Since Melanie dal Canton opened her first shop in Berlin almost a decade ago, MDC has blossomed into a tightly knit network of retail spaces dedicated to an elevated experience in cosmetics and fragrances that straddles both the German capital and Munich. The name of its very latest loot, MDC next door, is not only a whimsical nod to the fact that it flanks the original MDC boutique in the leafy Prenzlauer Berg district, but also indicative of the company’s organic growth. In 2017, a beauty and body treatment salon opened just a stone’s throw away, further anchoring the company’s presence in the neighbourhood and deepening relations with a growing fanbase. As such, Dal Canton sensed an increasing need for home embellishments of a sophisticated kind, spurred on by the current global pandemic, resulting in the opening of this new retail space. Situated on the ground floor of a late 19th-century residential building, it features an interior design by Gonzalez Haase, a Berlin-based architecture practice which has fitted out all of the company’s outposts in the city.
Although the premises have seen various transformations by previous tenants, this one arguably is the most dramatic, boasting a clean understated design with an elegant streak. Given the building’s listed status, the original ornate ceiling mouldings have been retained, offering a subtle contrast to both the modern furnishings and flooring in a pitch black hue. Interestingly, Dal Canton grew up being exposed to the teachings of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, and this is very much reflected in the esoteric colour palette. Rows of soft yellow cabinets, compartmentalised and subtly tiered, line the walls and are paired with pink wallboards and matching tinted mirror bands. On one side of the MDC next door boutique the cabinets extend all the way to the back where it transforms into floor-to-ceiling shelving, tying in the front and back space and creating an elongated sightline along the way. The spatial colour coding is further heightened by three vertical plinths of yellow-tinted mirror, all placed in a diagonal line from the front to the back of the premises.
Additional furnishings comprise a sales counter with glass-encased display sections and a circular cut-out on the side, and which is in fact another nod to Steiner. A display table with two overlapping circular glass tops, featuring a striking undercarriage of interlocking V’s in a lacquered poppy green, takes it up a notch, and is paired with shelving units in the same hue. Special attention has been given to the light fixtures whose playful modernity challenge the rigid frames of the ceiling mouldings. So, what’s on the shelves at MDC next door? As a cabinet of curiosities, albeit a highly exclusive one, a tightly curated range of merchandise is presented, ranging from fragrances by Officine Universelle Buly, Grainne Morton jewellery, and Astier de Villatte ceramics, to hand-painted vases and other decorative objects by Ginori 1735, small leather goods by F. Hammann, and collaborative collections with designer Sabrina Dehoff and illustrator Kitty Kahane.
MDC next door
Knaackstrasse 24 (Prenzlauer Berg)
10405 Berlin
Telephone: +49 30 40056339
Mon-Sat 10-8
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