WHAT IT IS?
We all know high-end boutiques for eyewear. They feature a myriad of mirrors and artsy décor – a nice way to shop but thoroughly underwhelming when compared to Gentle Monsters flagship retail location Haus Nowhere in Seoul, Korea. The brand is known for the design of its stores, but Haus Nowhere is on yet another level. It features the sculpture “More Is More” by Max Siedentopf and has a giant animatronic dog at center stage. The 13-story building that also houses other II Combined brands is not a shop as such, it is a gallery, a stage set, a theme park, a playground. You don’t come here and simply walk out with a new pair of sunglasses. The goal of Haus Nowhere is to inspire, to imagine fantastical worlds using classic materials as well as new technologies to create an immersive experience for customers. To tell a story that includes the customer as they are becoming part of the installations by discovering and interacting with them. So you come here and might very well walk out with a new way of seeing the world – ideally through a pair of Gentle Monsters iconic sunglasses.



WHY IT´S COOL?
- Immersive experience: Shopping is turned into an immersive experience in which you get to see top notch art installations while walking around the retail location
- Reimagining retail spaces: The retail location becomes a multifunctional space, making room for artistic expressions that would normally not be experienced by this many people



WHY IT HAS FUTURE GROWTH POTENTIAL?
Places like Haus Nowhere make brick-and-mortar stores attractive again, giving new meaning to shopping offline, precisely because it is not just about buying an item. The brands image, created through this artistically designed retail locations, is beyond luxury: it makes consumers curious, wanting to discover more and excited for new installations as well as new products. The merging of art exhibition and retail location is an exciting new way to create a unique shopping experience and is adaptable to all kinds of brands.
Science of the Time
Victoria Lopez
Paola Nicole Galdámez Quezada
José Bonich Castaño