BBG is an online fashion retailer founded in 2015 which uses instagram as the major distribution channel and in the summer of 2021, they saw an opportunity under COVID-19 and opened their first physical store at the outskirts of Hong Kong. The new shop caught the attention of management in Langham Place, a famous shopping mall in the heart of Hong Kong, and they invited BBG to open a second store in Langham Place which was later open by November 2021 as their first urban store.
Mesh element was one major idea that we would like to bring from the first store to the second store. For the first store, we have the mesh to create a house shape, here being inside a shopping mall, we want the mesh to bring about a lighting effect that would attract customers instantly. The lighting effect was brought about by two parts – the mesh curtain on the facade as well as the mesh light hanging from the ceiling. The mesh curtain symbolizes BBG’s new chapter in a first-class shopping mall in Hong Kong and it is made of three layers each with one light tube at the bottom of each layer. The light tubes are chosen because they are closely related to the sports style brands that BBG carries. The three layers of the mesh curtain give depth and interest to the facade when viewing from different angles. Customers can peek through to the merchandise via the mesh and can have a completely different view when walking through the entrance and seeing the cross section of the three layers. Meanwhile, the ceiling mesh light provides enough lighting to the central display tables, which will be reflected from the stainless steel tabletop.
The mesh curtain and the mesh light are indeed two important art installations for the store.They were easily installed and can bring about a great impact. The mesh also gives the client the flexibility for display. They can easily hang and put up posters on the mesh for promotion and events, just like what we have done for the first store. Even though this is a long lease shop, the two feature installations give the store a pop-up quality that can benefit the brand. Lastly, plywood was used again to prevent the space from looking too cold. It is a warm complementary element to the relatively cold metal mesh.
In today’s world, especially while we are still in the midst of Covid-19, it is only natural to think that a brand or a company would focus more on online presence rather than developing a physical presence. But, it is also because of this changing time, BBG found opportunities to develop its physical stores and believe the physical stores will be as important as the online store in the future. It was encouraging to have a client who believes that the physical shopping experience shall become more experiential and more enjoyable in the future.
