esop continues to serve up award winning design with its new store in “The Strand Arcade” in Sydney. Each Aesop store has its own signature look defying the carbon copy stores that were so popular in the 90′s and early 2000′s. Respecting the store’s neighbouring environment is important to Aesop and integration within the area is emphasised. March Studio’s, Rodney Eggleston has again been offered the role to find the “store’s soul” and bring it to life. He has made one of Aesop’s highlight materials “Porcelain” the hero in this store by using the timeless, precious material for the tiles, small furnishings and floor. As always with Aesop, clean lines and only the necessary pieces of furniture and interiors are used allowing optimum space and movement.

The complete range of skin, hair and body products are available in this store, so maximising the wall space was essential. The finishing results are a sublime gallery like offering that continues to push the retail boundaries. After becoming one of the world’s hottest boutique botanical skincare ranges, the Australian-based Aesop brand is now making a name for itself in the world of innovative retail design, injecting a large dose of cool into the concept of sustainability. If you thought the brand’s Melbourne “cardboard” concept store was clever (all of the merchandising stands were made from recycled cardboard), you’ll love its brand new Adelaide “bottle” boutique. The store’s ceiling is crafted entirely out of recycled bottles, precisely arranged in a wave pattern. Who said green had to be dowdy?

These new Australian stores are part of a big phase of expansion for Aesop, which has also just opened boutiques in Paris and London’s swanky Mayfair. Since being established by Dennis Pahitis twenty years ago, Aésop skin care has become an uncontested success story in the notoriously fickle beauty industry — focused on providing its worldwide clientele with the highest quality botanical skin care, rather than subscribing to mainstream-cosmetic anti-aging hype. Aésop now have 78 international stockists, plus 20 signature stores including stores in Paris, London, Sydney and their most recent Melbourne addition, Flinders Lane. In keeping with Aésop tradition — that every store is different; conceived and designed individually so as that each store is a reflection and celebration of its location — the Flinders Lane store does not disappoint, providing its customers with a design and infrastructure that is just as alternative as Aésop’s skin care products. Located in one of Melbourne’s most interesting precincts, the Flinders Lane store interior is made entirely of industrial-grade cardboard; from the display shelving, to the massive eastern façade, and even the counter tops— proving that cardboard can be both striking and structurally sturdy if it’s engineered well.

Designed by local interior architects Rodney Eggleston and Anne-Laure Cavigneaux of March Studios, the ambient new store has drawn attention from all sorts of passers by. Store manager, Kate, says she wasn’t expecting how amazed customers would be by the store’s design. “It’s clear it’s a very tactile environment. Most people come in and tend to want to touch it all.”The Flinders Lane store is located at Shop 1C, 268 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. For a full list of Aésop products and stockists and have more information just visit.

www.aesop.net.au