Din styles Lisbon fashion store

Portuguese retailer FS Ribeiro has launched a new fashion brand called Fashion Clinic, with design work by Din Associates.

The first 307m2 store is in Lisbon and incorporates a café. The retailer, which owns various other fashion brands in a 24-strong store portfolio, briefed Din Associates to design “a clean and serene environment which would allow customers to focus predominantly on the merchandise”, says Din’s design director John Harvey.

An obtrusive shopfront has been replaced with a full-height 20m-wide silicon-jointed, glazed front to maximise natural daylight. Varying floor and ceiling planes, large floor slabs and a monolithic half-height wall with a slot opening have been installed.

“The slot creates a positive curiosity for pedestrians on the street by allowing them a glimpse into the main area, but purposely depriving them of an uncensored view of the store,” says Harvey.

The café features a 4m-long cantilevered, bead- blasted stainless steel shelf which “floats above a stone clad wall”, adds Harvey.

The consultancy, which was approached by the retailer for the job, is currently working on concepts for a second Fashion Clinic store, to open in September in Oporto, northern Portugal. Other stores may follow depending on the success of the first two pilots.