Basketball fan and founder of the French fashion brand Pigalle, Stéphane Ashpool collaborated with Parisian creative agency Ill-Studio and Nike to make over the site. The basketball court’s walls and floor encircle players in saturated and smooth shades, where shots can be made off of a bright pink backboard. The overall effect is set with a vibrant gradient aesthetic featuring a color palette of high-contrast grape, deep yellows, and bold blues.

Cover photo by Alex Penfornis

Occurring simultaneously with Pigalle’s newest clothing collection that was created in collaboration with NIKElab, the basketball court was born in celebration of the joining of forces. The courtyard enclosure opens up to the public on Rue Duperré through hot pink and bright blue gates that are nearly two stories high.

Visitors are then led to a colorful oasis on the other side that boasts a fruit punch-like color combination of pink, purple, yellow, and indigo—all hues that were dreamt up by Ill-Studio to complement the ’90s basketball-inspired aesthetic of the collection. The outcome is transfixed in Ashpool's romanticized view of "the golden era of basketball," where a sun-drenched setting reflects iridescent light waves thorough the highly-saturated space.

“As a daily basketball player, I developed very early this idea of an on-court and off-court approach,” says Stéphane Ashpool.