Zara’s New Madrid Café Serves Hot Shots in Stylish Surroundings
There is the speed of sound, the speed of light and, in a whole other category, the speed of Zara.
Just ask brand expert Ramdane Touhami. When Zara tapped the owner of design agency Art Recherche Industrie to create a concept café for its stores, now known as Zacaffè, he delivered, and so did they — at warp speed.
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In an interview, Touhami said the contract was signed during the last week of July, and the Madrid Zacaffè was ready to grind, brew and pull shots by the end of September.
“And I was on holiday in August,” said the hyper-creative Touhami, whose extensive CV includes the relaunch of Officine Universelle Buly, the creation of skate brand King Size and streetwear label Résistance.
Touhami designed the interiors of Zacaffè in Moorish revival style, reflecting Madrid’s architecture.
Although Zacaffè was ready in record time, it opened at the end of November along with the store, which is located at 14 Calle Hermosilla and spans 7,500 square feet. The Madrid store is one of 90 stand-alone shops devoted to menswear around the world.
Thecafé, which has a separate entrance, pays tribute to Neomudéjar, a 19th-century Moorish Revival architecture style.
The warm colors and brickwork reference a variety of Neomudéjar buildings, including Madrid’s Casa Árabe cultural center. Curving motifs appear on everything from the tiles to the branded tableware, and nod to the wooden latticing of Arab architecture.
In addition to the interiors, Touhami designed the glasses and the cups with their fancy retro script and a long, cartoonish arm pouring a silver pot of coffee.
He said Zara’s idea was to create a “brand-in-a-brand,” while the overarching aim is offer customers in-store options beyond shopping, and bring in inspiration from the neighborhood and region.
Touhami is also designing the Zacaffès in Seoul and Osaka, which are set to open in 2025, and which also nod to local history and tradition. He will work on a fourth Zacaffè for Zara, although the location has not been disclosed.
Zara certainly isn’t the first high street chain to think beyond merchandise: Arket, Ikea, Carhartt, Marks & Spencer and Next have all made space for cafés, which are run in-house, or by third parties.
Zacaffè also signals that Zara is moving “up” in terms of positioning, Touhami said. He added that the brand’s luxury mindset combined with its speed of delivery is going to make it a “super-dangerous” going forward.
“Ultra-speed is in the DNA of the company, and I’m not just talking about the clothes,” he said.
Asked why he took on the Madrid project in particular, Touhami unleashed his sharp sense of humor. “I’m from Morocco, and we ruled Spain for more than 700 years. So when a Spanish brand came calling, I wasn’t going to say ‘no,’” he said.
Before opening in Madrid, Zara had trialed the café concept in Dubai, as well as in Paris and Lisbon, although those stores did not carry the Zacaffè branding.
Touhami has also been busy of late, and there is more to come.
At the end of September he opened Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes, his latest Paris shop and home to the 18 companies and brands he currently runs.
That space, too, has a café. It is the outpost of Café Utopia Drei Berge, the culinary offshoot of his Swiss hotel. It offers hot drinks and pastries, and is overseen by chef Ryutaro Kobayashi.
The official opening of the store, which is located in the Marais, will take place at the end of January during the Paris menswear shows.
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