LONDON — Marylebone high street in London is filled with Georgian townhouses that are instantly recognizable because of their rich bricks but after a while, the neighborhood can blur into one.
But not Frame, the brand cofounded by Erik Torstensson that has just set up shop on the street — nobody will mistake its store for a heritage English tea shop or restaurant.
The store is gray and plain on the exterior and equally minimal on the inside.
The store has large windows, slabs of wood and other materials posing as tables and fixtures for the clothes with silver hardware firmly in place for clothes to hang off.
Torstensson’s vision for Frame’s largest store in London is daring and exciting.
“I have had my eyes on this space for a long time. When I’m in London I always stay at Chiltern Firehouse and I know the place,” he said in an interview from New York City.
The corner space previously belonged to L.K. Bennett, which had installed a more demure and conservative front.
Frame celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and this new design is part of the company’s next leap to reinvent and elevate itself, from product to campaign imagery.
The process of creating stores is Torstensson’s favorite part of his job — the brand has 14 spaces in North America. He opened another store earlier this week, in Washington D.C., which has a similar aesthetic to the Marylebone space.
He’s also been working on a five-month renovation of the space the company took over in Madison Avenue that will be unveiled in November, followed by another opening in Los Angeles next year as well as four other stores.
The brand has been working in collaboration with French architects FB Studio to execute the new vision.
“We have a loyal customer base. So I don’t see a reason why not [to open more stores]. It’s the best way of explaining the total brand DNA,” said Torstensson, while praising Frame’s wholesalers and e-commerce website.
“The idea is to take the essence of L.A. but the New L.A. with a European filter, which is about the textures of the wood, stones, sun and sea,” he added, noting that the store should feel like a gallery for the clothes.
Torstensson designed the furniture in the store with the help of artificial intelligence for the sketches. His designs will be rolled out into all Frame stores.
“It’s such an amazing tool for a creative mind — to fast forward and explain all your ideas in a visual way,” he said, revealing he made the two stone tables and the chrome sculpture that has no other meaning than being “just beautiful.”
The Swedish entrepreneur has thought out every detail in the store, from the lounge area in the back, the changing rooms to the curated playlist featuring Los Angeles-based artists with the sound of ‘70s French music.
“We don’t break out numbers, but our first week was sensational,” Torstensson hinted about the success of the new Marylebone store so far.
“We sell more clothes than we do denim,” he added.