Anderson Archives

Eight retro interiors that capture the mood of a Wes Anderson film

Following the release of American filmmaker Wes Anderson’s eleventh motion picture Asteroid City, we have collected eight interiors that embody his distinctive cinematic style for our latest lookbook.

Anderson is known for his retro pastel colour palettes and use of symmetry, as seen in the sets from his latest feature film that are currently the subject of an exhibition at London’s 180 the Strand.

From a Milanese cafe designed by the director himself to a quirky makeup store in China that was styled to mimic 1970s offices, here are eight interiors that were either directly influenced by Anderson or look as if they are taken straight out of one of his films.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bedrooms with bathtubs, Parisian apartments and striking art gallery interiors.

Bottle shop informed by Wes Anderson with central wooden counter and displays on either side — Photo is by Ye Rin Mok

Boisson, USA, by Studio Paul Chan

Local firm Studio Paul Chan took cues from the opening scene of Anderson’s 2021 film The French Dispatch when designing the interiors for this bottle shop by non-alcoholic drinks brand Boisson in Los Angeles.

Elements of mid-century Hollywood design and art deco were combined in a space that includes walnut-stained wooden wall panelling, dusty green accents and a bespoke glass-block counter.

Find out more about Boisson ›

A yellow and orange store interior — Image is courtesy of AIM Architecture

Harmay store, China, by AIM Architecture

A colour palette of muted yellow, orange and brown characterises this shop by makeup brand Harmay, which is set across the renovated second floor of a business park in Hangzhou.

Chinese studio AIM Architecture designed the space to mimic a 1970s office by using rows of yellow desks to display stock and incorporating a retro woollen carpet and frosted-glass sliding “meeting room” doors.

“Creating an ‘old fashioned’ physical retail experience in an actual office space just seemed a fun way to translate this duality of space and time,” the studio’s founder Wendy Saunders told Dezeen.

Find out more about this Harmay store ›

Shelves and a fridge inside a cannabis dispensary — Photo is by Alex Lysakowski

The Annex, Canada, by Superette

The vivid colour palettes and geometric shapes often associated with Anderson’s cinematography also feature at The Annex, a marijuana dispensary in Toronto that was modelled on Italian delis.

Green and beige checkerboard flooring was paired with deli props, tomato-red stools and hanging pendant lights while various cannabis paraphernalia was laid out like groceries.

Find out more about The Annex ›

Bar Luce by Wes Anderson — Photo is by Roland Halbe

Bar Luce, Italy, by Wes Anderson

Created by Anderson himself, Bar Luce is located within the OMA-designed Fondazione Prada in Milan.

Pastel colours and veneered wood panelling were applied to the space, which was designed to reference iconic city landmarks and cafes – particularly those dating back to the 1950s and 60s.

“I tried to make it a bar I would want to spend my own non-fictional afternoons in,” said the filmmaker, who stressed that the bar was not designed as a set but rather as a “real” place.

Find out more about Bar Luce ›

Interior of Cafe Bancado with colour palette informed by Wes Anderson — Photo is by Mikael Lundblad

Cafe Banacado, Sweden, by ASKA

Cafe Banacado is an all-day breakfast cafe in Stockholm designed by local architecture studio ASKA.

ASKA followed “a strong symmetry” when creating the interiors, which feature checkerboard flooring, arched mirrors and a sunny colour palette that was specifically chosen to evoke the dreamlike atmosphere of Anderson’s films.

Find out more about Cafe Banacado ›

The Budapest Cafe by Biasol — Photo is by Derek Swalwell

The Budapest Cafe, Australia, by Biasol

Local studio Biasol designed this salmon-hued cafe in Carlton, Melbourne, to reference Anderson’s 2014 feature film The Grand Budapest Hotel – in particular its symmetrical compositions and “nostalgic” colour palettes.

Stylised steps to nowhere decorate the walls, while a curved archway frames a glossy point-of-sale counter with a tubular base finished in terracotta.

Find out more about The Budapest Cafe in Melbourne ›

Budapest Cafe informed by Wes Anderson — Photo is by James Morgan

The Budapest Cafe, China, by Biasol

Biasol also designed another outpost for The Budapest Cafe in Chengdu, China, that references the titular film.

Here, Biasol combined pastel shades and marble surfaces with similar chunky elevations to those found in the Melbourne cafe. The centrepiece of the room is a tiered terrazzo seating area topped with a pink ball pit and an original Eero Aarnio Bubble chair.

Find out more about The Budapest Cafe in Chengdu ›

Hotel Palace restaurant, Finland, by Note Design Studio

When Note Design Studio renovated a restaurant within Helsinki’s Hotel Palace, the Swedish firm set out to honour the history of the modernist building, which was opened in time for the city’s 1952 Summer Olympics.

Teak panelling, luxurious teal carpet and expansive windows lend themselves to a cinematic atmosphere, while white tablecloths add a touch of glamour to the space, where visitors can imagine Anderson’s characters dining.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bedrooms with bathtubs, Parisian apartments and striking art gallery interiors.

Reference

Interior Design

“I sometimes feel like I fell into doing fashion” says Jonathan Anderson

By Zarkon Group,02/06/2023

Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson set up the brand’s annual craft prize to decode the “chintz” and “pastiche” associations of the discipline, he tells Dezeen in this interview.

Luxury fashion house Loewe recently announced the sixth winner of its annual craft prize at NYCxDesign, which celebrates applied arts and innovation in modern craftsmanship.

A spiky egg sculpture by Japanese ceramicist Eriko Inazaki was selected for the 2023 award from more than 2,700 entries.

“It became chintz”

Anderson established The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2016 in an effort to honour the brand’s 19th-century origins as a leather-making craft collective.

Speaking to Dezeen at the awards ceremony for the prize at The Noguchi Museum in Brooklyn, he explained he also wanted to redefine contemporary understandings of artisanal production.

“I think from the ’80s onwards, [craft] had become this thing which was linked to mid-century, it was pastiche,” said Anderson.

“In Britain, for example, there was a lot of money put into crafts and the Arts Council to boost this idea of making, and then it became maybe chintz at some point.”

Four works from Loewe Foundation Craft Prize exhibition 2023 — The winning sculpture by Eriko Inazaki (front) was displayed among an exhibition of shortlisted projects at NYCxDesign. Photo courtesy of Loewe

“The reason why I set the prize up was to try to sort of decode that,” he told Dezeen. “It was like it wasn’t marketed right. The work was there, but the platform was not there.”

Young creatives are now becoming interested in craft once again, he suggested.

“I think younger people are starting to realise that, as much as it’s interesting being a contemporary artist, it can be just as interesting to be a rug maker or to make ceramics or to work with wood,” said Anderson.

“It’s a less sort of diminished form of the arts.”

“I am probably a shopaholic”

Before being appointed by Loewe in 2014, Anderson founded his eponymous label, JW Anderson.

Although differentiated by what Anderson describes as an “angst” at JW Anderson and a “heightened perfection” at Loewe, the two brands share an emphasis on art, design, craft and interiors.

His collections at Loewe often incorporate elements of applied arts – bringing in collaborators and craftspeople, such as metal artist Elie Hirsch who created solid copper and pewter jackets for its Autumn Winter 2023 collection.

Loewe also presented a collection of decorated wooden chairs during Milan design week that were created by global artisans.

“Art for me is always going to be a language no matter what brand I’m in,” he said. “Because I think this is a way for me to kind of explain to the consumer, what I love, or things that I’m fascinated with.”

Photo of a Loewe store by Jonathan Anderson — Anderson works with the internal architectural team to design stores. Photo by Adrià Cañameras

The Northern Irish designer’s love of craft and art extends to the conception of store interiors for both of his brands.

JW Anderson recently unveiled its first flagship store in Milan during Milan design week, designed by Anderson in collaboration with 6a Architects.

“I sometimes feel like I fell into doing fashion but ultimately the interior part is what I love the most,” he said.

“The thing I love about interiors is, it is a singular kind of environment. Whereas fashion is like a transient period that goes in different environments. I quite like with interiors the control that you can have within space.”

He described his love of shopping for items to appear in stores.

“I think I am probably a shopaholic,” he said. “I could be at an auction or be in a gallery and I’ll be like, ‘oh, that’s perfect for Korea or that’s perfect for…’.”

“I think it just adds this element and a pleasingness for a consumer to go in and to a store and to see an original Rennie Mackintosh chair.”

Anderson feels that for Loewe, the design of stores is sometimes more important than fashion shows.

“I think stores can be more than just like these commercial vehicles,” he said. “I think, for me, the store is just as important as doing a show. It’s sort of even more important because they have to last longer.”

“I’m in a very lucky position at Loewe where I decide everything,” he added. “I have an internal architectural team, but I decide every artwork, I decide every door handle, every fixture.”

However, that does not tempt Anderson to cross over from fashion into interiors permanently.

“I enjoy it because it’s probably more like a hobby,” he said. “It’s something that distracts me from what I do as a day job, but I do it because of the stage of Loewe or JW Anderson.

“But I would never see it as something where I would be like, ‘oh, I’m going to be an interior designer’,” he continued. “There are other people out there that are actually really good at it. I think I’m good at it to an extent, but I change my mind too quickly. I would like it for like a day and then I would want to redo it again.”

The portrait is by Scott Trindle.

Reference

Interior Design

6a Architects brings Soho sex shop windows to JW Anderson Milan store

By Zarkon Group,25/05/2023

British fashion brand JW Anderson has opened a flagship store in Milan that was designed by British studio 6a Architects and draws on the local atmosphere as well as Soho sex shops.

The 53 square-metre-store is located on the Via Sant’Andrea luxury shopping street in Milan’s Quadrilatero shopping district. It is set across a single floor and comprises two rooms.

Photo of JW Anderson store in Milan — JW Anderson’s first Milan store was designed by 6a Architects

While the boutique primarily draws reference from its “bourgeoise” Milanese surroundings, the retail space also pulls from designer Jonathan Anderson’s first JW Anderson store in Soho and from the 2017 exhibition Disobedient Bodies, which was curated by him.

It was designed by 6a Architects, who Anderson began working with in 2017 after selecting the studio to design the set for Disobedient Bodies at The Hepworth Wakefield.

Interior photo of the JW Anderson store — It draws on a Milanese atmosphere

“I thought [6a Architects] really grasped how to take my visual language and turn it into something which was able to be educational,” Anderson told Dezeen.

“They’re very good at hybrid, old or new. They’re very good at this combination, they’re great architects.”

“The store actually is a combination of Disobedient Bodies and a store. It’s a little bit more elevated,” he said. “The front of the building feels Soho, and as you go in, it feels more kind of domestic Milanese.”

Interior photo of the JW Anderson store in Milan — It carries over elements from the Soho store

In a nod to the store frontages of the sex shops found in London’s Soho area, the windows of the Milanese store were decorated with neon lighting and rainbow-slatted curtains.

Anderson and 6a Architects used the design as a juxtaposition against the more typical Milanese interior.

“For me, there is something very sexual about neon lighting,” said Anderson. “I think we associate it with grand gestures and I felt like a window is kind of like a television set. There’s something with neon that it does, it kind of tricks you.”

Photo of the JW Anderson store — Traditional Italian furnishings and finishes fill the interior

“There are little alleyways and they have all these amazing sex stores on and these curtains,” Anderson continued.

“I liked the idea that we have this in Milan and then suddenly you enter into a kind of Milanese setting, something which is very bourgeoise.”

Inside, gridded handmade terrazzo covers the floor and visually divides areas of the interior through bespoke contrasting tones of grey and sand.

Brassy, metallic curtains ripple along the rear walls of the store, in a similar way to 6a Architects’ use of curtains in the exhibition design for Disobedient Bodies.

Photo of artworks at the store — Jonathan Anderson selected furniture and artwork for the interior

Aluminium scaffolding, which was also carried over from Anderson’s Soho store, was translated into display shelving and brought an “angst” to the interior that contrasts against traditional Italian furnishings, such as fluted walnut panelling that envelops two curved walls.

“There is something slightly more underground in terms of the construction of a JW Anderson store, whereas, I think Loewe [for which Anderson is creative director] is about a heightened perfection,” said Anderson. “With JW Anderson, there’s always a bit of slight angst to it.”

“It’s softer inside, and then you have this harshness with the windows where there’s neons and sex curtains and it’s kind of like a theatre. It has moveable parts and in a weird way the store becomes a giant window.”

Photo of the store — It has furniture by Mac Collins

Furniture and artworks personally selected by Anderson fill the interior.

Designer Mac Collins’ black Iklwa chair was paired with matching side tables, while a Cardinal Hat pendant light by Lutyens Furniture is suspended from the ceiling of the main space.

Oil paintings by Chinese artist Hongyan appear to float on the ripples of the brass-coloured curtains, and images by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans sit on the walls of the store’s fitting room.

Photo of the fitting room — An image by Wolfgang Tillmans is placed in the fitting room

“I don’t believe that stores should be completely cookie-cutter,” said Anderson. “I feel like the key is to make sure that each store has a different universe because there’s no point in having something which is just a duplication, duplication, duplication.”

Jonathan Anderson founded his eponymous label JW Anderson in 2008 and was appointed creative director of Spanish luxury house Loewe in 2014, which recently announced the winner of its sixth annual craft prize.

During London Fashion Week, JW Anderson presented a “parallel world of people trapped in their computers” for its Spring Summer 2023 collection.

The photography is by DePasquale+Maffini, courtesy of JW Anderson.

Reference

Anderson

Eight retro interiors that capture the mood of a Wes Anderson film

“I sometimes feel like I fell into doing fashion” says Jonathan Anderson

6a Architects brings Soho sex shop windows to JW Anderson Milan store

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