So here are those pics from the United Nude store in Amsterdam, which turned out to be as good as the build-up that was provided. And it also happened to be busy - quite an achievement in view of the esoteric nature of the product and the highish ticket prices.

A beautiful store

His dark materials

I'll put a few pictures of a store called United Nude, in Amsterdam, up on the site later this week - when I've been there. But meantime, been corresponding with the man who designed it - Rem Koolhaus, the person who designed the Prada store in New York and numerous other high-profile spaces.

This is what he calls a "dark store" - a place where everything is left unlit, apart from the stock. Koolhaus comments: "It's just one of a number of options that you have. Another good thing about the dark-shop concept is that it has a really high impact. You enter a world. It's the same reason that cinemas are dark."

He adds: "Without answering the question of what architecture is, I would just like to say that this shop is not really even interior design. to me, it's an installation or a machine. A very efficient machine."

Should make for an interesting visit I reckon. More Thursday.

Popping over to Prada

Stand at the Place Beauvau end of the very posh Avenue Martigny in the poshest part of posh Paris and you'll be hard pushed not to catch sight of Prada's "Temporary Space." Externally, this looks like a bridge - hardly an accident as the Italian architect responsible for the design took much of his inspiration from the nearby Mirabeau Bridge, a green-painted cast iron 19th century structure.

It is certainly impressive and, unlike many luxury stores, has a very open-door policy when it comes to welcoming shoppers, irrespective of the width of their wallets.

The point about this shop however is that while many are calling it a "pop-up" (it will only be in business until the end of March), it has a feeling of permanence, both in terms of store design and the quality of the fixturing, that rather gives the lie to this.

Which calls into question the notion of what we mean by a pop-up. Is it something quick and dirty, or can a super-luxe environment also qualify? Have a look and make your own mind up and decide whether the inherent snobbery implicit in the use of the word "temporary", rather than pop-up, is merited. And if you're in Paris, go have a look. You probably won't be able to afford much, but on the other hand, it is a trompe l'oeil spectacle.

Not a Colette store

Went to Brick Lane yesterday, supposedly on the promise of a Colette pop-up shop. For those not in the loop, Colette's a fashion store in Paris famous for being famous - for some of its clothes and for a broad range of ephemera. It also has a bar that serves just mineral water - or at least it used to have.

Back in London however, arriving at the address marked out as the Colette pop-up, it turns out to be a space in the former Truman brewery which has been comandeered and turned into the "Cube Store". Step inside, and this considerable space is home to series of red geometric installations, some of which contain objects "selected" by Colette, as the blurb says. So this is it, the fashion store as curator and as adjunct to a Nissan car launch, which is what this space is really about.

It's only around until Christmas, so go visit, but don't expect a Colette pop-up store. This is a spratt to catch a mackerel, or some such.