As we gradually warm up to the idea of shopping offline again, we are greeted with stores eager to welcome customers back, or for a rare few, for the very first time. Falling into the latter, TEMPL teases with a unique retail experience in a stylish store right by SCBD that meshes design with high-end lineups for the big-budget shoppers and lifestyle buffs.
Drawing inspiration from the sanctity of ancient temples, the conceptual store is brought to life through a creative collaboration with local designers and architects Gema Semesta, FFFAAARRR, and Marshella Jastine, who respectively contributed through creative direction, architecture, as well as styling and set design. Their individual styles and approach were solidified into the structures of the building; its curved stone pillars, granite plinths and metal accents, down to the very last details. Under one roof, you get fashion, culture, sound, and art in a neatly packaged contemporary retail experience.
Stripped down of excessive adornment, the room is kept minimal and generous in space as a tribute to the Japanese influences woven throughout the store. Subtle details like the muted stone walls, the washed-out blue of Yeenjoy’s ceramic incense holder dotted around the room, paired with flowing non-conventional tunes and experimental beats curated by multi-disciplinary artist Harsya Wahono, richly amplify the overall experience of exploring the range the store carries—from menswear garments, fashion accessories, to home paraphernalia—at your own leisurely pace.
Here you’ll find famed brands such as Visvim, Toga, Story mfg., Porter by Yoshidakaban, and Apotheke Fragrance among others. Adding personality to the space, the selective curation of brands is a direct reflection of TEMPL’s commitment to brand value and artistry, albeit their price range that may make you flinch. Although they are limited to international brands as of now, you can look forward to a bigger inventory of brands, especially homegrown ones of bespoke virtue in craftsmanship and design.
Not to be missed, the Red Room draws you in as if playing the part of the main attraction. Created to resemble the sacred inner courts of a temple, the room illustrates the store’s originating concept of “Reset.” Realised through its (yes, you guessed it) red walls, which comes as a refreshing surprise in contrast to the more neutral hues of grey and ivory that fill the other room, it aims to be a multi-functional space, where at the moment, a modern shrine-like installation welcomes and invites visitors to toy with the idea of resetting and renewing, aptly narrated through these words that greet you as you walk in, “In order to step further, we have to take a step back for once.”
A solid step up for fashion and retail in Jakarta, and with clearly more to show for than just the beautifully displayed labels on the racks, TEMPL serves an alternative shopping experience that satisfies the need of brand-customer interaction, proving an answer to the much-discussed relevance of brick-and-mortar stores. A visit here will remind you of the worthy trade-off between online shopping for offline to rediscover the simple pleasures of browsing through in the best way we can think of.