Beauty and cosmetics are big business in China, and although the market is valued at approx. USD 43 billion this year, it’s predicted to reach the world’s top spot in the next five years. Chinese retailer HAYDON is one of the major multi-brand players in the market, offering a wide range of international merchandise in striking design-led stores. Following the opening of much-publicised retail spaces in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan, it’s in the coastal city of Hangzhou where HAYDON‘s newest art-and-technology-themed flagship store has opened its doors. Situated at Hubin 88, a leading upscale shopping centre in the city’s Shangcheng district, it occupies a sizeable 862 sqm. (9,279 sq.ft.) ground floor unit with three levels, and features an interior design by Shenzhen-based architecture practice Various Associates.
HAYDON, or 黑洞 in Chinese, means black hole, and this notion has intentionally been used to both define the brand and its retail spaces, resulting in an aesthetic that aims to capture the collision, distortion, and free tension of a black hole’s gravity through flowing lines and unique circulations in a space. And for this new outpost, additional cues were taken from Hangzhou‘s misty and rainy weather conditions. From afar, the ground floor seems dominated by a dramatic staircase leading to the upper floors, but right behind it, a curved corridor, lined by a sales counter, leads shoppers to the first product display area shoppers encounter on the premises. The entrance is decorated with flexible rotating mirrors while pale yellow-baked wall coating produces a sense of warmth and comfort amidst the omnipresent reflective, futuristic silver hue.
The ground floor’s product display area is furnished by matching curved rows of cabinets, and most are equipped with triangular-shaped mirrors that easily allow shoppers to try out cosmetics. The mezzanine has been newly added, creating an interesting layering that, combined with sophisticated lighting, adds further to the meticulously crafted visual drama HAYDON‘s premises. Upstairs, all circulations in the space diverge around a bold HAYDON logo at the centre, placed at the darkest area in the space and guiding shoppers upstairs to explore more of the futuristic retail space. On the second floor, mirrored glass panels serve both as showcases and partitions, while the space behind it can be used for live-streaming setting or workshops. As said, HAYDON is a multi-brand cosmetics and fragrance store, offering a wide range of established and niche foreign brands, including Guerlain, Sulwhasoo, Mao Geping, Borghese, 3CE and Gucci. HAYDON‘s retail expansion is gaining steam—a new flagship is scheduled to open shortly in Shanghai.
HAYDON
Hubin 88, 124 Pinghai Lu (Shangcheng)
310006 Hangzhou
Publishers Note
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