Comme des Garçons magazine from 1990
Art historian Andreas Murkudis’ advance into retail began with a museum gift shop that, instead of offering the usual keychains and pencil sets, featured Comme des Garçons fragrances and exquisite handmade chocolates. Today, Murkudis’ life as a salesman has evolved into an eponymous 1000 square metre concept store that exists as a mecca for fashion lovers worldwide, cementing Berlin’s status as one of Europe’s brightest fashion capitals. And although the store locations have constantly grown in size, the items sold are still as carefully selected and curated as they were in the beginning – with counters carefully displaying objects from fashion, art, and design.
It was thus evident to Andreas Murkudis that his new online shop would have to reflect the thoughtful and exclusive atmosphere of his store. Determined to provide a digital extension of the unique customer experience rather than a fast-paced consumerist click portal, Murkudis’ new e-commerce endeavour is limited to 99 products at a time, with many unique pieces exclusive to the digital space.
The website launches on 7 April 2017, and Murkudis is celebrating with an auction that boasts exclusive items from his personal collection. Amongst these unique treasures is an issue of Comme des Garçons’ SIX magazine (of which only ten issues were ever printed), Maison Margiela lookbooks with original pictures glued into them, a pair of up-to-the-shoulder Raf Simons gloves and a signed fax that Helmut Lang sent to the shopkeeper himself.
After the four auctions, the complete online store will be launched in autumn 2017. Announcing an editorial approach to the website, Murkudis promises a number of “un-Google-able anecdotes worth being told” to accompany each of the objects offered for sale. For updates on the iconic pieces of design and fashion history up for auction and an exclusive preview of the website, make sure to subscribe to the Andreas Murkudis newsletter here.
Raf Simons over-the-shoulder gloves from 2007