After Seoul and Shanghai, Gentle Monster‘s experimental retail concept Haus Nowhere has landed in Shenzhen, China‘s southern technology hub.
Located at the upscale MixC World, spanning about 75,350 square feet and three floors, the project is one of the South Korean eyewear brand’s largest to date.
The theme for the department store-like project is “Insect Kingdom,” which evolves around a fictional tale of the 10,000-year-old relationship between colossal humans, beasts and insectoids.
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“Haus Nowhere is not simply a shopping destination but a vast world of its own,” said Gentle Monster in a statement. “The space is, in itself, an entire saga, and visitors will be intrigued to invite themselves and test the limits of their sensations and imaginations.”
A three-story tall LED screen, framed by concrete columns and a stainless steel facade, faces the shopping mall palazzo and plays video art works that zoom in and out of the brand’s restless insect world. Featured works include multimedia videos by Polish artist Ada Sokol, the German collective Sucuk & Bratwurst, and South Korean artist Yeon Yeoin.
Once inside, a two-story tall resting human figure, or “The Colossal First Human,” sits inside a demolished building structure inspired by the works of the 3D artist Frederik Heyman, a former Gentle Monster collaborator. Insectoids, arachnids and silkworms hold court on the first floor, which completes “The Beginning of Insect Kingdom” storyline, set against the backdrop of a monumental mural painted by Freeling Waters, a Dutch artist duo.
The ground floor features Gentle Monster’s latest collaborations with Mugler, Maison Margiela, and Jennie, and pieces from its 2024 eyewear collection. Tamburins’ store-in-store contains its full offering of fragrance, hand creams, and scented candles, placed against expanses of white tiled walls on the far right corner. A silkworm kinetic sculpture looms large in the area, exuding a dreamlike aura.
Moving beyond brand collaborations, a space where Gentle Monster has made a name for itself, the Shenzhen project has become a testing ground for retail collaborations.
The second and third floors of the store, which account for around 85 percent of the whole, are dedicated to local multibrand retailers, South Korean fashion labels, a plant shop, a café and a bookstore.
The second floor includes retail corners for Korean Brands Low Classic and Wooyoungmi, and one for Blumarine, which is operated by ENG. Local concept stores, including Shenzhen’s Notjust Ashop, Shanghai’s Park Mall, and Hangzhou’s B1ock, take up the rest of the retail space, which is animated by various insect sculptures created by Gentle Monster’s in-house design team.
On the third floor, shoppers are met with arresting kinetic sculptures, including three moving bison and three gigantic moving heads that form “The Three Oracles.” There are retail corners for Korean fashion brands Amomento, Open YY, Shanghai label Rarely Alike, and four brand corners operated by ENG, including Misbhv, Anomalies Department, Entire Studios and Jaded London. Shanghai-based streetwear retailer Doe, Pocket by B1ock, Chongqing’s SND, a local roastery called Flow In, Shanghai’s independent bookstore JZZP, a specialty plant store called Oasiz, and lifestyle label Onheon flow into each other in the L-shaped third floor, which spans an impressive 51,656 square feet.
“When Mister Woosuk [Choi] came to meet us in Hangzhou, we realized we had so much in common, including a shared love of contemporary art and design,” said Alessio Liu, head of B1ock, who was contacted five months ago by Choi, Gentle Monster’s head of Haus Nowhere.
“But Gentle Monster’s artistic expression tends to be more visually impactful, that’s why we came up with a spinoff brand called Pocket by B1ock for Haus Nowhere,” Liu added.
“Shenzhen has always been a market that I’ve been interested in cultivating, which is why we chose to host The Row’s first pop-up in China at MixC Shenzhen Bay,” said Liu.
“Shenzhen is one of the most energetic cities in China,” said SND founder Will Zhang. SND is one of the first local retailers that Gentle Monster has ever worked with. “It’s full of young consumers with strong spending power and always looking forward to the next new thing,” he added.
For ENG, the Shanghai-based concept store, working with Gentle Monster inspired the retailer to disrupt tried-and-true retail formulas. “We want to expand on what it means to create an energetic and innovative retail experience with a slow pop-up model. Regular pop-ups are just costly and simply too time-sensitive,” said Sherry Huang, founding director of ENG.
On its Sept. 5 grand opening day, Haus Nowhere Shenzhen drew more than 20,000 visitors, underscoring not only Gentle Monster’s brand allure but also MixC World’s ambition to establish itself as a leader in Shenzhen’s fashion retail market. Initially opened in 2017, MixC World is an open-space retail hotspot in the affluent Nanshan district.
MixC World, MixC Shenzhen Bay, which is Shenzhen’s top-grossing luxury mall, and The MixC are owned by CR Land, a state-owned commercial real estate developer in China.
