Following decades oil dependency, Saudi Arabia is awakening. The country’s new socio-economic reforms aim to diversify its livelihood, and already have spawned a flurry of high-quality home grown brands that rival the many international names that have been available in the country just as long. Exemplary of this new wave of Saudi companies is Asteri, a vegan and animal-friendly beauty brand launched in 2023 by interior architect-turned-entrepreneur Sarah Al Rashed. Following a digital-first launch and a pop-up store, the Riyadh-based brand has inaugurated no less than four standalone boutiques nationwide in Jeddah, Abha, Dhahran, and also one at its home base. All stores have been designed by acclaimed London-based design studio Dalziel & Pow, and each one features a distinct setting. The Riyadh store occupies a ground floor unit at Al Nakheel Mall in the city’s downtown neighbourhood of Al Mughrizat neighbourhood
The retail space takes ample cues from the city’s modern urban setting and the surrounding Nafud desert with its sand dune landscapes and rock formations. The façade resembles a beautifully abstracted entrance of a cave. In contrast, the interior shows a soft beige backdrop with organically shaped recessed shelving units, embedded circular mirrors and an attached display and storage counter. Meticulously designed shard-like trays in different materials and colours present various Asteri products. Taking centre stage is a matching large display counter with similar ‘shard’ trays, but here, shoppers can try out the merchandise while gazing in upright shard mirrors as well. Right behind, a wall-mounted bench with bulbous features can be found. An emerald green back wall with LED screen offsets the sand-coloured interior, while a large ceiling light installation provides functional lighting with a bit of a wink. The new Asteri store stocks the brand’s full range of cosmetics and accessories. © superfuture
Asteri
Al Akheel Mall, 2976 Tariq Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz, Ground Floor (Al Mughrizat)
11564 Riyadh
Mon-Thu 9.30am-11pm
Fri 2pm-11pm
Sat-Sun 9.30am-11pm
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.
