Polette Eyewear.

Antwerp, 2022. After the success of its Paris showroom, polette teamed up again with Javier Zubiria, founder of Amsterdam studio zU-Studio, to bring a never-before-seen retail concept to Antwerp. The brief began with a single song — John Lennon’s “Imagine” — and the wish to build a place of connection and creativity after years of distance.

Visitors are met by two giant piano keyboards, one on each side, each with 88 keys. The white keys are floor-to-ceiling mirrors that create a sense of infinity; the black keys double as shelves for polette’s eyewear. At the centre, a giant white bench nods to Lennon’s Bed-in peace protest.

Overhead, the ceiling carries the showstopper: a sculptural piano-lid form beveled along the full 20-metre depth of the showroom, built as an illuminated, light-transmitting STRETCH ceiling. Every piano key is functional too — a sensor system lights up the next key to press, so visitors can play a song together in the space.