Renaissance of the museum shop

Recreate your favourite exhibition with a visit to the museum’s shop

Not so long ago, a visit to the shop after seeing an exhibition meant buying a postcard or two and possibly a book. But the shops at museums and galleries have become increasingly swish, offering everything from cushions and casseroles to wallpaper and paint, allowing the public to create a little of their ambience at home.

‘Consumers have a much more sophisticated palette now,’ says adam thow, head of retail at the Barbican in london. ‘there’s such a huge amount of goodwill from the publican dan appetite for well-made products – you can’t just stamp a logo on a rubber. You have to surpass their expectations.’

the Ba rbica n’s whizzy new shop opened last December, offering products inspired by the building ’s iconic brutalist architecture. the print-maker lindsey lang, for example, has referenced the hammered concrete exterior in a collection of textiles, ceramics and upholstered furniture.

Not to be out done, the Design Museum opened two retail spaces last year – one at its new HQ at the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington, and a stand-alone shop on nearby Kensington High street–with products selected by sir terence Con ran. tate Modern also unveiled a new shop, tate Edit, last November, which has a rolling programme of invited ‘editors’ and exclusive artworks by the likes of Wolfgang tillmans, Phyllida Barlow and Cornelia Parker.

‘Exclusivity is really important to our customers ,’ says anna bell eD odds, senior buyer at theV&a,whichh as twoi nhoused e signers and also commissions crafts people .‘ Wear every lucky with what we have here – the collections are so expansive that we can do some really exciting projects,’ she adds.

Vases by the ceramicist amy Jayne Hughes, designed during her time as artist-in-residence at the museum in 2015, have recently been put into production by the stoke-on-trent-based firm 1882. they are being stocked exclusively at the main V& a shop, which was spectacularly re designed by architecture firm Friends and Company and relocated to the heart of the museum this spring.

Next month will see the launch of an 18- piece V& a-inspired collection at John lewis, spanning furniture, lighting and decorative accessories. the Jack marquetry side table (inspired by the work of the arts and Crafts designer george Jack) is the star exhibit.

Clockwise from top The redesigned shop at the V&a; miniature pots by Yuta segawa, featured at the Tate edit; Jack marquetry table, £599, John lewis (johnlewis.com)