The PANGAIA at The Grove pop-up experience, running Sept. 1-27 in Los Angeles, represents the sustainable materials science brand’s first exclusive physical retail space. PANGAIA has partnered for shop-in-shop sections at global luxury retailers such as Galeries Lafayette, Lane Crawford, La Rinascente, Nordstrom and Selfridges.
Located in a grassy park area that sits across from Nordstrom in the center of The Grove and measuring 240 square feet, the pop-up shop was intentionally designed as a smaller space to align with PANGAIA’s mission of reducing waste through the use of only necessary components.
To construct the shop’s jade-green exterior, PANGAIA upcycled materials from previous pop-ups in hopes of inspiring a conversation surrounding action to combat climate change. A portion of the shop’s exterior wall was cut out to provide transparency regarding the construction of the space.
Additionally, exterior windows provide passersby with a glimpse into the PANGAIA mission. A product from PANGAIA is featured behind each window, including a hoodie from the brand’s partnership with artist Kenny Scharf that was unveiled to coincide with opening of the shop. Blocks of text describing how the products complement PANGAIA’s mission are printed on the exterior walls next to each exhibit window.
Upon entering the store, guests encounter a bright white space where they are encouraged to follow prompts on a digital screen to plant a tree. The screen also provides information regarding the brand’s work with the Tomorrow Tree Fund.
Inside, visitors encounter a multisensory experience that immerses them into the brand’s nature-focused mission. A soundtrack of frogs croaking, birds chirping and rain falling transports visitors into a forest atmosphere. Inspiration for the 3D audio spatialization concept stemmed from coastal woodland biomes of Northern California. These sounds are complemented by olfactory elements that rely on scents of greenery, wet soil and moss designed to evoke feelings of wandering in the forest.
In the middle of the shop a platform displays PANGAIA bucket hats, in addition to sunglasses from the CO2Made collaboration between the brand and carbon transformation company TWELVE, which converts CO2 pollutants into materials to create products. Among the items displayed on the walls are pieces from the PANGAIA Uniform Series 01 collection, available for sale during the L.A. pop-up experience prior to its official global launch on Sept. 27. An informational plaque describing the sustainable components of each piece has been affixed to the wall under every product display.
In addition to its mindful design elements, PANGAIA is aiming to remain climate positive by measuring and offsetting the space’s carbon footprint — plus 10%. The brand will support this goal by also accounting for employee commuting, material use, material transport, site electricity and heating.