The shop Aesop rue Saint-Honoré is located in an eighteenth century building in the heart of the historic district of Paris, near the Royal Palace. The design was inspired by the long Parisian tradition of parquetry.
The wood of choice for this store is Victorian Ash, a timber grown in renewable forests across Australia. The wood was cut in a factory in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb Richmond, then each of the approximately 3500 pieces was hand-cut, hand-sanded, sealed and numbered according to meticulously drafted plans before being strategically packed in shipping crates.
Aesop Saint-Honoré is an exercise in elegant geometry. Even the sales counter has been constructed from the same pale timber; another slab is inset with a demonstration sink, crowned with blackened steel tapware.
Photograhy by Louis Basquiast.