Founded only in 2016 by Parisian siblings Mathieu, Antoine and Elsa Mothay, women’s leather goods brand Polène is making ambitious global strides. Following boutiques at home base Paris and New York City, the company has just inaugurated another retail space in one of the planet’s most dynamic shopping destinations—Tokyo. Similarly to the two aforementioned cities, Polène has secured a prominent location, in Aoyama to be precise, arguably the city’s most fashionable shopping grounds. Here, the retail space occupies two floors of a modern low-rise building, wedged in between the stores of Mackintosh and Alexander Wang, and features an interior design by Paris-based interior designer Valériane Lazard. Interestingly, the understated settings, captured by warm materials and hues, embeds subtle nods to local culture. The ground floor sees walls covered in a sand-coloured plaster, and two sides of the space come with recessed shelving.
Furnishings comprise a sales counter in soft red stone, in addition to deep indigo volumes, crafted from lacquered wood, which serve as both seating and displays. First created in 1929 by Makino Urushi, a collective of craftsmen from Kyoto, they’ve created these exclusive furnishings using traditional techniques and natural lacquer. Last but not least, the organically shaped ceiling light fixtures have been crafted from leather. It’s here where Polène‘s collection of contemporary women’s bags is showcased. The sense of artistry and craftsmanship, which undoubtedly elevates the shopping experience, is further boosted by a sizeable artwork by lauded French glass artist Emmanuel Barrois which shoppers come across when going up the staircase to the second floor. A glass panel in adorns the entire height of the staircase, and symbolises a flow of water. One floor up, an almost similar backdrop can be found, albeit one which sees bespoke installations by Barrois, which reflect his fascination of transparency and the play of light, presenting Polène‘s recently launched jewellery collection.
Polène
5-3-18 Minami Aoyama (Aoyama)
Tokyo 107-0062
Daily 11am-8pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
