SKP-S upends the phygital retail experience

China – Design-led retail space SKP-S is courting young luxury shoppers through phygital, future-bending interiors.

Opened as a wing of Beijing department store SKP, the space has been curated by Seoul-based eyewear brand Gentle Monster, which, working with architects Sybarite, is challenging the meaning of traditional store design. With numerous theatrical settings based on the theme Digital-Analogue Future, SKP-S toys with a future in which technological leaps will allow mankind to blur the boundaries between human and digital realms.

Comprising multiple floors, including a dedicated beauty area, SKP-S is anchored by a continually changing Art Experiment Space, that will feature a roster of exhibitions and installations. With bricks-and-mortar retailers facing stiff competition from online innovators, multi-brand retailers are beginning to deploy new strategies to keep people engaged.

And with Chinese luxury consumers losing their obsession with big international labels, affluent shoppers are instead looking for domestic brands that cater for a more mature market. We explore this in our State of Luxury: China market.