CdG’s ‘Guerrilla’ shops in Berlin, Barcelona and other cities

[nqth]

wwd.com

Rei’s ‘Guerrilla’ Approach

By Miles Socha PARIS

— Retail maverick Rei Kawakubo is about to unveil a campaign against shopping

uniformity and architectural grandeur. Next month, in a remote neighborhood

in the former East Berlin, Kawakubo plans to unveil her first Comme des

Garçons “guerrilla†store, a temporary fashion operation whose concept is

more akin to an artist’s squat than a luxury fashion temple.

“It only lasts one year, and we don’t do anything to the place,†explained

Adrian Joffe, managing director of Comme des Garçons in Paris. “We just go in

there, clean it up and open for business.â€

The 750-square-foot Berlin store, for example, will be in the gallery-studded

frontier neighborhood Mitte, in a former bookstore located next to the

Bertolt Brecht museum.

Aside from the necessary fixtures for a fashion store — a sign, clothing

racks, a cash desk and fixtures — the existing decor, or lack of it, is left

intact. Joffe said the Berlin space, with its raw concrete walls and floor,

has “incredible atmosphere,†but the idea is to put the focus on the

merchandise. “What counts is the product,†he said in an interview.

“What’s important is interesting, good products, not multimillion-dollar

architectural interventions.â€

A second guerrilla unit is slated to bow in Barcelona in early March.

Other targeted cities include Vilnius in Lithuania, Ljubljana in Slovenia and

Warsaw.

“There’s a lot of interest from Eastern Europe,†Joffe noted. However, he

said he could also envision guerrilla stores in other Western Europe

countries and the United States.

In each city, Comme des Garçons plans to partner with local entrepreneurs,

who sign the lease and run the shop. Joffe said he and Kawakubo are charged

with selecting the merchandise, an eclectic mix of new items from her various

collections; selected out-of-season and vintage pieces, sneakers and other

products are selected by the local partners.

[sufu1]

also in tokyo at the old CDG store [the orange door one] on koto dori in aoyama...

this one called HAPPY ARMY STORE -- stipped back minimal concrete shell with junya watanabe designed comme des garçons military product... store opened mid january and will close at end of june

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superslave1

http://superfuture.com