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Store Visit – SIERSTED

The newest store to hit Copenhagen; with a twist.

Feature

 

David Poulsen hit me up, on email, to invite ‘The Basement’ over to the opening of his store, ‘SIERSTED’. He briefly mentioned that it was a new concept store, selling both new clothing and old. We were intrigued at the idea, so headed over to CPH to check it out.

First thing’s first, the store was absolutely beautiful. It’s not often I can walk into a store and say that it took me back. It was presented as a gallery space; long white walls were almost always left empty, only so often was a print hung, or a plant present. Rails were carefully curated with brands reflective of the aesthetic of the store. It was exactly what you’d expect from a Danish store: effortless minimalism. However, I couldn’t help but notice that there was a slight ‘edge’ to the store. Brands such as MISBHV stood out amongst the somewhat placid Danish brands. The black rails protruded, in a somewhat passive aggressive manner, from the white walls; the LED light reading ‘SIERSTED’ seemed to dominate the forefront of the shop, breaking up the monotony of the black and white surfaces.

And the most beautiful thing about this layout? It reflects the store and its contents perfectly. David and Morten has managed to create a space in which it is ‘very Danish, but with a western edge’. This runs true in the interior design; through the brands being stocked; and the fact that the store has a consignment segment. A very hungover and tired Tayler, sat down and spoke to a very hungover and tired David, to find out how it all came about.

 

So, take it from the beginning, I guess?
I’m a 20 year old who just quit their job as, I’m not sure what the term is in English, I guess an ‘uneducated journalist/intern’? Like, I did the graphics, small text a column about the football etc… nothing too interesting! The other guy I own the shop with (Morten Munksgaard) is still currently working, but it’s cool; he helps when he can.

SIERSTED was originally set-up to buy and sell second-hand clothing – there’s a real gap in the market for it here in Denmark. This was over a year or so ago. The issue with the original concept was that it really took off! I know it doesn’t sound bad, but we were both working full-time, and it became something that required more time than we had; but at the same time, it wasn’t generating enough money for us to cover daily expenses, so we were at a point of it having to be closed down. So, I came up with the idea to stock ‘new’ clothes too – a sort of retail section. We started with a local Danish brand and, from then on, it really picked up. We now stock brands from all over Europe too.

 

Why did you want to open a store?
Well, I’ve always been an advocate of creating your own daily life – not being a slave to the ‘9-5’. To chase something you want to do; to create where possible. My dream was to open my own store and now I have.
I chose a streetwear store, because I love streetwear. However, Copenhagen has a real issue when it comes to streetwear – there’s not a lot of it! Clothes are either: too commercial and readily available, or at the other end of the spectrum – too expensive and scarce. I wanted to create a space in which we can fill that gap in the market, and there is a need for second hand clothes as well as the newest stuff out.
How does ‘reselling’ past releases work with the selling of new clothing too?
Well, for a start, we don’t resell. We don’t really buy to sell; we offer a sort of consignment service. Most consignment services take 40-60% of the sale price; we take as little as 5%. We don’t offer this service to make money, as such, because, believe me when I say, it doesn’t generate a lot of cash. It’s more so an incentive for customers to come down to the store to pick up hyped pieces/bring a bigger footfall to the store. The money is in retail, not resell. The money generated is used to cover ‘their spot’ in the store – for store overheads etc.

It’s also a good for the streetwear community – collectors have a spot to sell their items without having to pay extortionate fees. This encourages more and more people to use the platform, bringing greater accessibility to streetwear in Copenhagen. And, like I said before, this is what its really about! We want to be unique; disruptive; not to follow the path of those before us.

 

In terms of brands, what would you like to stock next?
Well, for me, I’m a huge fan of brands with an international quality brands with attitude, like Midnight studios. We want brands that are not of afraid of doing things differently – without being weird or unstructured. I’d really like to have them here. But, I think our biggest focus at the moment is to increase the brands in our women’s section. We really are trying to do something to incorporate more females in the streetwear scene. We’d like to be at the forefront of that movement, here in Copenhagen. We will do that by curating a space for women, by women. Listening to what the females in our community want and getting them on board to help choose the brands come in.

 

How do you see the crossover of the Danish aesthetic and more ‘western’ aesthetic?
We try to incorporate the two through the brands we stock and the way we showcase the store. There are elements of Danish streetwear I love; but there are also elements of a more ‘western’ take on streetwear that I love too. To incorporate the two is my ideal, and I plan to do so through SIERSTED.

 

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Photography by Milo Black

Words by Tayler Prince-Fraser

Edited by Daniel Hawksworth and Darren Stoddart