Hardworking Hands of Design: In Conversation

You are invited to a conversation hosted by Aesop with Clare Cousins, Director at Clare Cousins Architects and Rodney Eggleston, Director at March Studio — the esteemed collaborators behind some of the brand’s most enduring store designs, alongside Elizabeth White, Retail Design and Development Lead at Aesop. Moderated by Neil Hugh Kenna, Founder and Director of NHO, the discussion will reveal the many hard-working hands along with the stories and ethos that informed and shaped each space, from initial architectural concepts through to the present lived-in state.

Additionally, for the duration of Melbourne Design Week, customers and friends are invited to journey to select Aesop stores across Melbourne to collect a limited-edition publication — a visual exploration of the often-unseen design process. Available between Thursday 14 and Sunday 24 May — while stocks last — at the following stores: Aesop Collins Street, Aesop Doncaster, Aesop Emporium, Aesop Fitzroy, Aesop Flinders Lane, Aesop North Melbourne and Aesop QV.

A long-standing interest in intelligent, nonconformist and sustainable design extends to every aspect of Aesop’s workings. Just as painstaking research is integral to the formulation of each product, meticulous consideration of visitors’ experience is at the centre of Aesop’s store design philosophy. Beginning with a study of what already exists and can perhaps be retained, Aesop seeks to weave itself into the fabric of each neighbourhood, to add something of merit rather than impose a discordant presence.

‘Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.’ Johannes Brahms