Ragtrader regularly looks at new and innovative concept spaces in Australia. In this edition, Erin O’Loughlin takes a peek at the dark and brooding Icarus Store.
Arresting, interesting, bold and unmissable – that is what most retailers want their store fronts to be. Nathan Lim is a different breed. The Sydneysider has just opened a menswear boutique in Sydney’s creative hub, Surry Hills.
More secret than screaming for attention, Icarus Store’s entrance is a plain black façade, fitting with the store’s aim to cater for the “discerning gentleman”. Though the store is black, the mood on Reservoir Street is anything but.
“One of the reasons I decided to open the store in this part of Surry Hills is because there are a number of architect firms and creative agencies on this street so it feels like there is a real creative energy during the day,” Lim says.
That same creative energy was harnessed to create the store’s interior, the work of emerging architect Lenny Wong.
Taking inspiration from New York’s Lower East Side neighbourhood, Wong has infused Icarus Store with soft lighting, steel pipe fittings and exposed brick walls.
Then there are the clothes: one long rack of international labels such asCommune de Paris, Opening Ceremony for men, Patrik Ervell and Wings & Horns. Bags, footwear and accessories from labels such as Californian footwear brand Yuketen round out the product offering.
It’s a small and subdued store but one that carries what Lim believes are the essential and enduring items that should be in every man’s wardrobe.
“We think that customers are looking for products that are of excellent quality and with an interesting story behind them, so we wanted to offer male shoppers a destination where they could look to find one thing, or everything, in a unique store environment that matched the items we sell,” Lim says.