Gramicci's London store features giant shorts sculpture by Steep Learning Group

American climbing brand Gramicci has opened its second London shop on Netil Lane, near London Fields, designed by creative agency Steep Learning Group. The split-level interior is anchored by a 2.5-metre-tall painted sculpture of blue-and-white striped shorts, modeled on a real pair of the brand's bouldering shorts with an oversized webbing belt. Co-founders Filip Tyden and Erik Hedman aimed to evoke the feeling of "a giant doughnut outside a doughnut shop." The sculpture was hand-crafted by set designer Ellen Wilson using styrofoam blocks glued together and finished with Jesmonite, then hand-painted. Local designer Dom Johnson created bespoke wooden furniture on wheels, including mobile display plinths inspired by Euro containers, made from Douglas fir plywood overlaid with pine batons. The largest plinth houses the till; another is stained cobalt for product display. The mezzanine features a bright blue angled climbing wall for testing bouldering clothes, referencing Gramicci's Yosemite roots and the surf-skate scene of 1990s California. Johnson used leftover wood for leaning wall panels and sourced Monobloc plastic chairs that can be rearranged for events. The space is designed to transform from cinema to retail to climbing workshop within a weekend. Gramicci was established by climber Mike Graham in 1983.