Dezeen Magazine

Snarkitecture uses steel sheets with garment-shaped cutaways for COS pop-up shop in LA

Brooklyn studio Snarkitecture has used pink-hued steel and floor-to-ceiling mirrors to transform an industrial space in Los Angeles into a pop-up store for fashion brand COS (+ slideshow).

Having previously worked together to create an installation in Milan earlier this year, COS asked Snarkitecture to come up with a concept for a temporary store based on pieces from this year's Autumn Winter collection.

COS LA pop-up store by Snarkitecture

"Snarkitecture really understand the COS brand," COS designers Karin Gustafsson and Martin Andersson told Dezeen.

"We sent them a selection of pieces from the Autumn Winter collection and they came up with this design that is completely different from our previous partnership and yet a great reinterpretation of our collection and brand."

Snarkitecture's Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen used the pink and red tones from the fashion collection to inform their colour palette.

COS LA pop-up store by Snarkitecture

The main focus became the silhouettes of the garments, which was translated through cut-out shapes on sheets of steel.

"We were definitely attracted to the strong silhouettes and distinctive colour hues of the collection, so we integrated these elements into a reductive environment that plays on the concept of reflection," Arhsam and Mustonen told Dezeen. "The space should be immersive through the subtle shift of one tone to another."

The collection is sparsely displayed across long clothing rails. A 20-foot-long (six metres) mirrored wall divides the room and creates the illusion of infinite space.

COS LA pop-up store by Snarkitecture

"We wanted to move away from the idea of this being a typical garment display," said the designers. "The focus of the installation is the silhouette of the garments and these feature as a part of the installation rather than a separate entity."

The collaboration comes a year after COS opened its first US store in Beverly Hills – a place designers Karin Gustafsson and Martin Andersson describe as inspiring and diverse.

"LA is a place that is so inspiring for us, from the landscape to the art scene and the architecture of the city – it all feels incredibly diverse," said Gustafsson and Andersson. "Downtown LA specifically seems to be having an art and design moment."

COS LA pop-up store by Snarkitecture

The store is open from 6 to 15 November, located within Scandinavian design store Austere.

In an exclusive interview with Dezeen last year, COS managing director Marie Honda said that design and architecture has been a "key influence" in the success of the brand.

COS regularly collaborates with architects and designers to create presentation spaces, including André Fu's miniature zen garden and Japanese studio Nendo, which created an installation based on the brand's signature white shirt in Milan last year.