LONDON – In 2010, up-market leather-
goods company Mulberry launched a
concept store in London. Responsible for
the interior of the New Bond Street estab-
lishment, which featured a dry-stone wall to
emphasize the luxury brand’s British prov-
enance, was Universal Design Studio. Eight
years on, Mulberry’s creative director, Johnny
Coca, commissioned Faye Toogood to come
up with a new retail concept. The result – her
design for the Regent Street flagship – sug-
gests that the nation’s identity is impossible
to pigeonhole. Whereas Universal elected to
focus on traditional craft, Shoreditch-based
Toogood drew inspiration from brutalism, a
controversial style of architecture pioneered
in the UK by the Smithsons and Denys Lasdun.Toogood and her team juxtaposed concrete
walls with a rich array of materials: gloss
and textured green ceramic tiles, cast resin,
polished pink plaster, digitally printed wall-
paper, brushed stainless steel and patinated
bronze – a selection that effectively softens
the two-storey space. Hand-tufted rugs and
ceramic pieces give the store a cosy feel.
Toogood aimed for a contrast between the
countryside, where Mulberry’s factory
is located, and the UK’s grittier side.
‘It’s a company that grew up in Som-
erset but now is very much seen as a British-
contemporary urban brand,’ says Toogood.
‘However, I didn’t want anyone to forget
where it had come from. Looking at British
brutalist architecture, I felt I needed the »Toogood juxtaposed concrete walls with
materials such as polished pink plaster
and textured green ceramic tiles to soften
Mulberry’s dual-level space.