When it comes to browsing an ultra-cool concept store (my retail Achilles heel), I'll often be drawn to the little bits and bobs that elevate the everyday. There will always be something I certainly don't need to spend money on, but as soon as I see it, I just know I have to have it in my life. It's even better if it happens to be affordable, which only increases my shopper's high, though I have been known to splash out on the odd unnecessary item. Recent finds that have made it home with me include a weighty, smooth-handled butter knife, a wooden bottle stopper gently carved into a faceless head wearing a hat, and, on a recent trip to Portugal, a bright orange melamine lidded storage pot.
It was manufactured for over 50 years by Faplana, a Portuguese brand which has been producing melamine tableware since the 1950s. The shop where I found it was the marvellous A Vida Portuguesa in Lisbon, but should it tickle your fancy too there's no need to go all the way to Lisbon to pick one up; their online shop offers UK shipping, with everything from 20th century posters to Portuguese toiletries for sale.
The store specialises in showcasing the best of Portuguese design and culture. It's an emporium of coffee table books, beautiful stationery, homeware, textiles and food. I always think the best concept stores should have a niche and a clear aesthetic sensibility. There should also be some form of idiosyncratic eccentricities on sale – things that makes you think ‘well, I won’t find that anywhere else’, or simply: ‘that’s weird, I need to buy it’. This treasure trove of Portuguese objects and oddities certainly ticked all boxes.
Between the silver polish with great packaging and the mini table basketball toy, I discovered the rainbow of Faplana pieces thoughtfully arranged on the lower floor, from small butter dishes to plates, and the humble yet punchy pot I had fallen for.
Sure, it might not be as glam or luxurious as a hand-painted ceramic piece or mouth-blown glassware, but look at its fun winged handles on the sides and its distinctly aerodynamic, 1960s Pop look. Unless you buy vintage, it's pretty hard to find this kind of thing that's still being made today. And at only €16, it was a no-brainer that it would be coming home with me and employed as a far more stylish vessel for keeping food in than the tired old plastic container I tend to use. Does it do the same job? Yes. But does this one make me a good deal happier? Also yes.
Agonising over the tomato red, the lemon yellow and the sherbet orange, I eventually settled on the orange one, which somehow seemed to bring out the best of the silhouette's retro charm.
There are a few different locations of A Vida Portuguesa around Lisbon and Porto, but I visited the central Chiado store, which spans two floors of a large site that used to be occupied by the second oldest bookshop in Lisbon. For me, the concept stores that nail it are the ones that cause me to re-evaluate my own personal style, and leave me wanting to adopt the store's own achingly cool, effortlessly curated look. Some other favourite lifestyle stores I've visited on my travels over the years include Labour and Wait and Goodhood in London, Objects of Use in Oxford, Merci in Paris, BEAMS in Tokyo, and Stilleben in Copenhagen. Special mention also must go to Colette, which has been closed and much-missed since 2017. This ultimate Parisian temple of cool was the one that first sparked my love for the concept of the concept store.
I later learned that my pot is actually supposed to be a sugar bowl, but I haven't quite decided if I want to use it to store leftover baked beans in the fridge, or jewellery on the bedside table. The best thing is, it can do both – the options are endless with this little slice of Portuguese design history. Unlike a fridge magnet or a postcard, it will be both a souvenir of my holiday and a useful object in my home.
