Zim & Zou Hermès Shanghai Collaboration
The surge continues within China as luxury brands dig deeper into finding ways of becoming the top shopping destination for Chinese consumers. Hermès has stepped up their game with a redesign of their new Shanghai retail outlet that recently opened. The new concept builds around a collaborative effort with another French company in design duo Zim & Zou. The duo reunites ties with the company as they had previously collaborated with Hermès on their retail window displays for the store’s Barcelona location.
The Zim & Zou Hermès collaboration builds around water and air theme displays that encompass a number of beautifully handcrafted, leather animal sculptures. Each window section displays animals that live within either the air or water elements. Within the store is also a smaller earth element display that includes a beautifully done fox. The other majestic creatures involved include seahorses, crabs, peacocks, owls, and variety of fish.
All the delicate sculptures were crafted from off-cut materials sourced within Hermès workshop in Paris, showcasing yet another focus on the quality of detail incorporated into the display. Within each sculpture you’ll notice the intricate layering of details that dwell within each piece. This can easily be noticed within the bird feathers and fish scales, all of which are done with a combination of leather and paper.
The whole concept was inspired by the Museum of Natural History and Cabinet of Curiosities resulting in the sense of “Wunderkrammer”. Bright colors and a vibrant atmosphere were definitely focal points of the new retail outlet as it would be pretty hard not to pay attention while walking through the store.
Interesting enough their is still a Far East type of vibe to be felt within the whole installation. Curious passerby’s will definitely take notice at the new retail outlet and wonder what all the colorful woodland creatures on display are all about. With the huge focus on drawing more consumers back to retail locations, Hermès has definitely laid out a new strategy on bringing in their luxury customers.
Images from Hermès
