SMOKE & MIRRORS Design for luxury lingerie store located on Madison Ave, NYC

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING showing interior and façade of store, drawn using Autocad and rendered in Photoshop. 

Floor Plan, created in Autocad and rendered in Photoshop. 

Lighting Plan and Selected Fixtures

Elevation Facing South, drawn using Autocad, rendered in Photoshop. 

Elevation Facing North

Elevation Facing West

Elevation Facing East

Perspective of Back Retail Area, drawn using the two-point perspective method with Autocad, rendered in Photoshop 

Perspective of Front Window Display and Dressing Room Area, drawn using the two-point perspective method in Autocad, rendered in Photoshop

Primary Material Selection

For the first project of their 3rd semester, Interior Design students at FIT were randomly assigned a category of high-end retail and a location on Madison Avenue in NYC. They were asked to resolve the issues of branding, marketing, and design of the interior and facade, especially concerning themselves with the recent decline in the relevance of brick and mortar stores. I was assigned the retail category of "luxury lingerie," and developed the design solution for a fictional store which I named Smoke & Mirrors. By targeting an influential group of women between the ages of 30 and 45 who are independent, professional, and career-driven, a group of women who are idolized by both the younger and older generations, there's a hope that Smoke & Mirrors can catapult itself to the forefront of the high-end lingerie market. Since lingerie is considered an especially revealing line of apparel, a branding concept was reached that allows women to decide how much or how little of their bodies they want to expose. All of the lingerie sold by Smoke & Mirrors is fashioned from your choice of two materials, mesh or satin. The mix of translucent and opaque material in simple and uncomplicated designs, coupled with the sophistication of an all black color palette, is perfect for the modern, professional woman. The design concept of "reveal and conceal" was chosen to accentuate this sense of power a woman has over exposing her body. Innovative materials that deny their natural properties were selected for the way they are only identifiable after investigating them up close. From this, the name Smoke & Mirrors emerged, a term that is used to describe the deceptive and cunning ways a magician conceals the methods of his illusions. These materials are Wood-skin, a self-supporting system of geometric wood forms; Liquid Marble, a computer generated carving of black marble that mimics the surface of a moving body of water; and a reflective textile that is structured to drape geometrically in a way that is uncharacteristic of fabric. These materials are balanced with a black polished concrete floor and a black satin-brushed aluminum for the walls and ceiling. There are three main areas of the space. The entrance and the front retail area is where the point of sales is located and is the first impression of the store as a whole. The back retail space houses more of the merchandise and is located furthest from the entrance. The dressing rooms are placed in the front of the store, located along the facade and to the south of the entrance. Displays are built into the walls and glass cases using the liquid marble are fashioned to display other merchandise. Recessed LED light fixtures are built into the ceiling and used in the wall of the front window display, and a few recessed floor lights are used to highlight the Wood-skin along the facade and interior. The most notable aspect of the design of the store is the dressing room, where a one-way mirror in the front two rooms looks out onto the city sidewalk. The thrilling and empowering experience of trying on lingerie while looking out onto Madison Avenue is something that has the potential to bring in even more clientele. The use of "reveal and conceal" as a concept in all aspects of the design and branding coupled with this sense of empowerment, is something that makes Smoke & Mirrors unique in an industry that generally focuses on dressing up women for the male gaze.