Vanishing Elephant
Date: October 2011
Address: Shop ACL 14, 14 Albert Coates Lane QVB Building Melbourne, 3000
In May 2011, boutique Australian menswear label Vanishing Elephant approached Foolscap Studio to design their flagship store in Melbourne’s premier retail prescient, QVB. The store’s design aesthetic needed to embrace the brand’s classic, gentlemanly style whilst also allowing the space to be a canvas for their beautiful clothing to be displayed.
In responding to this brief, Foolscap drew upon the 1980’s film Out of Africa for inspiration; it’s rustic imagery and romantic traveller’s aesthetic can be seen throughout, complemented by a contemporary twist.
Like the clothes themselves, beautiful, quality materials became the focus of the interior concept. The floors have been lined with restored 1950′s Tasmanian oak that was recycled from a demolished rail-shed at the docklands. Greyed with age and worn from years of foot traffic, the floor contrasts against the crisp fresh white walls.
Natural fabrics such as canvas and leather have been used throughout the design, harking back to the classic fabric tents used by Western travellers as they trekked across the African wilderness in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the front of the store a draped canvas ceiling has been created to hide meters of ugly mechanical servicing above. In the back of the store, canvas strapped to powder-coated steel frames with leather tags forms the change rooms.
With the need for a flexible display system, the planning became focused on the size and proportion of movable fixtures and the central point of sale. Local craftsmen Kyran Starcevich of the Makery Club and Andrew Hustwaite of Snatch and Knackers collaborated with Foolscap on the design of the joinery. The result was a series of hand crafted A-frames and display boxes constructed from solid pieces of spotted gum (a native Australian hardwood) and steel powder-coated in a stormy blue colour.
The shop front- a timber façade, stands out amongst a sea of retail glazing, with it’s classic pedestal window display and pyramid badge detailing. Fido Projects, our builders, worked with Foolscap Studio meticulously on every detail in the hope that we could create a retail experience that inspired each customer that entered the store.
Builder: Fido Projects
Joiners: Kyran Starcevich- Makery Club / Andrew Hustwaite- Snatch & Knackers
Photographer: Tom Blachford
Size: 89m2
