The influence and buying power of Millennial and Generation Z shoppers in China is quite a phenomenon that has only just started. It’s not only shaping the local luxury market, already the biggest in the world, but also retail design. Being digital natives, the two demographics have developed sophisticated sensibilities that aren’t easily triggered. Upscale department store SKP, which operates high-profile retail spaces in Beijing and Xi’an, has anticipated this trend with SKP-S, short for SKP Select, a retail concept that specifically caters to the fast-evolving preferences of these young savvy shoppers. Following the launch of SKP-S in the Chinese capital, the retail concept has recently been introduced in Xi’an on the multi-storey premises of the SKP department store in the historic heart of the city. Occupying the entire fourth floor with a total surface of 20,000 sqm. (215,278 sq.ft.), the interior design of the SKP-S store has been created by Sybarite, a leading design practice based in London. Similar to its sister establishment in Beijing, the design is themed ‘humans colonising Mars’, while here, it’s all about ‘the origin of the world and return to Earth’, albeit with a Chinese twist, resulting once again in a series of futuristic settings.
The overall design evokes a futuristic shopping adventure, but it’s undoubtedly the 60-metre (197 ft.) hexagon-shaped time tunnel that embodies this sensation best, connecting shoppers to ten branded spaces of top luxury fashion brand and popular sports labels, such as Prada, Fila, Rick Owens, sacai, Jil Sander and Descente. The space-infused design narrative is further upheld by a number of decorative settings, such as The Sky Port, a buzzing assembly line of satellites in a transient state, and The Terra, a setting which features a concave disc sculpture which represents a contemplative counterpoint to the chaos at the start of the shopping experience here at SKP-S. As said, SKP-S is the playground of splurging young shoppers with a penchant for fashion, and the store offers a curated mix of about 80 brands from home and abroad, while a dedicated SKP Select Beauty section presents 60 exclusive skin care, makeup, fragrance brands. But that’s not all. In order to keep the store’s in-the-know clientele mesmerised, a rotation of pop-up stores and other events are held on the premises.
SKP-S
SKP, 261 Changan Bei Lu, Fourth Floor
710077 Xi’an
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
