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Very Special

Colour transformation 2021-2022

Amsterdam | NL
2022

The Very Special shop is a concept store for apparel and art in the city center of Amsterdam, located on the second floor of the iconic Ben-G Skatestore. It was founded by a group of friends: Benny Komala (Ben-G), Sebas Stoutenbeek (OBEY Europe) and Romeo Trinidad jr. (Real Bad Man, Powers Supply and by ParraUSA), who wanted to give Amsterdam a new venue for fashion, street culture and art.

We designed a monochrome interior that will change colour every year, making it possible to transform the entire interior design with the minimal effort of just one coat of paint. The interior functions as a powerful backdrop for the art and apparel. The furniture and displays come in a variation of cubes and spheres that create an interesting play of shadows in the space. The colour for the opening year was a beige-grey called Kiezelgrau RAL 7032. The following year, the first colour transformation was realised. By a fresh coat of paint in the bright violet of Blue lilac RAL 4005 the shop gained a complete new appearance.

As colour is so important in defining trend we are keen to address that coincidentally the colours chosen were also named colour of the year by Pantone: the violet (Pantone 17-3938 Very Peri) in 2022, and the grey (Pantone 17-5105 Ultimate Grey) in 2021.

In the first year, Piet Parra and Noah Butkus created Kiezelgrau t-shirts as a cheeky nod to the interior. Murals by local artists, playlists that set the mood, and events that reach out to the subculture – Very Special will continue to engage with the artists, street culture and designers that inspired this store.

Team

Renée Appelo
Camilla Ceccacci

Photography

Peter Mann