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Thakoon Launches First Store and Omni-Channel Experience in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.
This follows the unveiling of his global e-commerce flagship, Thakoon.com, launched 8th August 2016, and marks the culmination of a shift in the Thakoon business model from wholesale to an omnichannel, direct-to-consumer stance. The store is an extension of Thakoon.com, providing access to a single global inventory, and seamless customer experience.
For the brand’s inaugural space, Thakoon partnered with SHoP Architects. Pulling inspiration from Panichgul’s approach to classic American sportswear, the store environment blends timeless elements with the unexpected, while addressing the evolving retail landscape, and customer needs. Thakoon’s nimble solution – where collections will be introduced in season, in limited time, limited quantity releases approximately every two weeks – is reflected in design and function from online to offline, eliminating barriers between the two arenas to create simplicity and transparency with a unified approach to service.
“The store is a place to engage with the full spectrum of the brand,” says Panichgul. “Just as on our website, I needed to see the clothing breath, and to feel like a personal wardrobe. I want our girl to access us when she wants, through her preferred channels, and to see the undiluted Thakoon vision each season”.
The project began as a historical renovation, requiring reinforcement of a six-floor landmarked former cast iron building. Situated on the ground floor, the 2,500 sq. ft. double-height store façade is marked by nearly floor-to- ceiling stacked glass windows, which invite passers-by in from Wooster Street’s well trodden cobblestones.
As the design progressed, the process became deeply collaborative, with Valle and Panichgul working closely with several artists and designers who fit naturally into the final vision. Together, they formulated a well-rounded, grounded design concept with New York roots and a global sensibility.
Upon entry, primary walls are hand-finished raw American white oak, resulting in a deceptively substantial timber structure, which has the illusion of lightness. The length of the walls were meticulously carved to create an unexpectedly soft, undulating effect. To balance the warmth of the wood, and create flow for each guest’s experience, SHoP commissioned Brooklyn- based Fernando Mastrangelo and his team for cast in place concrete fitting area and rooms, which also serve as a subtle backdrop for the collection. Poured in small batches, each layer blurs into the previous creating striations with a grounded, geologic quality. The effect is tactile, and invites guests to run their hands along the curved walls.
SHoP worked with an Italian quarry to render simplistic display elements in Travertino Rapolano. The results show off the subtle character of the stone, and offer a counterpoint to Mastrangelo’s concrete.
London-based designer Michael Anastassiades created a series of dramatic, double-height lighting fixtures to brighten the space, and bring in a sense of playfulness balanced with the classical.
Furniture was made in collaboration with Brooklyn-based designers Vonnegut/Kraft to create a family of woven leather seating pieces that may be reconfigured depending on environment, as one would do at home.
Panichgul concludes, “It was important the space have what I feel is a distinctly American sensibility, which has always resonated with me: cool, youthful, effortless, and above all, authentic. This is who our girl is, and who I design for.”