Hyperlocal Design and the New 2025 Aesop Architectural Story

Aesop used 2025 to expand its global footprint, opening new stores that double as architectural case studies in how retail design can feel hyperlocal, tactile, and contemplative rather than copy-pasted. From historic arcades to modern city streets, each space advances the brand’s long-standing belief that a store should feel like a considered response to its neighbourhood, not a billboard for a logo.

Aesop’s enduring design ethos

In its year-end reflection, Aesop emphasized that its design philosophy remains unchanged: tactility matters as much as looks, light must always leave room for shadow, and no two stores are ever exactly alike. Surfaces are chosen as much for how they feel under the hand as for how they photograph, with stone, timber, tile, and metal used to create quiet, sensory-rich environments.

Global Retail Design Director Marianne Lardilleux has explained, “Each store is inspired by its environment and is respectful to its surroundings and of the local culture”. Rather than rely on a fixed palette or layout, the brand keeps the philosophy constant and lets materials, color, and form shift to fit the context.

2025 openings: Leeds, Madrid, and beyond

Early in 2025, Aesop opened its debut store in the North of England at Victoria Leeds, weaving the space into the fabric of the County Arcade’s turn-of-the-century architecture. Designers referenced historic bathroom interiors and the arcade’s terracotta and green details, using shades of green to subtly embed the store within the gallery’s existing visual universe.

In Madrid’s Las Salesas neighbourhood, a new 120 square metre store was arranged around four cast iron columns rediscovered during renovation, creating a layout that celebrates local architectural heritage. Rich red ceramic mosaics, inspired by Spanish modernism and trencadís techniques associated with Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, run across floors, walls, and checkout plinths to form a warm, immersive shell.

Collaboration with local designers and craftspeople

Across markets, Aesop continues to work with local architects, emerging studios, and craftspeople to ensure each store feels rooted in its surroundings. In Seoul, for example, a recent store concept drew on the traditional jeongja pavilion to create a meditative space that encourages visitors to lose track of time, aligning with the brand’s goal of offering calm within busy districts.

An interview with the design team notes that site selection itself is strategic: locations are chosen for their ability to host a “refuge” rather than just to maximize footfall, with concepts like hammocks in Coconut Grove or newspaper-lined walls in New York expressing that local narrative. This approach, as one commentator put it, favors “authenticity through architecture” over global uniformity.

Light, shadow, and the five senses

Consistent across these varied stores is a careful orchestration of light and shadow: overhead illumination is kept warm and mellow, allowing darker corners and layered lighting to add depth. Sinks, counters, and shelving differ from city to city, but they always support a ritualistic experience where staff can demonstrate products and invite unhurried browsing.

Sound, scent, and even the offer of tea are treated as design elements, helping transform each visit into a small, sensorial pause in the day rather than a rushed transaction. As Aesop’s 2025 recap suggests, this slow, tactile, place-driven approach is precisely what ties together an ever-growing network of stores that are otherwise deliberately, and distinctively, one of a kind.