Material Girl

In my Revisioning Retail studio Monday, we were asked to draw two pieces of paper out of a bucket; one pink and one yellow. The pink piece of paper had what our retail space would sell and the yellow was our concept. Our assignment was to come up with an idea for a store that would go in a mall that is trying to transform itself into a more upscale shopping center. My pink piece of paper said sleepwear and undergarments, and my yellow concept paper said supernova. To say that I had to think for a long time on how to relate my concept to the product sold in the store would be a lie. After doing some research, came across a description of different types of supernovae. It was on this website that my concept took shape for this project, in the form of a supernova created from Binary stars (A binary star is a pair of stars that are close together and orbit about each other), also referred to as a type I supernova.

How a type I supernova occurs:
a pair of stars are close together
they begin to orbit and revolve around each other
the pull of the smaller star draws mass and energy from it's larger companion
when the stars become too unstable, they collapse and explode

After reading this, I decided that the store needed to be an upscale, classy, deisgner lingerie and undergarment boutique.



"Most supernovae reach maximum brightness a few days after they occur and shine intensely for several weeks. Some fade within months. Others fade over a period of years."
With this model I decided to separate the store into different sections based on what the product was. Articles that were for special occasions, and only intended to be worn once, articles for everyday use, and articles that would be kept for years.

Some designers that I am looking at for inspiration for the product to go into the store are:

I also found that scientists believe that heavy metals like gold came from supernovas. In response to this I decided that instead of the traditional chrome clothing racks, I was going to have gold, and gold accents throughout the store. I found gold mannequins that I thought would be amazing in the store, they not only will match the display accents but they have an alien look about them which lends itself well to the supernova concept.

In my exploration of the internet, I found these heat sensitive wall panels that are amazing. I was trying to find something different to put in part of the store to give a little dimension and also bring down the noise level. These fabric panels can be arranged in different configurations and when touched or when a change in temperature occurs around them, they change like a mood ring. The colors and design created by the change resemble the pictures of supernovas, and relates back to the bright, colorful show brought on by heat. I invite you to visit the NunoErin website to check out these panels.

I would like to have a gold leaf ceiling in at least part of the store, possibly the dressing rooms, or at the center of the store. This picture shows a room with recessed cans set in a gold leaf ceiling which gives the room an ethereal feel, which is ideal for this space.

I decided to offset the gold with black floors and black ceilings in most of the space.

I know that I want to use black lacquered drawers in the space, but I can't decide between the sleek, modern 6 drawer units found in most stores, or actual chest of drawers to give the store a bedroom feel.