Leading Scandinavian jewellery designer Maria Nilsdotter opened her first store nine years ago. With the brand’s steady growth, it eventually became too small and the brand just opened its new Stockholm flagship.
— I also wanted to take the experience of the brand further — really push the boundaries for how a store can look and feel, which I think we accomplished, Nilsdotter says.
For inspiration, the store architect Daniel Östman looked at Nilsdotter’s ”magical world”.
— It’s a place where stories are told, where dreams are dreamt, and fantasies come to life. We also wanted the store to be a place like no other, where the visitor is transported into a place they never knew existed.
What can you say about the design?
— The store is divided into different settings that vary in materials and an ever-changing frame of references, says Östman. Through the entrance of a starry night sky, a giant doorway opens up into a dark empty hall of plastered walls. Reliefs picturing flying gargoyles watching over the jewellery in glass cabinets that are set on massive shapes of blackened wood. You then enter a room that mimics a Parisian couture salon, furnished with an oversized sofa, large wooden cabinets and in the middle of it all a fantasy tree that gives a pale glow over the whole store. In the far back, a staircase of kaleidoscope mirrors leads up to the softer tent-like room where Venus could reside on a seashell carpet and exquisite furniture.
— This space, Nilsdotter adds, is a physical manifestation of the imaginary universe where my jewellery comes to life. I wanted it to be an experience where you can leave the outside world behind and lose time and space. All of my collections are stories and I wanted this store to be a place where you step right into the fairytale.
For Nilsdotter, creativity is innovation and creativity is the core of the brand.
— We want to change how it feels to go into a store both physical and online. I see creativity as a form of innovation and creativity is the core of our brand. We constantly try to develop the experience of the brand and find new ways to inspire and connect with our customers, whether it’s in our physical stores or online.
Daniel Östman, nature is very present in the new store. How did you work with that?
— Nature is always present in the fairytales of Maria Nilsdotter. So it was very natural for us to work with elements of nature in different shapes and interpretations. From floral and maritime patterns of textiles and carpets to the heavily rifted and burnt wooden textures on the furniture. From the hand-painted stars and planets of the universe to the life-size tree that grows through the floor in the centre of the store.
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