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Architects: Crosby Studios
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Benoit Florençon
Text description provided by the architects. The store features a retail space, a tattoo studio, and a secret garden. New Avgvst space is built around the concept of a “dark kitchen”: one that operates solely for delivery and takeaway orders, without a physical space for customers to dine in. There is a lot of manual labour and attention to detail, just like in making jewelry. Avgvst and Crosby see it as a wandering, nomadic shop put together from scratch, so the “upcycling” philosophy came naturally for the new space. Office blinds were repurposed as wall finishing materials, while foldable camping chairs and tables took place of “permanent” furniture, and restaurant equipment was transformed into display cases.
The creative collaboration between Avgvst Jewelry and Crosby Studios began in 2017 and has brought to life five retail store designs and two product collaborations, as well as many visual explorations and experimentations.
The first Avgvst store created by Crosby Studios opened in Moscow in 2018. It was Nuriev’s idea to make it monochromatic yellow. The color was chosen by chance: Natasha Bryantseva brought a yellow notepad to her first meeting with Harry. It turned out to be perfect for the brand: the color of tansy that blooms in August, the color of the sun, the color of gold. The small yellow store located in the most prestigious retail area of Moscow attracted fashion crowds and was featured in travel guides. Photos taken inside the yellow interior flooded Instagram, so now Avgvst is often evoked through that color. 2018 was also the year when Nuriev’s
Transformism concept took shape; his first bold step was using simple ceramic tiles, an entirely odd material for jewelry retail. A visitor once said, “I like your store! It looks like a public toilet.” Avgvst has always strived to create a less pretentious space to sell gold and diamonds, and so this comment was taken as the ultimate compliment.
