Words, Sounds, Colours & Shapes store

As a veritable jack of all trades, Ramdane Touhami has not only created a legacy in retail, but also in branding, marketing, and last but not least, style. A little while ago, the prolific self-taught entrepreneur and designer has embarked on a new retail adventure, one that’s close to his heart. Enter Words, Sounds, Colors & Shapes, a retail concept which unites a myriad of Touhami’s interests and passions. Occupying the ground floor and basement of an early 20th-century building with an ornate façade, the two-level space has a gallery-like feel, featuring whitewashed walls paired with both lacquered timber flooring and classic ceramic tiles and contrasting cabochons. Furnishings comprise carefully selected vintage pieces, such various cabinets and chairs, in addition to custom-designed modern pieces. So, what’s on the shelves at Words, Sounds, Colors & Shapes? Touhami is an avid hiker, and as such, he’s had a keen interest in all related paraphernalia, including apparel.

The Paris-based creative not only sniffed out the highest level of craftsmanship and materials, with a deep concern for their impact on society and nature, but also obsessively researched and visited dozen of factories. Indeed, the man was on a quest to find the know-how and the best quality to work on a new way of making clothes. The result is Die Drei Berge, a line of apparel named after readily available to conquer any mountain top. Mind you, there’s also an eponymous hotel high up in the Swiss Alps, which we’ve covered in a previous post, and shoppers can order pastries, hot beverages and bites at Café Utopia Drei Berge, the hotel’s satellite venue on the premises. Also available is Touhami’s tightly curated collection of men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, footwear, jewellery, eyewear and lifestyle goods, all presented under the moniker A Young Hiker. Typography is another one of Touhami’s interests, and interestingly, he snapped up Societé Parisienne d’Impression Typograhique, Europe’s oldest engraver, when it was about to close due to the global pandemic.

So, here at Words, Sounds, Colors & Shapes, examples can be seen of rare printing techniques and balance wheel engraving, in order to print top quality business cards and letterheads. The so-called Radical Media Archive is a declaration of love to the visual language of revolt and liberation movements. Rare books, periodicals and posters from the golden years of counter-culture, reissues, unobtainable artefacts collected nowhere else in the world, plus a superb selection of books celebrating the best of worldwide graphic design and photography. Well, Words, Sounds, Colors & Shapes may look like a gallery, it actually has one in the basement. Dubbed Permanent Files, it’s a collaborative effort of Touhami and Léonard Vernhet, creative director of EPOCH magazine. This embedded entity aims to host both established and emerging visual artists who are not only able to showcase, but also sell their work here. A second store is to open shortly in Tokyo. © superfuture