Youngor Group, a Chinese fashion retailer known for its investment in Alexander Wang, recently set foot in the Shanghai market with a sustainability-focused retail project called Hai550.
The location, formerly a bright pink Barbie flagship that opened in 2009, is now an eight-store, vertical construction with 77,000 square feet of retail space along the populous Huaihai Road. It was left unoccupied for years after Barbie left the building in 2011 after only two years.
According to local media reports, the address was left vacant for more than 12 years due to high rent levels. In addition, limited parking spots, a lack of access to public transportation and limited restaurant options are factors that plague the historical Huaihai Road retail strip to this day.
However, it was revealed in December that Youngor will be responsible for turning it into a mixed-use retail project.
The initiative is one of the first instances when two local fashion groups have joined forces to hatch a new project.
Designed with an ethos to highlight a “naturally multispectrum urban life,” Hai550 was created in collaboration with Oōeli, a landmark retail project bankrolled by JNBY, one of China‘s largest publicly traded fashion companies.
“Hai550 is an oasis of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, where people can find a place to live in harmony with nature and their own souls,” Youngor said in a statement.
Its sleek glass facade and interiors were designed by the Shanghai-based architecture firm Roarc Renew Architects, according to Youngor.
By working with B1ock, the hip, Hangzhou-based multibrand retailer under the Oōeli roster, Hai550 brought beauty brands such as Aesop, Balmain Hair, and home fragrance brand Fuct Matrioshka into its fold to help draw a cosmopolitan crowd, a cohort driving the latest perfume boom in the market.
B1ock Art, the art production branch behind B1ock, enlisted five contemporary Chinese artists to collaborate on a centerpiece artwork on the first floor. Titled “Realities Printer,” the piece features a ceiling-high robotic arm that traces ephemeral sand drawings on the floor. Also on the first floor is a Patagonia pop-up that features upcycled outdoor gear.
The artwork “Realities Printer.”
Courtesy
The second-through-eighth floors offer a revolving set of local fashion, jewelry, sportswear, lifestyle and organic grocery brands that all embody a sustainable lifestyle, according to Youngor. With each floor organized by themes rather than categories, brands such as upcycled rain boots label PabePabe, plus-size womenswear brand Fussed, outdoors brands Ankorau and Uppervoid, local perfume labels Eios and Je Sense currently operate pop-ups at the shopping complex.
Uppervoid
Courtesy
A highlight on the fourth floor is an exhibition space for Youngor Lab, which featured the company’s star item, the button-down shirt in sturdy cotton and hemp. Since 2006, the Ningbo-based Youngor has been building its hemp supply chain in Yunnan province, one of the first of its kind in the country.
Youngor Lab
Courtesy
For local Huangpu district officials, the opening of Hai550 will help revitalize Huaihai Street, a “cultural consumption destination” since the 1920s, according to a gallery display on the eighth floor.
For Youngor, the mall will allow the brand to tap into a younger generation of consumers whose taste has been informed by multibrand retailers that champion young and independent fashion and lifestyle brands.
Youngor, the Ningbo-based fashion group, was founded in 1979 as a menswear label. The company owns Undefeated, the American streetwear brand, and Helly Hansen, the Norwegian outdoor apparel brand, and holds a minority stake in Alexander Wang. It is also the distributor for the American tailored clothing company Hart Schaffner Marx in China.
