Aesop Domain Northside Coming Soon on June 17

Rustic accents and textural contrasts

To live in Texas, the second largest state of the United States, is hardly practical without a car. Getting to Houston from El Paso via Austin is a two-day road trip, enough to transform an automobile into a temporary living room. Many Texans relish this constraint: they invest as much time and passion in customizing their ride as others may in decorating their home. In Austin, thousands of such enthusiasts converge each year aboard their uniquely personalised vehicles. 

This appetite for the road, which gives Austin a particular character, also gave our in-house architects a whole palette of forms, colours, and surprisingly resilient materials to choose from. Conceived in-house specifically for our Domain Northside store, the product shelving that extends across the entire side wall is all tumbled steel and bent sheet metal, which is widely used in automotive construction. With an exposed mechanism reminiscent of industrial design, its foldaway louvres evoke the aerodynamic lines of retractable spoilers. Custom-produced by a local metalworker, the structure is entirely movable and reusable. The spray paint is as vivid as that of the classic cars that populate the surrounding repair shops; generous natural light reflects off of it much as it would on a sunbaked parking lot. 

The material language of the road extends to the central counter, home to three sinks and a Fragrance Library. It is clad in recycled rubber sourced from automobile tires, giving it a soft and waterproof texture. Floors and ceiling are poured concrete, raw and urban in aspect. Behind the storefront window, a sitting area provides the comfort of a vintage sedan interior—an invitation to pause and observe passersby ambling along the sidewalk, at something less than racecar speed.