L’OFFICIEL speaks with architect Smiljan Radic about creating a feeling of zen through the use of earthy raw materials for Alexander McQueen's new retail concept.

While many storefronts in New York&rsquo;s SoHo were covered in plywood this past weekend as the country swirled in presidential election limbo, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/alexander-mcqueen-fragrance-collection-2018">Alexander McQueen&rsquo;s </a>new flagship opened its doors. The space at 71 Greene Street is designed by Chilean architect <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/tag/smiljan-radic">Smiljan Radic</a>, who is best known for designing the 2014 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London.

<a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/sarah-burton"><img alt="" src="https://usa-grlk5lagedl.stackpathdns.com/production/usa/images/1604946703345229-014DM-AMQ-Chile-18-0029.jpg?w=1900&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;auto=%5B%22format%22%2C%20%22compress%22%5D&amp;cs=srgb" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; float:right; height:250px; margin:5px; width:167px" />Sarah Burton</a>, Alexander McQueen&rsquo;s creative director, tapped Radic to design the brand&rsquo;s new retail concept after being inspired by the architect&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2020/05/08/house-for-the-poem-of-the-right-angle-smiljan-radic-vilches-chile/">House for the Poem of the Right Angle,</a>&nbsp;an angular black-concrete home in the forest of Vilches, Chile. The result is a calming space where organic materials create a sort of cocoon around those inside. &ldquo;We created a domestic labyrinth, installing a series of objects that occupy the space in a seemingly abstract way,&rdquo; Radic tells L&#39;OFFICIEL. &ldquo;A place where you could wander and get calmly lost, and where you could find fashion design, art, and architecture in a true connection, defining your space.&rdquo;

alexander mcqueen soho store.jpg

The store windows are draped with netting covered in embroidered insects from <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/alexander-mcqueen-fall-2018">Alexander McQueen&rsquo;s Fall/Winter 2018 collection</a>. Oak and walnut wood floors crawl up the walls and give way to a honeycomb-textured ceiling, which is clad in a papier m&acirc;ch&eacute;-like material created with excess cotton. Handbags are displayed atop weighty alabaster rocks, and a glass cylinder which pierces the interior&mdash;almost like a tree trunk&mdash;doubles as a zen changing room. &ldquo;We attempted to convey the initial emotions and chill that one feels when entering a wood or forest. The materials are not important by themselves; the important thing is to be clear about what kind of ambience you want to produce with them,&rdquo; says Radic.&nbsp;

alexander mcqueen soho retail.jpg

The architect first began working on Alexander McQueen&rsquo;s new retail concept with Burton in 2017, and it was his first experience designing a clothing store. &ldquo;The experience of designing a retail space when I first started working with Alexander McQueen was something completely new,&rdquo; says Radic. &ldquo;The house is extremely natural, full of emotion but also about juxtapositions and opposites and always with a strong sense of community. I&rsquo;ve tried to convey this feeling in all my projects with Sarah so far.&rdquo;

Watch the short film detailing the retail concept&rsquo;s inception here:

Architect Smiljan Radic Takes L’OFFICIEL Inside the New Alexander McQueen SoHo Flagship

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