Aesop’s Hollywood Road store features
pale oak, copper and blackened steel

Australian skincare company Aesop has opened a new signature store in Hong Kong that features shelving made from blackened steel, plus sinks made of oak and copper.

Designed by Aesop‘s in-house design team, the store’s pared-back theme is intended to contrast with the busy antiques shops that it sits alongside on Hollywood Road in the city’s central district.

The designers said they used the neutral colour of pale oak to create “an immersive sense of calm,” while raw materials such as steel, oak and oxidised copper attempt to create an industrial aesthetic.

Shelves made from oak beams set into blackened steel frames line one wall to display the brand’s distinctive brown glass bottles. On the opposite wall, brass garden taps are mounted over large copper sinks.

A treatment room where customers can consult Aesop’s staff for advice about the products is concealed behind a screen at the back of the store, which contains a wooden sink and drawers behind a metal mesh cupboard door.

Aesop ensures that no two store are alike. Founder Dennis Paphitis told Dezeen that he was “horrified at the thought of a soulless chain” and that he believes there is “a direct correlation between interesting, captivating store spaces and customer traffic within a store”.

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• Interiors