Portfolio: Odeeh, Berlin

Housed in the Bikini Berlin concept mall, Odeeh set up shop last spring in a space as tailored as the clothes for which the high-end label is known. For its design, the retailer tapped Zeller & Moye (Mexico City) – architects who, at the time, had never ventured into retail design – to engineer a unique store concept.

A rare entity in the fashion world, Odeeh designers Otto Drögsler and Jörg Ehrlich work in the atelier tradition, in which designs are created directly on the dress form or on a live model. To gain inspiration for the project, Zeller & Moye visited the designers’ studio, where they were intrigued by the shape of the dividing panel walls used to separate the workspace, and were eager to bring a touch of the designers’ classic production process to the new store.

Since the clothing is more about sophisticated cuts than the quantity of pieces or elaborate embellishment, the architects sought to reflect a similar aesthetic in its overall design. “They have such a strong emphasis on the cut of their clothing designs, so we felt we should also be very precise with the shapes [in the store’s elements],” says Christoph Zeller, principal, Zeller & Moye.

Repeating right-angle panel walls serve as the location’s primary element, fabricated from raw cement board. Affixed mirrors conveniently allow shoppers to view multiple perspectives at once. The shape created by the angular dividing screens is carried throughout, visible in its zigzag pedestal fixtures, the bases of its clothing racks and in the crisscrossed fluorescent-tube lighting. Since the apparel often incorporates vibrant colors in its hand-woven fabrics, the space’s chromatic tones were left neutral, allowing the clothing to be the main focus.

Each element in the store can be rearranged to present new collections. “We felt that it shouldn’t look temporary,” Zeller says. “It should look really solid and proper, but at the same time give them that flexibility.” Using materials that conveyed a strong, industrial appearance provided a lightweight, inexpensive solution.