Âme flagship store | Baranowitz + Kronenberg

Renowned architects Baranowitz+Kronenberg (B+K) have designed the flagship store for America’s newest jewellery brand Âme that prides itself in creating a new style of fine jewelry using only lab-grown diamonds.

B+K’s design for Âme sets out to disrupt and redefine the high-end jewelry store environment. It engages customers with fresh vision at every touch point; how jewelry is presented, engaged and explored. Music, scent, and touch are all key elements in the retail experience.

The approach resonates with the vision of Elinor Avni, Âme’s Creative Director who aims to break free from tradition by enabling women to wear high-end jewelry with freedom, evoking their personal style. Avni's jewelry designs are housed in hanging capsules, and in state of the art glass cloches that sit on metallic display pods.

Each pod has its own unique sound scored by DJ and musician Mimi Xu, who has previously worked with designer fashion brands including Prada and Marni.

Spatially, the Âme store has been designed as a soaring 'monochromatic forest' using earthly materials of refined simplicity that evoke a passion for craft and hand-made objects.

To further enhance Âme’s design strategy, B+K collaborated with Anne Kyyro Quinn to develop 3D felt panels along the walls of the store which are set against a reflective stainless steel ceiling and back wall. The entire effect is one of an illusionary depth and height that enhances the nature of Âme. A micro cement floor with hexagon-inspired steel inlays serves as the canvas on which the store is laid.

London-based perfume designer Azzi Glasser has created a unique scent for the brand that forms a permanent feature in the store. Her vision was to capture the essence of the growing diamond, through its faceted layers, entwining the fragrance notes, whilst layering the accords. The scent amplifies the essence of luxury through the finest molecules released into the air.

Echoing the emotional connection a person feels when choosing a piece of jewellery, Âme’s theatrical retail space connects with human senses in different ways; starting with a bold and unconventional positioning designed for the high-end jewelry segment, and following through into the consumer's emotional and sensorial experience.

Alon Baranowitz and Irene Kronenberg said:

“Âme is a new breed of its kind. Unbound by the weight of tradition, it moves forward and introduces the essence of the new and the next for others to follow.

“Our design redefines high-end jewelry retail spaces as performative platforms for self-expression which are as intense and multifaceted as living in the 21st century. Through our work we seek to celebrate our natural senses and recapture some very basic human values which have been diluted or forgotten by the virtual world we are immersed in.”

Âme opened its first store in Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles this month. It also operates a pop-up in New York that will be transformed next fall into a fully-fledged store designed by B+K.

Address:
Westfield Plaza
10250 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90067