Designed by Seoul-based eyewear brand Gentle Monster with the theme of “Digital-Analog Future” and the concept provoked by the question of “what lies in the future, and what will future humans value and pursue”, SKP-S is a newly opened department store that aims to deliver a shopping experience that is transformative and awe-inspiring.
“Mr. Ji (CEO of SKP), really loved our store’s style, so he called me to discuss the new department store,” said Hankook Kim, CEO of Gentle Monster. “Even though Gentle Monster is an eyewear brand, our core DNA is creative thinking, so together with SKP, we started planning an alternative vision of traditional luxury department store.”
Regarded as being a fixture in China’s luxury retail scene, SKP is a department store chain that is described as being a philosophy and state of mind. Located in Beijing, SKP-S resides directly across the street from SKP’s flagship that opened back in 2007.
SKP-S is separated into four areas. The first area is designated as an experimental art space that presents artworks and pop-up shops that are renewed annually. For the first episode, an installation called Future Farm was created. The installation envisions a world ruled by machines and AI who reminisce on the past by creating an analog virtual reality.
Area two is a common area that Gentle Monster says is an intersection between “fear and excitement of a digital world” and “remorse and nostalgia of the analog world”. Alongside an outer space-themed area is a mock museum storage room that houses ancient artifacts.
Following is Gentle Monster’s new flagship store that is said to depict the future of humankind. Inside the store, there are statues and digital screens placed throughout to compliment the products. “Visitors are taken into a new dimension the moment they step into the space, experiencing the new digitized world and evolved environment,” said Gentle Monster.
The final area is where Gentle Monster’s dessert brand called NUDAKE resides.
The luxury brands that now call SKP-S home are Louis Vuitton, Prada, GUCCI, Rick Owens, and more.
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