Presentedby store at Le Bon Marché

External Reference continues its side to side collaboration started in 2017 with Presentedby and will design a new store opening in October in the Dubai Mall and another soon in Mexico City. Presentedby is known to be the premium consignment store amongst luxury sneaker and streetwear-enthusiasts, attracting some of the biggest names in the music, sport and arts industry. 

“Paris is one of the main contemporary art centre and it has always been very inspirational for us. Doing this project at Le Bon Marché was a great challenge where we succesfully mixed the Art Déco essence of the building with the experimentation of Presentedby. The result is a square 3D matrix scratched on the wooden surface by data.” says Carmelo Zappulla, founder and director of External Reference.

For the design of Presentedby at Le Bon Marché, External Reference have drawn inspiration from the enthralling aesthetics of the Art Déco building where it is located, in particular from the square patterns used in the historic glass canopies and also from the iconic escalator built in 1990. In the project, the square patterns have become three- dimensional in order to arrange the trainers diagonally along two walls.

The volumetric matrix fabricated in ash plywood and 3D-milled generates a wavy texture that reveals the layering structure of the wood. The square blocks are framed by brass lines and arranged in such a way as to optimise the visual perception of the products.

This geometrical system of wooden blocks is able to establish a meaningful connection between tradition and future, craftsmanship and digital fabrication, Le Bon Marché and Presentedby.