Blender 01 in Brussels
Original, innovative and design. These three words sum up perfectly the spirit of the concept store Blender 01. Located in the heart of Brussels at 18 rue des Chartreux, the shop is full of decorative accessories, objects both playful and design, and clothing for men and women. We met Alexis, the boss of the shop…
Can you tell us a little about your background? Why did you decide to open a concept store?
I worked as an Artistic Director for advertising agencies during a few years after my studies. I enjoyed it on the whole, but having a boss and clients above you doesn’t give you complete creative freedom. I wanted to be my own boss and, above all, work with the people I wanted to work with. I opened Blender01 end of 2009 with my cousin, I think I’ve always wanted to own a shop and I really wasn’t happy doing advertising anymore. I made a lot of contacts whilst studying, with designers, graphic designers, creators in general, which really gave me a taste for that milieu. I didn’t want to have to choose between interior decoration, clothes etc. so I decided to mix everything together.
Where did you find your inspiration for the decoration of the shop?
I decorated it with one of my best buddies, Mathias Van de Walle a great designer who has done quite a bite since. We built everything together (mainly him!). We worked non-stop for more than a month to build all the furniture from scratch.
Where does the name Blender01 come from?
Like I said above, we wanted to mix different genres, clothes, decoration, gadgets. Mix, mixer, it gave us Blender.
What kind of objects can we find in your shop?
A bit of everything really, and the selection changes with the seasons. We have plates, vases, small libraries, hat stands, books, funny little gadgets. I love everything to do with lighting, especially light bulbs, so we have lots of different kinds, vintage, led, low consumption ones with classic or bizarre shapes. The only limit we’re faced with is the size of the shop, which doesn’t allow us to sell furniture for example.
Why choose to sell OLOW? What did you like about the brand?
I’d been following OLOW for a few seasons, and the brand really fit the atmosphere of the shop, with a great graphic approach for the t-shirts for example. And you could tell that the brand was heading more and more towards a true clothing line, with a really interesting choice of fabrics and patterns. Another important factor for me is its price range, which I think is great.
How do you choose which brands and products you want to sell at Blender01?
It’s more a question of love at first sight really, but like I said they have to fit with the shop’s image and our prices. I really don’t want to become one of those shops where you can’t buy anything. I want the people who enter the shop to be able to buy the products they love, like me when I do my selection. I look around on the Internet, on blogs, in fairs as well in order to find brands. The strong point of owning a small shop like Blender01 is that we’re really flexible, we don’t have a really strict budget. If I discover a brand I really like in the middle of a season, I can put it on sale at the last minute. And it’s even easier with all the decoration stuff seeing as there are no seasons.
If you had to choose 5 items from this summer’s collection, all brands combined, what would they be?
Straight off, OLOW’s collaboration with Jean Julien.
The Comme des Garçons Play x converse collab, a big hit.
For decoration, the Seletti x Toilet Paper Magazine collab.
There are more and more hybrid shops like yours popping up all over Europe. What’s Brussels’ situation within these new concept-stores? Has the concept been welcomed in Belgium?
When we opened end 2009, there weren’t many shops like ours in Belgium, so it wasn’t easy straight off, people didn’t really understand what we were selling or what they could find in our shop. Even we didn’t know how to describe ourselves seeing as we couldn’t be pigeon holed into a particular category. But little by little people became accustomed to the concept, and we truly found our niche. For example, the clothes weren’t a big hit in the beginning, but I think we made mistakes within the selection and coherence with the rest of the shop. Now, these kind of shops have nearly become “normal” in Brussels, there’s a lot more competition!
A while back your shop welcomed our “Planchettes” exhibition. Do you regularly organise exhibitions or other events?
We did quite a few in the beginning, small collaboration launches, exhibitions of graphic designers’ or illustrators’ work. We’ve slowed down lately, but I want to get going again.
What kind of music are you playing in your shop right now?
I’ve been listening to quite a bit of FFS, Grand Soleil, Noze lately, and when I’m in need of inspiration, a little Nova Thunes compilation is just perfect!
What are your projects for the future?
I’d like to do work on the shop, make it bigger and more functional. And why not open up a second shop one day.
If we were to come to Brussels, where would you send us?
First off, there are a lot of shops, restaurants and really nice bars, like La Fin de siècle or the Lord Byron in our street. Go eat at Nordzee, they do really delicious shrimp croquettes, and then go have a nice little Gin & Tonic at Monk. There are a lot of cool addresses in Brussels; the town is really lively. There are a lot of rooftops and parties in parks throughout the summer.
Thank you to Alexis.
Find Blender 01 on Facebook and on their official site.
Photos : Blender 01
– L.K –
