Complex ambitions: Shopping centre re-invents Oslo luxury retail

Paleet, which is home to about 30 high-end boutiques, has been refitted with copper panels and ceiling grids, as well as marble flooring and wooden accents. Copper, often associated with low-denomination coins, is elevated to a luxurious material through the clever juxtaposition of shapes and textures.

Yme, named after a giant troll from Norse creation mythology, has appropriately grand ambitions, occupying 1,600 square metres of the complex. The store, which stocks international brands including Lanvin, Maison Martin Margiela and Opening Ceremony, is set off from the sheen of the main complex by a more austere colour palette of bleached wood and spaces that alternate between monochrome black and white.

Oslo has attracted attention as a lifestyle destination in recent years with the opening of the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art and The Thief design hotel. Until now, however, the retail offer has lagged behind that of other Nordic capitals.

For more luxury and retail insights, see The Future Laboratory’s 2014 Futures Reports.