Trelise Cooper Limited

The client’s aim was to re-launch their presence in Wellington with a new flagship concept which would include elements that could also be used in future locations. This site was an old Dick Smith store with a low ceiling and existing shopfront which was unable to be modified.

The brief called for a reasonably minimal background to the fashion displayed while still conveying the joy and unique personality of the Trelise Cooper brand. The store is often used for fashion events and after-hours client fittings. Trelise was very specific in that she wanted the store to be fashionable but also welcoming with a sense of generosity and opulence.

The low existing ceiling was removed and the slab and services were painted in Trelise’s signature pink colour to remove the flat roof plane and add texture. The back of the store angles and curves behind a ‘Catwalk’ of mannequins that faces the entry vestibule behind the existing front door. Walls remain neutral in colour with ceilings in Resene Eighth Thorndon Cream, while texture and colour are added by the herringbone oak parquet floor and brass accents.

The four fitting rooms are upholstered in different coloured velvet fabrics selected by Trelise. A custom Dilana carpet, features one of her own floral patterns. Trelise wanted a sense of surprise, delight and warmth as customers enter the fitting room area. She also wanted a generous area for customers to be fitted with garments in a semi-private space.

Metallic louvres enable customers to speak to staff from the fitting rooms without being exposed to the front of the store.

Customer comfort was paramount to Trelise so the seating area, the fitting room size and even the bronze coloured toilet were carefully considered. The fitting room area is able to be used for model dressing utilising a door linking it with the stock room. Nathan Goldworthy-designed table legs are used and also adapted to form a custom wall racking system.

Trelise and her staff often dress the space with their own props such as the large paper flowers currently used in the window, fitting and entry areas. Traditional elements were incorporated including some of Trelise’s own vintage chandeliers, parquet flooring, marble cladding to the central column and counter along with brass detailing.

The challenge of working with a world-famous fashion designer is to support but not overpower the fashions displayed, nor to follow one architectural style. Our intent was to combine elements of Trelise’s eclectic, colourful and detailed style into an environment neutral enough to adapt to a variety of clothes, seasons and events.

Customer experience was paramount in the design, from the welcoming entry to the comfortable fitting rooms and joy of the velvet swing. Details are especially important to Trelise so the materiality is more complex than a typically minimal contemporary fashion store.

Trelise Cooper is renowned for her bold and exuberant use of colour so, in contrast to the current trend toward very minimal colour in fashion stores, colour needed to be reflected in the interior. It was important, however to keep neutral tones around the merchandise so the colour was focused on the ceiling.

The existing ceiling was very low so had to be removed. This exposed a maze of old building services, which were tidied up, but then the roof started to leak in dozens of places. The landlord’s remedy was to fit drip trays which added to the clutter. Advice was to paint the whole area black to try to camouflage it. But Studio Gascoigne suggested to Trelise that it be painted a bright colour to make a feature of it. Providing a few samples of pinks and blues, Trelise chose pink Resene Paper Doll. The result has attracted plenty of favourable comments.

Architectural specifier: Studio Gascoigne
Building contractor: Datum Projects
Client: Trelise Cooper
Painting contractor: Datum Projects
Photographer: Patrick Reynolds
Project: Resene Total Colour Awards 2017