BEAUTY: Installation--Anonymouse

Swedish street art group Anonymouse have just made their first installation of stores for mice...a little nut store called Noix de Vie and a sweet little cheese shop called Il Topolino. The anonymous members of this art group (or member, singular, since no one knows exactly who is behind this) told metro.co.uk, "For us the main point with the little scenes are to spread a bit of joy, so the question of our identities seems quite irrelevant. The scene is there for its own sake so shifting focus to us just seems unnecessary."

All the objects are made from human detritus like bottle caps and match sticks. I love how the nuts in the window have little country-of-origin flags, and that the store fronts light up at night. And I especially love that the Anonymouse logo is a combination of the Guy Fawkes mask used by international hacker group Anonymous and Mickey Mouse ears!

On their Instagram account, Anonymouse have announced that there will be a new vignette, for mice, in 2017...

Actual mouse...

...shopping for cheese.

https://www.instagram.com/anonymouse_mmx/

BEAUTY: Interior--Barberia Royal in Mexico City

ROW Studio, under the direction of Álvaro Hernández Felix, Nadia Hernández Felix and Alfonso Maldonado Ochoa, just created a fantastic barber chop in Mexico City called Barberia Royal.

The description of the space on their blog:
"The lower half of the space relates in colors and materials to the long standing heritage of traditional barbershops including a black and white hexagonal tiles floor with a flower pattern and the Royal name greeting all the patrons at the entrance.

In contrast the ceiling is shaped with an intricate faceted surface that adapts to the changing heights of the space and the structural elements of the building finished with a laser-cut golden anodized aluminum reflective surface that mirrors the plan view of the shop and sharpens the edges of the volume creating a point of interest for the clients as they lay back on the service chairs.

The store plan is distributed into two equally important zones: the waiting area with a fully stocked courtesy bar, very comfortable leathered stools and sofas, shelves with exhibition of the best grooming products for sale that share the space with a real life buffalo head and a fully restored vintage Triumph motorcycle as decorative highlights; the service area is furnished with original chairs from the 1950s upholstered in mustard yellow each facing a large scale beveled mirror with a rounded gilded frame with golden heads of a lion, a wolf, a stag, a zebra, an elephant and a moose fixed onto its surfaces."

http://rowarch.com/

Poisonnerie Némeau

For Poisonnerie Némeau, a fish monger in Montréal, designer Jean de Lessard looked no further than the name for inspiration. Taking Captain Nemo as his brief, de Lessard said, “I approached this project from the ‘vintage’ viewpoint of Jules Verne, but through a time line between today and tomorrow. It’s subtle, a little crazy, but fun!”

The largest and most unique feature is the ice floe sculpture in cool ocean blues outlined in riveted bronze bands (that could have come from The Nautilus itself) looming over the store but then sliding down a wall to become shelving for products. The "floating ice berg" cold cases topped with asymmetric glass were custom designed to showcase the seafood as a fine jewelry store would display jewelry. And the jagged pattern of the flooring and grey walls again brings to mind icebergs and floes. The entire design is such a wonderfully inventive approach.

http://www.nemeau.co/

http://delessard.com/

All images by Francois Laliberté
http://www.studioimagicom.com/

BEAUTY: Interiors--The Loft

The concept of a pop-up, whether a restaurant, food stand, book store, or clothing store, is not new. But there does seem to be a new-ish twist: pop-up stores selling home goods from a completely furnished and styled home. The Loft in Amsterdam, helmed by the creative team of Floris Koch, Kassandra Schreuder, and Maarten Van Huijstee outfits spaces--lofts--that look like someone lives there but in fact, everything there is available for purchase...as individual objects, or as an entire house full of furniture, lighting, rugs, objects, and housewares. I really love the mix they have gathered for their newest incarnation.

And here is their previous pop-up from mid-2014... as equally fascinating and expertly curated.

http://entertheloft.com/

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