Sculptural bees nests encased in transparent boxes are the focal point of Simone Rocha’s new store that has opened in Hong Kong.
The Simone Rocha store has been designed by the fashion label’s in-house team to feature a host of unusual artworks, resulting in a gallery-like interior.
It’s located in Hong Kong’s central business district and is Rocha’s third standalone retail space – it joins a branch in New York that opened in 2017 and another in London that opened back in 2015.
“The design and development of the [Hong Kong] store has been a personal project for Simone, producing an opportunity to create an intimate and unique retail atmosphere,” the designer’s studio told Dezeen.
“The store is a chance for people to engage with the clothes physically and really understand the fabrications and embellishments.”
At the centre of the 84 square-metre space is a handful of clear perspex boxes. While some serve as display plinths for shoes and handbags, others contain honeycomb from bees nests that function as sculptures, by Chinese artist Ren Ri.
Ri – who took up beekeeping as a hobby in 2006 – achieved the warped shape of the works by changing the orientation of the bee hives once every week, encouraging the winged insects inside to continuously change and adapt the structural framework of the nest.
“I abide by the natural rules that allow the bees to build it themselves, to shape and to dye the nest as they want,” Ri explained.
Towards the rear of the store is a chunky service counter crafted from baby-pink onyx.
Behind it lies a trio of lithographic prints of Francis Bacon’s Triptych August 1972 – a three-part painting that the 20th-century artist completed following the suicide of his lover, George Dyer.
Ornate floral cornicing borders the store’s white walls, complemented by a grey marble-like floor. Clothes are suspended from simple metal rails that run along the room’s peripheries.
The front facade of the branch has been painted a contrasting jet-black.
Simone Rocha hails from Dublin, Ireland, and made her debut as a designer in 2010 when she presented her MA graduate collection at London Fashion Week.
This isn’t the only fashion label to include artworks in its store.
Axel Arigato’s brutalist-style Copenhagen flagship features silver bum-shaped sculptures where shoppers can sit, while Ganni’s London store is dotted with a selection of colourful paintings and illustrations that help it resemble a Danish home.
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