The display boxes are illuminated with an LED tapelight detail. Narrow beam LED track fixtures add an extra punch of light.
Jake Breinholt The display boxes are illuminated with an LED tapelight detail. Narrow beam LED track fixtures add an extra punch of light.

For the design of its first East Coast retail location, activeware company Aether Apparel teamed with Paris designer Thierry Gaugain and New York City lighting firm Lumen Architecture to create a whimsical, industrial chic shopping experience in New York’s Soho neighborhood. Playing off the company’s introduction to the city two years prior, when it opened a pop-up shop in a converted Airstream trailer, the new brick-and-mortar store riffs on the mobile experience displaying merchandise in 36 wooden crates, each lit by an LED tapelight detail.

Aether's New York City store in SoHo.
Coutesy Aether Aether's New York City store in SoHo.

Details
Project: Aether SoHo, New York
Client: Aether Apparel, New York
Architect: Rise Projects, New York
Lighting Designer: Lumen Architecture, New York
Additional Designers: Thierry Gaugin
Project Size: 2,405 square feet
Project Cost: $500,000
Lighting Cost: $107,503(installation, equipment, and controls)
Watts per Square Foot: 1.4 

Lighting Manufacturers
Amerlux: 15W trackhead and global track with current limiters
Foscarini: LED PendantlLamp at checkout area
Hafele: LED tape in merchandise display crates

  

A view of the store interior.
Courtesy Aether A view of the store interior.
The check-out area is casually illuminated with a decorative swing-arm tasklight.
Courtesy Aether The check-out area is casually illuminated with a decorative swing-arm tasklight.