Manolo, Gina & Me!

Tomorrow I’ll be heading back to the UK for a few weeks to catch up with the rest of the Scarlet Opus team.  Before I leave I thought I’d pop over to Dubai Mall and treat myself to some thick woolen jumpers and a coffee on the waterfront, so last night saw me ooohing and aahing at the spectacular water fountain show before battling through the crowds queuing to go up the Burj Khalifa (hopefully they’ll have died down by my return and it’ll be my turn!) to get to my favourite spot … Fashion Avenue!!

My love of fashion is no secret – much to the dismay of my fiancé and previous bank managers I might add – there’s just nothing quite like that first thrill as you walk into a beautiful store full of beautiful things.  So it’s really only natural that I gravitated towards Gina – one of the most gorgeous stores in Dubai with even more gorgeous shoes!  And then who could blame me for nipping into Manolo Blahnik when it’s just around the corner??

But it’s not just the jewel encrusted, brightly coloured, silk ribboned, shiny leather shoes that get my heart racing … no, it’s the atmosphere.  The feel of the heavy doors that carefully guard all that sparkles and excites, the animated whispers of women who just found another hidden treasure, the princess sensation as you are elegantly swallowed by luxurious velvet and silk chairs … oh yes, these stores have atmosphere:

Manolo Blahnik, Dubai - interior design by Data Nature Associates.

Data Nature Associates, London – architectural and interior design company – founded by Kristina Blahnik (niece of Manolo), and husband, Nicholas Leith-Smith.

From the outside the Manolo store intrigues with its cut-out screens emanating bright white light and glimpses of coloured treasures within.  Once you enter you are surrounded by floating lamps, low-level, jewel-coloured seating and Manolo’s shoes – all brilliantly captured in the gently curving alcoves of the hand-carved, tessellated screens.  It is only as you look up to take in the fabulous Tom Dixon lamps that you realise the space is vast and cleverly everything has been brought down to focus on the celebrated “Manolos”.

Back in early 2009 Selina Denman, Editor of CID magazine, had the chance to interview Kristina when she was in Dubai for the opening; who better to describe the store’s design concept:

Selina Denman: Tell us about the new Manolo Blahnik store at Dubai Mall.

Kristina Blahnik: The Manolo Blahnik concept is that every shop has to be unique to its identity, to its culture, to its artisanry, and to its nature.  When we started looking at Dubai we realised that the danger of looking too much into Arabic culture is that spaces can become a little bit of a cliché. 

We wanted to take it one step further, so we started looking at Dubai in terms of its geological and natural elements.  I didn’t realise this but there are huge coral reefs being killed because of the expansion of Dubai and these are beautiful and unique types of corals.  So we started looking at the patterns of those.  We also looked at crystallised salt, because I understand that there are these incredible salt fields outside of Dubai, called Sabkha.  Obviously, we also looked at the desert and the Bedouin lifestyle – the shapes of the desert and those beautiful ripples as the wind flies over it.

In a space that is 5.2m high, something as small as a shoe is going to get swamped.  So we’ve brought in a very plain grid to give scale to the object.  We had to lower the ceiling somehow, so we thought why not take this opportunity to create a datum of Tom Dixon lamps, which absolutely captures that Arabic feel and is offset against this almost lace-style, coral and salt pattern, which we then curved.

The shape of the shop is tricky but we wanted to get the softness of sand dunes, so we’ve curved everything into five pockets of seating.  The idea is that you can sit here and relax and have a cup of coffee or tea and just look at the objects around you.  There is a diversity to the objects around you. The idea is that you have to experience the shape of the shoe and the humour in it, which is why we’ve gotten rid of shelves.  We don’t do any shelves in any shops anymore.  Here we are hooking the shoes, in Istanbul it is plugging, in Athens it is magnets, in Hong Kong it is clamping.

SD: What is your favourite element of this interior?

KB: The screens.  We gave the franchise holders the impossible task of creating a four dimensional object and every single one is different.  We were researching in London and they were researching in Dubai, with Huget Design, the contractors.

We looked at CMC cutting, we looked at moulding, we looked at every different thing.  Fantastically, we came back to the artisans and used all hard wood.  Enormous trees, fortunately from sustainable forests, were carved by hand.

The lamps were brought in from England but the furniture was custom-made in Dubai.  The fabric was from Designers Guild – there’s a little distributor here in Dubai.  We wanted to get some brightness in and were originally looking at pony skin but thought coloured velvet was softer and more comfortable, especially with the heat.

SD: How fundamental are the interiors of a shop to the whole shopping experience?

KB: Everything and more.  If you can’t capture the essence of what you are selling in the space, then you are not producing anything as a spatial designer.

SD: Do you think enough attention is paid to that connection in Dubai?

KB: I think there are the little gems that you are excited about going to see because you’ve never seen anything like it and you will never see anything like it.  I think that we walk around in a globalised coma right now – you can go into a giant fashion-label store and have exactly the same experience every time.  I might as well not move out of my home.  Why not give people the opportunity to get excited?  I also think people should be comfortable.  If I am going to buy something and I am going to spend a lot of money buying it, I want the full package, from beginning to end.  From service to space, to product, to quality, to the bag, to the experience of unwrapping it.

SD: What five words would you use to describe the new Dubai store?

KB: Luscious, comfortable, quirky, subconscious and Manolo.  It’s his favourite store.

SD: What makes good design, in your eyes?

KB: I don’t think you have to be too clever.  You just have to be natural.  Chrome is my one big hate.  I don’t understand why everyone needs things to be so shiny.  I like things to be muted, natural, rough and earthy, because people understand that.  There is something inherently natural in our minds.  I can’t relate to all this bling and all this chrome – I can relate to wood.

SD: What is your favourite space, design wise, in Dubai?

KB: There is some amazing design here.  I’ve been to Dubai very little but hotel wise, the last time we came we stayed at the Park Hyatt and it was so comfortable.  I love Moroccan design – you can’t really go wrong.  Dubai Mall, when finished, is going to be great.  It’s got the right size and the right scale and the right rhythm.  It’s not like some malls in Hong Kong, where the shops are almost trying to attack you.

Around the corner at Gina you receive a completely different experience …

Gina, Dubai - interior design by Caulder Moore - finalist for Best International Store at the 2009 Retail Interiors Awards.

Caulder Moore, London – creative agency – Creative Director, Ian Caulder.

With a strikingly dark exterior, even amongst her Armani and Dolce & Gabbana neighbours, Gina commands attention.

Upon entering the store it as at once dark and light as the three bespoke ring-shaped Swarovski chandeliers suspended from the ceiling glisten against a backdrop of black gloss and smoked-mirrors and your attention is transfixed upon the crystal delights ahead.

The shoes are displayed on a tiered, smoked-mirror table with legs in the shape of the iconic Gina shoe motif.  Ian Caulder feels this is the perfect example of what he calls an “ownable” brand, “The table is custom made for this store and is a signature of the store.  You may choose to order these tables if you so like them”.

Velvet pouffes in champagne create a luxury fitting area behind the table with a feature floor to ceiling illuminated mirror on the back wall inviting you to see that yes indeed, those crystal sandals really were made for you.  On either side of the mirror, glass cases line the suede wall displaying more shoes like crown jewels, too precious to be handled.  This is exactly the idea behind the design as Caulder explains, “This whole store is about creating an emotional intelligence with the brand, where the product itself is like a jewel that is displayed with the same care and attention it was created”.

Finally, through an arch in the glittering, black wall to the right, is the couture area, where the shoes are displayed in more glass cases which are recessed into a curved wall clad in snakeskin fabric panels, and suspended from the black gloss ceiling is a plunging Swarovski crystal chandelier.

J.S. Gill, CEO of One of a Kind – Gina’s partner in the UAE – believes that “Caulder Moore has created a truly unique and spectacular retail concept which should be very well received by the local and international consumers coming to the Dubai Mall Fashion Avenue”, and oh how we agree Mr Gill!

To see the latest collections from Manolo Blahnik and Gina visit:

www.manoloblahnik.com

www.gina.com (commercial enquiries can be directed to marcom@oneofakindltd.com)

Or to contact the interior designers visit:

www.datanature.com

www.cauldermoore.co.uk