Men’s apparel retailer Mizzen+Main has launched a new store concept in New York City’s West Village designed to remind visitors of a small-scale lounge. The experiential space is less focused on the transaction and more on creating a space for people to stay, hang out and spend some time talking, drinking and shopping.
The new design is the result of a months-long collaboration with the Bergmeyer architecture firm, which sought to “create a space that embraces Mizzen+Main’s communal nature,” said Eric Kuhn, Design Practice Leader for Bergmeyer in a statement. “The store is about promoting discovery and encouraging engagement, achieved through a sequence of touch points that connects, inspires and encourages interaction, all wrapped in an aesthetic that embodies the brand’s vitality.”
Mizzen+Main consistently utilizes brutalism in its photography as a background against which the brand displays fun, comfortable, and easy-going characters. The retailer hopes to provide a point of permission for customers to know that even if something like a dress code mandates a certain style or behavior, they can still be comfortable.
“We want to help our customers feel unaffected by what is stereotypically imposing and oppressive architecture,” says Richard Ross, Creative Director for Mizzen+Main in a statement. “This new store design provides a unique in-person experience that allows you to cross the threshold and become fully immersed in that feeling.”
