by luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuit-
ton, reflective of the Iranian apparel indus-
try’s reliance on imported goods. The main
idea of the space now, though, is to be a place
that fosters a creative network and culture on
a Middle Eastern scale, through events and
exhibitions. Encouraging designers to use
local materials and interact with producers,
the store acts as a setting for the results of
those collaborations to be shared and sold.
The sanctions meant that designing
the store had to be low budget. ‘Day after
day, the rate of the Iranian Rial was drop-
ping,’ recounts Momtaz, ‘and suppliers were
increasing their prices. I knew I had to keep
it really simple, easy to build and adaptable
to the store’s programmes.’ The modularTEHRAN – In November of last year, the US
reimposed the economic sanctions on Iran
that had been lifted in 2015 – a consequence
of the Trump administration’s decision to
withdraw from the Obama-era nuclear deal
between the two countries.
That decision didn’t come as a shock
to architect-designer Sina Momtaz, but it
did halt trade and the resulting economic
crisis spelled out substantial difficulty for the
country’s growing design community. That
didn’t stop Momtaz, who just a few months
later began work on Comode, a new fashion-
concept-store-meets-cultural-platform that
targets Tehran’s creatives.
Before Comode’s tenancy, the 200-m^2
location had housed a store selling products
RETAIL
An Iranian concept store
overcomes sanctions to
rise up for its community
layout was based on of the idea of a wardrobe
in which a designer would be easily able to
display their own product. Momtaz left the
original architecture untouched; for the inte-
riors, he used industrial materials to achieve
a high-end look.
‘Comode was not only a reaction to
what happened, but also an answer to an
existing need,’ Momtaz explains. ‘It’s a duty to
meet the demand of people who are seeking
designed products for a reasonable price.
I believe we must defy the bad circumstances
by searching for other opportunities and
solutions – there is a huge potential in Iran
for innovative design.’ – LGMM
ahsa
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