Imagine you enter a clothing store and see no products, no bright signs that advertise with special offers and make a known: inside for fast access. Instead, there is a long, inviting seat on the wall and in the end a work of art. In the middle of the room a number of displays, discreetly directed inwards. Finally, on the opposite wall, a wooden frame with hangers, but only one copy of every article. If you want to try on clothing, you will find spacious, barrier -free changing rooms in the back of the business. Sounds too good to be true?
It is actually true, there is such a shop, namely the new flagship store of the Swedish Slow fashion brand Asket, the first outside of Stockholm, in Brewer Street 72-74 in Soho. The London store extends over 137 square meters and offers Ascets entire permanent collection and a free repair service.
“London’s cultivated and pulsating energy makes it the perfect location for our second flagship store-and our first outside of Sweden. We have built up a strong community in London through our e-commerce and pop-up store and are very happy to create a permanent place to meet both new and existing customers: Co-founder August Bard Bringéus.
“The room was inspired by the idea of a conceptual archive that refers to the academic world in the clothing and its durability. [Alle Regale] are directed inwards and the presentation should encourage people to get and discover, ”adds Store Manager Jack Gullachsen, who showed fashionunited the store before opening hours in a sunny morning in London.
10 years of asket
The opening marks ascets tenth anniversary; The brand was founded in 2015 by August Bard Bringéus and Jakob Sazon Dworsky. It also marks the last product of ascets of permanent men’s collection – “The Wool Trouser”, a trouser made in Italy and was tailored in Portugal that will be released in the fall of this year.
“This year we want to redeem the promise that we gave ten years ago: to create a single permanent collection of timeless essentials. We will not add any further products to our permanent range, but that does not mean that we are finished. We enter into a new era in which we will use more time to refine our existing products and both the latest technologies as well as well -tried handicrafts for small adjustments as well Using bigger developments.
The entire collection can be viewed in the “Archive” of the new London store: a shelf in the middle of the shop, the Ascets of the past ten years.
But that’s not all that distinguishes this shop and its product presentation: Each product is “framed” in a beautiful wooden structure made of Swedish oak, so that visitors can simply absorb what is in front of them.
In addition, each article is delivered with a complete description – where it was manufactured where the material comes from and details about other parts, buttons, for example. From T-shirts to jerseys to sweatshirts and jeans. The T-shirts go through about seven different stations before they come into the store. The majority of the collection is manufactured in Europe and consists of natural fibers.
“What we want to achieve is responsible work, that’s the key word, and transparency. We really want to celebrate it and also use it as teaching aids what is related to the look of the room. How do we train our customers: Inside with what we do, what we are familiar with?
Only one product is exhibited by each product, almost like a work of art. Why? To give visitors the opportunity to feel the quality, see the colors and to interact with the article. When it comes to trying on the clothes, contact with the staff in the shop is intended because Asket has a unique size system and wants to ensure that everyone is announced: the exact right variables.
What is special about Askets size system? The sizes not only range from XS to 2xl, each of the six sizes is also available in short, normal or long, which creates 18 possible size options. “Yesterday I had a customer who had different sizes in many articles, and the fact that he could just come in and take the time to try out everything he wanted … This is such an incredible thing that we can offer ours:” says Gullachs.
If you wonder where the cash register is – there is none. Only a central sideboard, also made of Swedish oak, which invites you to conversations and offers space for merchandise and the tablets, are made about sales. “The room is designed in such a way that it slows down people, incorporates them and does not encourage them to fill shopping baskets. It is about the resistance of the place and the garments. This is the type of mindful consumption that we represent as an asceta in a demanding and upscale way,” explains Gull axles.
Customer: Inside, Ascets Revival Projects can also benefit what free repairs for every Asket garment means. The service closes the circle-from the care instructions when buying to the repair to the return, since the company also withdraws every undesirable Asket garment, regardless of condition or age. In return, customers receive: inside a voucher that depends on the type of back garment. In this way, the label collects around 3,000 clothes a year.
“Two thirds of the clothing that we can withdraw are repaired and washed on the Swedish west coast in our partner system. These reproduced clothing is resold to our restore location in Stockholm. The remaining, non-repairable proportion of the clothing is collected for recycling,” explains Asket.
What’s next for the Swedish slow fashion label? It will be shown how the London store opens the selection for a new audience, for example from Australia and the USA, the latter being a strong market. And who knows, if everything goes well, there could be other Asket stores in European metropolises in the future, maybe even in Berlin?