Signals

South Korea – Eyewear brand Gentle Monster has created an avant-garde multi-brand retail space, pointing to a new direction for department store design.

Haus Dosan spans five floors, each with a unique creative direction. The external brand spaces include cosmetics brand Tamburins and eatery Nudake. Tamburins make-up is showcased among kinetic sculptures, while Nudake’s floor seeks to bring on a mediative state using mood lighting so visitors can focus on the taste of its desserts.

With this retail endeavour, Gentle Monster has extended its unique in-store experience to other brands in a way that subverts traditional department stores. The luxury brand has plans to mirror the Haus concept on a larger scale in Shanghai.

In Inspiration Per Square Foot, we explore the immersive retail locations that invoke consumers' curiosity in physical stores.

Affluent consumers are looking to expand their residential status, with many looking to other countries for long-term properties.

Research by real estate consultancy Knight Frank indicates this in its Wealth Report 2021, which finds that nearly a quarter of UHNWIs are planning to apply for a second passport or citizenship – a rise of 50% in a year. And with some 84% expecting to travel less this year, desire for increased global mobility suggests an increase in long-term international stays or permanent residencies.

Meanwhile, some countries have also experienced significant growth in house prices in the past 12 months – with the biggest rise in Auckland, New Zealand, with an 18% increase in average property prices. This growth reflects the nation’s effective handling of the pandemic and people’s growing desire for countries that prioritise health and wellbeing.

As we identify in Liberation Luxury, affluent consumers are seeking to untether themselves from traditional citizenships and embark on a life of footloose living.