Dezeen Magazine

ONS Clothing by Collective

Collective installs stage in New York ONS Clothing store

Architecture firm Collective has inserted a stage with a green curtain for hosting events in the back of the ONS Clothing store in New York City.

The flagship location of ONS, a menswear apparel brand, is located on 201 Mulberry Street in New York's Nolita neighbourhood.

It is located inside an existing structure situated 1.5 metres below street level that was previously a garage.

ONS Clothing by Collective

ONS intends to use the stage space for hosting cultural events, such as exhibitions and pop-ups that it says will change regularly.

Steel railings, ceramic tiles and asphalt flooring are among the references Collective has taken from the streetscape to guide the store's design.

To balance the dark colours and textures of the flooring the studio has inserted pops of colour using light blue tiles on the changing room pods and blue and green counter surfaces.

ONS Clothing by Collective

"The material we used in the store were carefully chosen for the feeling of the street – ceramic tiles, steel ramps, fibre glass objects while their bright array of blue and green colours balance out the crudeness of the black asphalt and steel," Collective said.

Pale wood floors and wood panelling cover the walls in the front room of the store, which the studio conceived as a "standalone wooden box". In the space there are two wood counters for displaying accessories, while rectangular cutouts in the walls to hold clothing racks.

ONS Clothing by Collective

An asphalt ramp replaced the existing wheelchair lift to create an accessible pathway from the street into the storefront and to the rear of the space where the studio has constructed a large stage.

"The ramp allows a natural flow of circulation from a higher point entering the very deep area at the back of the store, and at the same time, its hovering presence performs as an object in space," the studio added.

ONS Clothing by Collective

There are several "props" on the stage including blue- and white-tiered shelving units, curved plinths for displaying products and potted plants, added as a decorative element.

Angular green drapes attached to a steel rack on the white ceiling and wrap around the space to form an adjustable divider. When closed the fabric curtains extend 30 metres forming a backdrop for the retail displays.

ONS Clothing by Collective

"Together with the rearrangement of the bright colour display props, the back room area of the ONS," it continued.

"Flagship is immediately domesticated and activated into a stage for events, with a light touch of living room like domesticity and comfort."

ONS Clothing by Collective

Collective is a studio that practices architecture, interiors and exhibition design founded in 2015.

It is led by Betty Ng, Chi Yan Chan, Juan Minguez and Katja Lam and has offices in Hong Kong, Madrid, San Francisco and New York.

ONS Clothing by Collective

Los Angeles clothing brand Lunya also has a retail space in Nolita that takes cues from "upscale New York" apartments, while other stores in the city include a jewellery store in SoHo.

Photography is by Eric Petschek.