of light is a reflection of the limestone used for the flooring throughout and from the cherry wood and lime plaster covering the walls.
A white Lasa marble appears sparingly, as an accent, lining the display timber shelves. The vitrines in glass are framed in more cherry wood. The display plinths are made of large pieces of limestone. Linen is used very sparingly for seating. The handrails, in cherry wood, are ergonomically shaped to fit softly in your hand. No paint was used for the walls.
“The result reflects the way the work was done: the way it looks is how it happened”, says Lucie and Luke Meier. “The dialogue with Mr. Pawson was easy and free flowing. It was a pleasure to work with him”.
To celebrate the opening of the store, Jil Sander creates a limited edition of the signature Tangle Bag in white leather with contrasting black logo, available exclusively in the new flagship.
Jil Sander Omotesando Flagship Store
Onden-imaizumi Bldg., 5−7−4
Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo, Japan
The Fashion Plate Magazine 