A few days till Christmas, so I decided to share this very particular place, ideal for those who are passionate about design, fashion, art, beauty and food. A place where an incredible amount of gifts ideas pop up every second, thanks to the large range of choice. It is the perfect place for those who would like a Christmas fairy tale… Smets Premium store is an authentic concept store situated in Brussels, easily reachable by those coming from Antwerp, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. It is made of four distinct areas: home accessories, womenswear, menswear and design. More than 3500m2 are open to the public, containing selected goods chosen by the eldest daughter of the owner, Pascaline Smets. She travels most of her time in search of accurate items to offer in their different shops, creating coherence between them. In fact, besides the very one that DESIGNSPEAKING visited in Brussels, around fifteen other stores are owned by the SMETS family. The father and mother, with the help of their six children, all being in the “arty” profession, are ready to look forward to the future and to the new emerging markets. Meanwhile, they truly succeeded with the opening of SMETS PREMIUM STORE three years ago. Not pointing to a precise average age, they decided that their target audience would like a seduction, art and an avant-garde style. In fact it isessential for Pascaline to “recognize the values of the body of the women and to put ahead the shapes”. Like she told us during the interview “it is really important to have a global idea of the market” and that is what she does building new collaborations with different personalities, always keeping in mind whom are her customers. What is interesting besides this global dimension is the local aspect: young native designers have the opportunity to launch their designs during events. So, in opposite to the big concept stores we have in Europe, SMETS promotes young talents and provides them the perfect location to do it. Besides that, it is possible to shop while admiring a Navarro or another contemporary art piece. The SMETS family owns all of them, but only a few are permanent in the premium store. As a result, it is not about shopping anymore, it is about discovering a new world, composed by all different forms of art. It is a fairy tale to those who like the creative side of the world, because SMETS is there to share its love for art and aesthetic with all of us.
