Kiko Kostadinov unveils new concept store in Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo, 23 March 2024 - Kiko Kostadinov inaugurates its first permanent store, located in the heart of Tokyo's Shibuya District. The company's first foray into the brick-and-mortar landscape expands on the forward-thinking ideation that has defined the brand since its first collection in 2016.
Building on its history of reimagining space — physical or otherwise — Kiko Kostadinov's first retail concept unveils a fresh approach towards retail design. Inspired by the city of Tokyo itself, and combining its minimal aesthetic with the influence of the visual arts, the store will embody the research-based approach to world-building that has defined the brand.
Conceptually, the store is comprised of two separate components. The first component, "The Salon," is designed by Yusuke Seki and his Japan-based design team. Seki's design approach accentuates simplicity and minimalism whilst embracing contextual cues such as the location and history of the space. The firm's formal design approach engages with existing architecture and pulls and expands on it in innovative ways, recontextualizing the overall feeling of the environment. "The Salon" is a carefully considered open vessel that is conducive to version-hood and transformation ‒ a site to nurture creative turnover positing retail as a poetic stage.
The second component takes the form of an ever-evolving initiative where artists are invited to create immersive installations that will challenge visitors, as well as the brand, to develop new ways to engage with the retail experience. These installations pervert the traditional mold and create new ways of seeing Kiko Kostadinov offerings as well as presenting new ways of interpreting the relationship between art and fashion.
The first artist invited to participate is Ryan Trecartin. Trecartin's (b. 1981, United States) expansive practice includes video, installation, sculpture, sound design, and photo-based work that focuses on the fluid nature of identity, the unfolding definitions of community, and the complexities of subject formation. Recent institutional exhibitions include Another Surrealism, Den Frie Center for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (2022); World out of Joint, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland (2022); Lizzie Fitch/Ryan Trecartin: Whether Line, Fondazione Prada, Milan (2019); and Lizzie Fitch/Ryan Trecartin, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2018). Trecartin’s work is held in the permanent collection of over thirty major American and international institutions.
For this installation, Trecartin will present a visual narrative unveiled in two parts. The project's first iteration will exist as a production proxy ‒ "pending place." The artist presents material explorations and spatial studies that echo the "in production" phase of set building ‒ "the default environments of a building space" pre-realization of the piece. Photorealistic rendering plans (created with long-time collaborator Rhett LaRue), material placeholders, "used" scaffolding, and other construction gestures combine to create a "draft setting" ‒ a store in the render queue. A behind-the-production-scenes research and build aesthetic hints at what is to come.
Viewers will have the opportunity to engage with phase one of the installation ‒ Draft Settings ‒ while Trecartin works with local Japanese artisans on the construction of the permanent installation set to follow Summer 2024. This process is in line with Trecartin's community-based artistic practice where collaborators play a pivotal role in the realization of the artist's projects. The final iteration of the space will evolve through this process, revealing itself as it develops, and will include film, objects, installation, and sculpture resulting in an atypical retail context that will reconfigure the space into a striking series of strangely familiar domestic environments.
This distinct new destination will offer Kiko Kostadinov clothing, handbags, accessories, footwear collections, and special projects for both Menswear and Womenswear.
KIKO KOSTADINOV TOKYO
2-32-3 Jingumae
Shibuya Tokyo 150-0001
tokyo@kikokostadinov.com
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