© Chrome Hearts

For many a luxury brand, China, as the planet’s second biggest luxury market on the planet, is the holy grail. Following earlier expansion in Japan and South Korea with a sizeable number of standalone stores and shop-in-shops, Los Angeles-based Chrome Hearts has taken on the vast Chinese market. The brand’s signature rock ‘n roll aesthetic has resonated well with a growing demographic of fashion-forward consumers with a distinct individual style, and in anticipation, branded retail spaces have been opened in country’s affluent first-tier cities Beijing, Hangzhou, and as of late, also in Chengdu. Interestingly, since its arrival Chrome Hearts has developed a close bond with Yintai Group, a Chinese conglomerate with a portfolio of upscale shopping centres nationwide, and has opened retail spaces at these properties, and the new outpost in the Sichuan province’s booming capital city is no exception. Occupying a unit of over 6,000 sq.ft. (557 sqm.), the store features an interior design created by the brand’s in-house design team in collaboration with owners Richard and Laurie Lynn Stark and their family.

The various settings of the voluminous space makes use of the building’s concrete shell, but also sees many interventions, giving the premises a visually layered look. The Chrome Hearts store features an outer domain with polished concrete flooring and a variety of gallery-like settings that either present the brand’s merchandise or a place to sit back and ponder over the next purchase. Obviously, the Maltese cross, the brand’s logo and style signifier, is omnipresent and even serves as a magnified prop. Encased in black timber and glass is the store’s semi-circular inner sanctum. Here, the majority of offerings is presented in a homey ambiance, captured by lacquered timber flooring, a sizeable sales counter in black timber with built-in display cabinets, bar stools, and hovering right above, a dramatic chandelier set within a recessed ceiling cut-out. The entire back wall is clad in matching black timber and sees rows of recessed display cabinets paired with drawers, all laden with merchandise. Adding a lifestyle element to the shopping experience is an in-house bar which is operated by the Wizar Lounge, an exclusive local watering hole. The new Chrome Hearts boutique carries the brand’s jewellery pieces, apparel, shoes, accessories, fragrances and home products.

Chrome Hearts
Yintai Centre in99, 1199 Tianfu Dadao Bei Duan, Shop L120 (Hi-Tech Zone)
610041 Chengdu
Telephone: +86 28 81195885

© Chrome Hearts