By Penny Craswell
A new Nudie store in Little Collins Street in Melbourne showcases the sustainable ethos of the brand with repurposed materials, sustainable finishes as a sewing machine offering customers forever repairs.
Fast fashion and wasteful retail fitouts together contribute more than their fair share of waste to landfill, which is why it’s great to see Nudie tackling both challenges head on. Nudie Jeans began in Gothenburg Sweden in 2001 and makes jeans from 100% organic cotton, creating garments that are designed to be broken-in and worn, then mended for a long life.
Sydney interior architecture studio X+O designed the new Little Collins Street store, which is only 31 square metres, with the idea of reimagining a retail store as a repair store. “The focus revolved around placement of the repair station (sewing machine) front and centre into the shop front,” reads the design statement.
Dominating one wall of the interiors is a jeans wall, with all the different Nudie jeans stacked in piles on shelves. “Increasing density in a small store was addressed through the full height hoop pine denim cubbies with integrated storage cupboards underneath,” the design statement continues.
Sustainable material choices include the low carbon and FSC certified DesignerPly Hoop Pine from Forest One, which was used for all shelving and the fitting rooms, and a Valchromat board – a natural material with low toxicity and low emissions – used in shelving and on the desk.
Reusing the existing brick walls, shopfront and track lights reduced the need for demolition and replacement. And the choice of durable Winckelmans tiles made of a natural material adds to the longevity of the interiors.
A plant wall completes the look, while also keeping both staff and customers healthy and happy.
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