Aēsop opens in Islington as it continues location-inspired design approach

As Aēsop expands its store footprint, the brand continues to champion its localised design concept in order to create thoughtful spaces and customer experiences, whether in the UK or globally.

The brand's new opening in London's Islington is just one example of how it taps into the heritage and culture of each location.

Credit: Ollie Tomlinson

Taking inspiration from Upper Street’s long-standing history as a "bustling commercial thoroughfare", the space enfolds past and present together, with a plasterwork French baroque style façade, patinated brass elements, and salvaged cast iron lamp posts.

Credit: Ollie Tomlinson

Large arched windows frame the warm, welcoming space, illuminated by 1950s wall lights from the Eastern Bloc, while reclaimed London Yellow bricks span the floor and counter units.

The brand's products across skincare, haircare, bodycare, and fragrance are neatly displayed, ready for exploration.

Meanwhile, an en-suite basin allows for more intimate consultations and personalised encounters with the formulations.

The opening follows a number of new stores for Aēsop, including in London's Marylebone, Regent Street, Canary Wharf and Heathrow Terminal Five, as well as in Cambridge and Glasgow.

As with the new Islington space, these stores were inspired by the unique history and purpose of their individual locations.

It is interactions with varied cultures and built environments that directly inform the brand’s approach to design.

Each space is created to be "distinctive and atmospheric, comforting and inspiring, functional and organised", whilst fitting harmoniously within the local context, and expressing respect for the unique locales that the brand has been given to inhabit.

Aēsop Heathrow Terminal Five

More than two decades after the brand’s first signature store opened, spatial poetics remain "paramount" to the creation of each space.

Whether it's taking inspiration from 1960s futuristic interiors for Heathrow Terminal Five or blending Canary Wharf's early history as one of the busiest docks in the world with its contemporary significance as a hub for London’s banking and financial services, each of the brand's stores offer a unique design experience.

"Avant-garde and sensitive store design has been and will continue to be an integral part of what Aēsop is—true to the brand’s conviction that few things are more conducive to a life well-lived than well-considered design," reads a statement from Aēsop.

Aēsop Canary Wharf

Having achieved B Corp certification in 2020, Aēsop is also committed to becoming a fully regenerative company, partly through retail design, with an ever-greater focus on sourcing materials locally and ethically, as well as reducing the embodied energy of each store.

The Australian brand said it is "meticulous" in finding opportunities for reuse, sometimes salvaging debris from nearby demolition sites or scouring flea markets for its store designs.