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The Ugly, the New Beautiful

Photos credits : Balenciaga / Birkenstock

At the end of March, the trendy fashion brand Balenciaga opened the doors to its new London flagship, on New Bond Street. A few days after Dior opened its latest store. The comparison is striking. There, no heritage, no tradition, no Louis XV armchairs or resurrected workshops, but a crude, grey, cold architecture with no intention to show off. 700 square meters, raw concrete walls, a stainless-steel front door, exposed electrical wiring in the ceiling, industrial lighting, a central staircase with glass slabs and an empty elevator shaft. A store whose design is left deliberately unfinished. It serves a modern and austere vision of luxury, conceived to make people feel uncomfortable. The antithesis of the industry’s ostentatious codes. “Each level represents a stage of deterioration or construction, featuring stained and cracked concrete, oxidized steel, distressed textiles, stabilized dust, and mud-like encrustations,” says the brand… Post-apocalyptic atmosphere guaranteed.

Doesn’t the power of luxury lie in its ability to transcend the traditional opposition beautiful/ugly (too narrow minded) to suggest new aesthetic models? Not so long ago, everyone agreed that white socks were unthinkable and Birkenstocks impossible. But for the last two seasons, the former have become the must-have cool accessory and the latter (now in the hands of LVMH) have reached the coveted status of iconic product thanks to new fabrics and countless partnerships with well-known brands – ultimate proof of their desirability. It happens (more and more often) that yesterday’s ugly (the nerd, the redneck) becomes today’s beautiful (the cool, the desirable).

Why now? Because if social networks contribute to conformism, they also encourage anyone who wantw to be particular to adopt codes and thoughts against the tide. Only way to emerge in the continuous flow… while waiting to become a new form of conformism… Raw architecture will probably multiply in our daily life. It will change us from the colored walls (peacock blue, rose poudre, terracotta), the mismatched cement tiles, the velvet seats and the golden brass that dominate all current interior design. Good news.

So What ?

Shaking up the codes of their market, breaking out of an esthetic comfort zone, suggesting new rules, reversing the beautiful and the ugly.... The power of strong brands.

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