THE NEW YORK TIMES
SOPHIE HICKS, CHLOÉ’S ARCHITECT
By Stephen Heyman
Photograph by Jacob Sutton
June 2010
CULTURED MAGAZINE
THE ART OF THE FASHION FLAGSHIP (AND THE FOUR ARCHITECTS GETTING IT RIGHT)
by John Glendall. Photograph of Acne Studios Seoul by Annabel Elston. April/May 2019
“We don’t actually need shops anymore,” says Sophie Hicks of her work designing highly-acclaimed retail environments around the world. The London-based architect is responsible for the spaces of an impressive range of blue-chip clients, including Paul Smith, Yohji Yamamoto, Acne Studios and Chloé, but with luxury brands seeking out her architectural imprimatur, she has taken a measured approach to these commissions.
“It’s so much more convenient to look for clothes online and have them delivered to your house,” she says, explaining why she creates destinations that are more about conveying the essence of a brand than offering endless racks of inventory. In her work with Acne Studios, for example, Hicks wanted to create the impression of Sweden, where the brand and its founder, Jonny Johansson, are based—but she needed to construct that in Manhattan’s West Village, and in the Cheongdam district of Seoul.
“I didn’t really know Sweden at all before I started with Acne Studios,” she admits. In order to familiarize herself, she spent several weeks in the Scandinavian nation walking through neighborhoods, visiting museums, going to restaurants and shops and, perhaps most importantly, spending time with Johansson.
In Seoul, she designed a new building from the ground up, with its concrete structure referencing what she calls the “groundedness of the Swedes.” The inside, meanwhile, replicates the light qualities— “very cool, very even”—of the distinctive Swedish landscape. Sun filters through the translucent panels of the façade, while supplemental light is concealed behind a polycarbonate ceiling, making a cool, even distribution of light throughout the day—“very much like Swedish light.”
Hicks, who early in her career was an editor at Vogue, sees value in new stores, but, as she cautions, “the environment of the store is so important. It has to be something customers can’t get online.”
JAPAN VOGUE
ARCHITECTS IN MODE
March, 2002
GINZA SIX MAGAZINE
ALAIA: EMBEDDED IN THE DESIGN
by Yoshinao Yamada
Photos by Junpei Kato
Portrait of Sophie Hicks by Alasdair McClellan.
Autumn 2022
NUMERO
SOPHIE HICKS, LA SCIENCE DES VOLUMES
By Clara Le Fort
Photo by Johannes Marburg
September 2016
PIN-UP INTERVIEWS, VOL. 1
SOPHIE HICKS
Words by Emily King
First published in 2013, reissued November 2025
DEZEEN
SOPHIE HICKS CONCEALS “CONCRETE MONSTER”
By Alice Morby
Photography by Annabel Elston
September 2015
ARCHITECTS’ JOURNAL
SOPHIE HICKS ARCHITECTS DESIGNS MINIMALIST CONCRETE HOUSE IN KENSINGTON
By Fran Williams
Photographs by Annabel Elston
February 2019
SHOTENKENCHIKU
ALAÏA
Editor Saki Kaneko
Photography by Yasuhiro Takagi
Autumn 2022
ALAIN ELKANN INTERVIEWS
SOPHIE HICKS
by Alain Elkann
April 2023
HÄUSER
FREIRÄUME
by Mary Boyd
Photographs by James Merrel
June 2012