Pop Up Culture

Last weekend’s Financial Times examined the global trend of temporary, pop-up spaces for galleries and retailers. The writer credits the first example to Rei Kawakubo of fashion label Comme des Garçons:

…she set up a temporary retail outlet in a disused, dilapidated building in an unlikely neighbourhood of Berlin. The space was cleaned up – just enough – and equipped with rails of clothes, some design objects and a cash register. It was an instant success. Customers who found it felt they were in on something edgy, secret and slightly illicit: something that was hardly a business at all.

Other retailers have since followed suit, including Uniqlo and Target all the way down to smaller designers and curators.

The article also highlights the rising popularity of these temporary spaces in China due to various factors, including the high cost of traditional retail:

In China, pop-up retailing is quickly becoming an essential tool for the young experimental crowd as well as larger commercial brands looking for a new angle, says PT Black, the Shanghai-based partner of Jigsaw, the consumer lifestyle research house.

“Rogue shows or pop-up spaces appear all the time now,” he says. “Retail is still quite chaotic in China and therefore the smaller, less established designers and retailers setting up have a better chance. Beijing is arguably more accessible for pop-ups as there are more informal retail spaces, while Shanghai retail is incredibly expensive. And the art and design scene is blossoming in China so there’s no shortage of domestic and international interest.”

Financial Times: Edgy, secret and slightly illicit