NL Architects with Droog Design creates the Mandarina Duck store in Paris, sparked with inventive and whimsical displays.

Clockwise from top left: Mark Linnemann, Pieter Bannenberg, Kamiel Klaase & Walter van Dijk

By Claire Downey

Mandarina Duck is not a Chinese restaurant, but an Italian company known for innovative luggage and design-conscious handbags. When it recently launched sportswear lines for men and women, its retail outlets needed rethinking. On top of creating a strong brand image with displays of accessories and clothing, Mandarina envisioned its new spaces as incubators for ideas. For its flagship boutique, which opened in Paris last October, the playfully named company called on Amsterdam-based Droog Design. For the Paris store, Droog turned to another Dutch group, NL Architects.

See the September, 2001 issue of Architectural Record for the full story. See the people and products behind this project.