THE ART OF SHOPPING: Leave it to Comme des Garçons to add an offbeat, experiential component to what is essentially a clearance sale: The brand commissioned artist Assi Joseph Meidan to create an installation for the latest edition of its Market Market shopping event in Paris.
With a theme of White Noise, the sale kicked off on Thursday in a vast industrial depot in the up-and-coming district of Pantin north of Paris. In addition to Comme des Garçons, it offered a wide array of past seasons’ clothing, shoes and accessories from its many satellite brands, such as Junya Watanabe, Noir Kei Ninomiya and Gosha Rubchinskiy.
By invitation only on the first day, the space was open to the public from Friday to Sunday. In addition to refreshments from coffee specialist Coutume and Canal Saint-Martin café Ten Belles, it features a booth broadcasting live original musical programming by online broadcaster Rinse.fr.
Meidan said his installation, featuring minimalist industrial sculptures made from neon lights and frosted glass panels, was designed to create a link between some of his early work, the hangar market space and the DNA of Comme des Garçons.
“My work on this project was mostly inspired by the space itself. When I understood in the first visit that it used to be a tube factory, I decided to make it the basis of my work. In this sort of sculpture garden, I created pieces that are entirely dependent on tubes to stay standing,” the Paris-based artist explained.
Market Market is held every couple of years by Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market in Paris, London and New York. Merchandise is replenished every day, with markdowns running up to 70 percent.