Today (20 September 2024) Augustinus Bader unveils a pop-up in collaboration with designer Harry Nuriev in its flagship Palais-Royal boutique in Paris.
Nuriev, who has also worked with the likes of Balenciaga, Nike, COS, and Dover Street Market, is the founder and creative director of Crosby Studios, an architecture and interior design practice known for its agenda-setting aesthetic, which the artist has dubbed ‘transformism’.
Augustinus Bader opens a pop-up space by Harry Nuriev in its flagship Paris boutique
It’s a match made in heaven for Augustinus Bader, a brand renowned for its regenerative, science-led skin, body and hair care. All of its products have been formulated with patented TCF8 technology, developed by biomedical scientist Professor Bader.
This includes the likes of ‘The Rich Cream’ and its lighter counterpart ‘The Cream’, moisturisers beloved for a shared ability to hydrate, soothe and speed up cellular repair, whilst evening out skin tone and texture.
In October 2023, Augustinus Bader partnered with Haider Ackermann on a set of limited-edition bottles for ‘The Rich Cream’ and ‘The Cream’, followed by a collection of tinted lip balms by Sofia Coppola in May 2024.
But the latest venture, with Nuriev, takes a more immersive approach. A long-time fan of the brand, Nuriev reached out directly with the idea of taking over a retail space. ‘I was instantly intrigued,’ CEO Charles Rosier said in a press statement.
The result, open from now until January 2025, is a fusion of sharp, metallic fixtures, bare plaster walls, and plush, deep-pile carpet in the signature shade of ‘Bader blue’. ‘My work always clashes history with modernity,’ Nuriev tells Wallpaper*. ‘Augustinus Bader is a tech-led brand and goes beyond traditional beauty and cosmetics. I wanted to highlight this too.’
The formality and tradition of Jacques Lemercier’s 17th-century Palais are juxtaposed by courtyards and gardens filled with modern art. This is mirrored in Nuriev’s pop-up, where a serene green garden is visible through the windows of the space in a textural contrast to its clean, precise lines.
Nuriev adds that he took this opportunity to experiment with ‘what cosmetic retail might look like in the future’, through this mish-mashing of materials.
It’s the same sense of duality that defines much of his work, where the fluidity of water offsets a hard and impersonal hint of chrome, industrial stainless steel is tempered with slabs of jagged stone, or pooling drapes of cool silver lamé soften polished concrete.
‘Every space or object I create has a meditative subtext,’ says Nuriev. ‘It's something I prefer not to explain but will ask you to experience yourself.’ A similar feeling of calm is evoked when performing an Augustinus Bader skincare routine (something which also must be tried first-hand).
The Augustinus Bader flagship boutique is located at Domaine National du Palais-Royal, 84 Gal de Beaujolais, 75001 Paris, France.
