Comme des Garcons coming to Hongkong

[haoshcn]

Comme des Garcons just opened a store in Hongkong. They say it's the fourth (after Paris, Tokyo and New York stores) independent store of CdG around the world, don't know if that's true though. They call it "White Box" store, well, it does look exactly like a white box from the outside. This is a three-storey building with 1,500 square feet retail space. It carries 12 lines from Comme des Garcons. The basement to the second floor are for retail, and the third floor is a gallery where they are doing the CdG Archive Pattern Exhibition curated by the British artist Michael Howells. Rei Kawakubo herself came to the store on the official opening day.

All the pics are from www.atnext.com

 

[haoshcn]

the basement and the gallery

 

[haoshcn]

It's exactly on the next door of Martin Margiela store. The Ann Demeulemeester store is also on the same street.

 

[haoshcn]

Some of the most famous fashion editors of Hongkong were there wearing her clothes to celebrate the store opening.

 

[whizkit]

Thank you for posting. I was about to post it. It's the first time I've Adrian Joffe and Rei in the same photo.

It's definitely not the 4th cdg store, there are already 5 independent cdg stores in japan, not counting dover street market, cdg10corsocomo, eyeJW( is it still around?).

I too am suspicious if it is a bona fide cdg store, or just a concession (hence the different nme). I suspect the latter, with the store being operated by IT, joyce or silly thing.

 

[haoshcn]

Thank you for posting. I was about to post it. It's the first time I've Adrian Joffe and Rei in the same photo.

I too am suspicious if it is a bona fide cdg store, or just a concession (hence the different nme). I suspect the latter, with the store being operated by IT, joyce or silly thing.

You mean that guy standing in front of her? Is that her French husband? I once heard people calling him her "little" French hubby, so I always thought he must be much younger than her, didn't expect him to be so "mature-looking".

I also think I.T is probably the co-owner of this store (just like the MMM and Ann stores on the same street), otherwise the big boss of I.T, Mr. Shen wouldn't have been there on the opening day, and the store probably wouldn't have been on that location either.

 

[svsk_sk2]

i thought there is a CDG in hong Kong's Chai Wan already right?

 

[whizkit]

he's british I think.

oh, so IT has a share, they must be wanting to expand their cdg offerings as the IT stores stocks mostly cdgShirt and less of the main line.

The guerilla store at chai wan just closed last week. It was operated by silly thing.

 

[nqth]

Thanks so much for posting:-)

 

[bearbrick]

haoshcn..were you there at the party ?
...rei K looked bored and looked angry ..??......
not flattering pic of anyone ......and the shop doesnt look interestng at all......

is this a new strategy of CDG ??.......the guerrilla store is a precursor to a full fledge store .......but may not e neccessa a cdg......eg in berlin ......?

anyhow......i did nt know rei K was married ??!!.......do they have children ?

 

[haoshcn]

haoshcn..were you there at the party ?
...rei K looked bored and looked angry ..??......
not flattering pic of anyone ......and the shop doesnt look interestng at all......

is this a new strategy of CDG ??.......the guerrilla store is a precursor to a full fledge store .......but may not e neccessa a cdg......eg in berlin ......?

anyhow......i did nt know rei K was married ??!!.......do they have children ?

No, of course I wasn't there. I am on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and I work in a field completely unrelated to fashion/retailing. As I mentioned, all the pics are from the website of a Hongkong newspaper. I just think this is an interesting fashion event, someone on TFS might be also interested in it.

Yes, the news story also said she was a bit upset in the end because there were too many cameramen trying to take pictures of her, but the other local fashion editors attending the store openning event described her as being surprisingly approachable and friendly.

 

[softgrey]

thanks for this info and for the pics---
she seems much more fragile in these pics than she usually does...
clearly not comfortable with the camera...

also interesting to see what an editor looks like over there....
editors here rarely wear anything avant garde..
only freelancers tend to do that...

 

[JJohnson]

Thanks for the pictures this is really interesting. I wish designer retail outlets in USA were this cool/big....btw, Rei looks like an Asian version of Anna Wintour in these pics lol

 

[Scott]

^please don't insult JJ

yeah,have to agree,i don't know if i like this one as much as i do the new lil*shop CdG/Junya Watanabe in berlin. i think in general it looks too copied. (which might sound blasphemous to the queen... ) but it's a bit too much like Yukinori Maeda's brilliant white box for Cosmic Wonder in Osaka .

 

[whizkit]

i think it's too much of a spectacle , as events involving big names tend to become in HK. The shop space is a little too sleek and lacks the usual cdg "anti-ness" , if you know what I mean.

 

[Diorling]

^ Was just thinking that, this is a very Dior Homme space, it's so...Obvious. ANYONE with a sense of style could've thought of a big white cube...

 

[mikka000]

a while ago i saw a photo of the outside of the comme des garcons store apparently in russia. it definately wasnt tokyo or new york. can anyone verify this?

 

[helena]

Thanks for posting the pics. I think the store looks incredible. It's certainly not dior homme-esqe - there would be silver and sleekness everywhere (as there is in those stores already). It's utterly and severly minimalistic and without any frills. Classically (almost nostalgically) cdg in a way - perhaps she's leaving "anti-ness" aside for a while. Or maybe this is anti-ness now.

As far as I know this is the fourth country where there is a branded store after London, Paris, New York and various cities in Japan.

 

[haoshcn]

Some interesting "gossips" from Wyman Wong (a very famous writer/fashion editor/shopaholic in Hongkong, the guy wearing metallic jacket in post #4), he had a dinner with Rei after the store opening party. These are from the article he wrote for a newspaper afterwards.

Q (Wyman Do you like shopping yourself?
A (Rei No. Only at the airport.

Q: Never buy clothes?
A: No.

Q: Or cosmetics?
A: No. (Thinking for a while) But I go to market.

Q: You buy food?
A: Yes, food.

Some quotes from Wyman's article; " Sister Rei (that's the way lots of fashion lovers address her in Hongkong )she did eat food, between beef and fish, she chose fish; most of time she spoke Japanese; it seems that she was in a strong need to keep herself warm; she did smile , I FINALLY SAW HER SMILE!. That's all I want to say, just want to share them with people who also want to appreciate her from a "beatiful distance".

Another anecdote, in the middle of the dinner, Adrian Joffe asked Wyman, "what are you going to do during the holiday of Easter Day?" "I am going to Tokyo." "For what?" Before Wyman opened his mouth, Sister Rei suddenly cut in, "shopping!" Her voice sounds so confident and positive, her facial expression was obviously saying "do you even have to ask?"



I really love that article, and I have always enjoyed his fashion column. Wyman is a very intelligent and interesting guy. Not intellectual, but very sensitive and smart, exactly the kind of guy who genuinely knows how to appreciate and love good fashion. When you face a master like Rei Kawakubo, do you even have to make judgement or any kind of dry and boring generalization? I was thinking what I would write down if I met my Masters like Italo Calvino or Michel Foucault, I wish I could write down the same interesting words and present the similiar trivial details of which the world is ultimately composed, to which the thinking and enlightened minds are perpetually sensitive.

 

[Spacemiu]

I love the look of the space