Lonely Boutique in Newmarket, Auckland by Rufus Knight Associates

Today’s design philosophy behind intimate clothing for women is exactly that – intimate. Lonely, the New Zealand lingerie company have set up their latest store in Auckland‘s Newmarket. There’s nothing overt about this design at all – no black lacy number in the window, nothing that yells lingerie. In fact, if anything it’s the exact opposite. Designed by Knight Associates and the Lonely Founder Steve Ferguson, it’s all extraordinarily tasteful and elegant. It represents the philosophy of what it means to be contemporary and romantic.

“The Lonely brand speaks strongly about layers of intimacy so a space that focuses on the customer, their experience, and the process of buying lingerie still remains essential,” said the designer.

It starts from the sophisticated and understated entrance. A simple pale pink wall with the graphically strong signage ‘Lonely’ scrawled across the blank canvas. A pair of double, frameless glass doors with their beautiful cast bronze door handle beckons you inside the space.

The lingerie store is a mixture of hard and soft elements. The concrete flooring and plaster walls are softened by the custom-made jute rugs adding both texture and warmth. The soft pink walls add a discreet feminine touch, which is again highlighted by the velvet lounges. Simple polished brass tubular racks hold the store’s lingerie and clothing range, and mirror the material used in the dome lights. It’s a layered and tactile palette both in it’s colour selection and material choice.

In keeping with Lonely’s values of exploring the female empowerment, they’ve incorporated work of mid-century designers; Eileen Gray and Charlotte Perriand and more contemporary commissions such as the fixing in cast bronze from local New Zealand artist Kate Newby.