The innovative Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster refreshes its retail experience concept at its ION Orchard store.
Those familiar with the once-cult eyewear wonder brand Gentle Monster will know its store spaces double up as an art space for the curious and obscure. Probably apt for something labelled “cult” then, but with the way it currently thrives at the forefront of the fashion world’s consciousness, it has become something fans everywhere enjoy on top of their eyewear.
Founded by Hankook Kim in Seoul in 2011, Gentle Monster constructed oversized glasses with low bridge noses to fill the market gap for frames tailored specifically for the nuanced needs of the South Korean consumer. Now, it has partnered with brands like Moncler Genius, Coperni and Ambush, as well as creatives like Blackpink’s Jennie and even stylist Yk Jeong, for edgy frames that shape industry trends.
Just in time for the new year, the Gentle Monster Singapore Ion Orchard store re-opens with a futuristic story of the fragmentation and reinterpretation of data. Discrete images from the digital space fragment across the space, reintegrated to express a new self through one’s own ‘Awakening.’ The various artwork and installations meticulously exhibit intense contrasts in colour and material, further emphasizing the disintegration that the brand is seemingly moving forwards with its products.
Humans appearing in video artwork portray the process of self-actualization within the reckless inundation of data. Installations of ants, a sole eye (with a pierced brow, no less), and robots dispersed throughout the space represent a new order of creation, presenting a novel yet still subdued and powerful retail experience that Gentle Monster has always sought to convey.
If you have some downtime to spare, pay the redecorated space a visit. Even if you do not want to purchase a new pair of sunglasses, a walk through the space will guarantee a piqued curiosity with perhaps something otherworldly or not yet of this world.
Once you’re done with this story, click here to catch up with our December/January 2023 issue.
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