Founded in 2013 by former advertising professional Natalia Bryantseva, contemporary jewellery brand Avgvst has since gone leaps and bounds, expanding beyond its base in Yekaterinburg, an important cultural and industrial hub near the Ural Mountains, to Moscow and St. Petersburg with striking design-led stores by rising architecture practice Crosby Studios. The company’s forward and affordable collections resonate well with discerning young Russians and a steadily increasing number of shoppers abroad, and the upward trajectory has resulted in a second retail space in the Russian capital. Situated in Basmanniy, an emerging area of town dotted with historic architecture and blessed with an emerging scene of trendy shops, bars and restaurants, the store occupies a 43 sqm. (463 sq.ft.) ground floor unit alongside Chistoprudniy bulvar, an elegant tree-lined thoroughfare that forms part of the city’s oldest and most inner ring road.
As all other stores, the retail space has been designed by Crosby Studios, and although each interior is visually compatible to signal branding consistency, the design is far from generic as it’s adapted to the physical location and its dimensions. The location of Avgvst‘s new boutique features historical brickwork which has been retained, albeit covered in glass, forming a contrasting backdrop for a series of modern interventions. The aim was to create a museum-inspired setting that would not only showcase the collections differently, but also have it perceived by shoppers in a different light. After all, the jewellery collection has been expanded into various other design and lifestyle sections, and now includes candles, fragrances, leather goods, tableware and sunglasses, and the boutique in St. Petersburg even features a coffee parlour.
The walls are lined with cabinets in bright yellow, Avgvst‘s signature colour, featuring a striking geometric pyramid-textured surface. The setting’s modernism is counterbalanced by a classic marble bench slightly tweaked with circular metal tables that shape-wise tie in with a large ceiling light right above. Large slabs or mirror on both side walls optically enlarge the space. A doorway clad in shiny metal lead to the back section of the store which sees flooring and walls in a bright yellow hue except for the mirror-clad back wall. Concealed in a contrasting all-blue cubicle is a piercing and tatoo workshop, but taking centre stage here is a triangular metal sales counter which comes with two cool meteorite-style light fixtures modelled after earrings from Avgvst‘s very own collection. The new Avgvst store carries the brand’s full range of jewellery and assorted other products.
Avgvst
Chistoprudniy bulvar 12/4 (Basmanniy)
101000 Moscow
Telephone: +7 8 800 5554286
Daily 11am-10pm
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