The Best Part of Glossier’s New Seattle Pop-Up Has Nothing To Do with Boy Brow

Walking into the new Glossier retail experience in Seattle, you might be confused. Part moss-covered forest, part makeup and skincare boutique, it’s a visual feast. Picture the brand’s beloved pastel-colored tubes and bottles displayed on simple white plinths that emerge from lush foliage dotted with wildflowers. 

“Glossier Seattle was directly inspired by the city’s natural environment; almost every local we spoke to mentioned their love of the city’s landscape and, as we explored the area ourselves, we couldn’t help but feel the same,” says Kendall Latham, senior environments designer at Glossier. “We were also very intrigued by the juxtaposition of nature and technology in Seattle, and decided to design specific elements to amplify that contrast.”

This inspiration is presented in the form of meadow-like hills full of locally-sourced flowers, all packed in a snug retail shopping experience. “Washington is home to remarkable mountain ranges and breathtaking natural beauty,” says Lily Kwong, founder of Studio Lily Kwong, the landscape designer of the space. “It’s peak wildflower season, and we wanted to bring that feeling of wilderness into Glossier’s world,” she says. 

To bring an outdoor experience inside, Kwong and her team studied the local flora, then mimicked the area’s vegetation and palette by hand-placing hundreds of plants in the installation, then covering the rest of the area with live moss. “It’s not typical to walk into a beauty store that’s filled with rolling meadows of live plants and flowers,” says Latham. “That kind of immersive experience is what sparks curiosity and conversation, be it with the friend you brought to the store or the stranger trying a product across from you.”

Seattle’s opening is the second in 2019, and the follow-up to the brand’s spring Miami pop-up, which drew inspiration from the city’s iconic Art Deco architecture and pastel shades for max Instagrammable moments. Seattle’s decor is every bit, if not more, photo-friendly. 

Want to recreate these lush-forest vibes at home? There are lessons to be pulled from the outdoor-meets-indoors design, like how moss can be utilized as a floral decor element. “You can buy all kinds of beautiful clump moss online and create your own terrarium, or even just place mood moss into a beautiful bowl and use it as a centerpiece for a table,” says Kwong. Did Kwong and Glossier just make a statement that moss is the trending plant for 2019? We’re onboard if they are.

Glossier Seattle is located at 200 Broadway E, and open from May 22nd to July 7th.

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