In a bold move, Gentle Monster has made an even bigger splash at Sanlitun Taikoo Li, Beijing’s preferred shopping grounds for deep-pocketed Millennial and Gen Z shoppers. The South Korean eyewear brand has had a presence here for quite some time, but decided to open an additional bigger store in the open-air shopping centre’s southern section. Occupying three floors, the store features another innovative interior design by the brand’s Seoul-based in-house design team. As expected, the chosen aesthetics are as highly evocative as in all Gentle Monster retail spaces, and here, they’re themed ‘datafication in the future’ and ‘fractured world’. As such, the premises offer shoppers a bold visual narrative and are strewn with objects fallen out of the digital world and rearranged according to the order of the real world. First and foremost, the themes are signalled from afar by large-sized installation of digital screens put up behind the glass façade featuring a rotation of footage.
The ground floor sees an abundance of the aforementioned fantastical objects, but some are marked with graffiti, making them instantly relatable to urban youth culture. Right behind, unfolds the store’s first display area, featuring Gentle Monster‘s coveted eyewear presented on custom-made displays and shelving. One floor up, the aesthetic somewhat shifts to a more gallery-like setting dotted with life-size rhinos, robotic giants with delicate skins, and last but not least, The Probe, a six-legged robot which embodies Gentle Monster’s philosophy and was first put on display at the brand’s HAUS Dosan flagship store in the South Korean capital. Situated at the centre of the floor is the media installation Truth or Dare by German artist Jonas Lindstroem. The third floor presents optical products only, and here, the aesthetic shifts once again, featuring sleek display tables paired with an insect installation against a backdrop of wall panels and digital screens.
Gentle Monster
Sanlitun Taikoo Li, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Shop S10-15, S10-23 and S10-32
100023 Beijing
Telephone: +86 10 84004583
Daily 10am-10pm
Publishers Note
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