Once again expanding its global retail network, Y-3 opens its first ever store Down Under. The forward leisurewear brand, a longtime collaborative effort of sportswear behemoth adidas and iconic Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, has secured a 150 sqm. (1,615 sq.ft.) unit at Westfield shopping centre in Sydney. The design, created by the Y-3 design team in Tokyo, is clean and understated, and reflects the brand’s pioneering and innovative spirit. The pristine white entrance is offset the building’s bare brick inner wall, signalling the chosen design codes from afar. Distinctly understated, the design also recontextualises, and sometimes playfully so, materials and colours usually found in sporting arenas.

The three pillars at the entrance, crafted from Portuguese cork, optically frame the premises and are paired with large stone tile flooring and walls clad in hand-painted fabric. A grid ceiling with corrugated steel panels spans the entire length of the store, and tie in with the steel clothing racks and fixtures below. Two sizeable, and seemingly modular, installations in a contrasting military green hue respectively serve as a sales counter and product display. Other materials used for the premises include mottled rubber and recycled rainbow-flecked plastics, and all converge in a setting that flaunts a rare synergy between natural and synthetic materials. The new Y-3 store carries the brand’s men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, bags and footwear.