Heidegger Does Retail

Heidegger, the rabidly anti-reason philosopher of "nothingness," has inspired a new approach to the "design" of luxury retail stores: empty space. "The new Jil Sander store in Manhattan takes a novel approach to merchandising -- no merchandise displays." Raf Simons and Germaine Kruip "designed" a space where customers "walk in and find the place totally empty." [I]t's a form of luxury," said Simons, "not to open the door and get hit over the head with a bag." (Today's The New York Times Magazine, p. 51, emph. added)

So as with non-representational "painting," and a reality without entities, we now have non-merchandise retail "design." This folly, of course, allows frauds to gain unearned money and undeserved publicity.