Hit Gallery Hong Kong by Fabio Novembre
The HIT Gallery, whose interiors have been conceived by Milan-based Italian architect and designer Fabio Novembre, opened in September 2012 in Hong Kong. The first impression of it is not at all at odds with its name: a carefully curated space, where clothing and accessories are elegantly showcased in a way which distinctly reminds of contemporary art pieces in veritable galleries.
What one is actually looking at is the first iteration of an innovative multi-brand retail concept, a project by Ittierre S.p.A. Based in Petronello, Molise, Ittierre controls the industrial production and global distribution of licensed apparel and brand collections, in partnership with some renowned maisons of the like of Pierre Balmain, Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld Paris. Jean Paul Gaultier has also recently signed with Ittierre on account of the development of its Fall 2013-2014 menswear collection.
The HIT Gallery chain is meant to feature several of the lines represented by Ittierre and proposes itself as a global unique customer-service centred shopping experience, whereby brand logos and signposts are discarded to give the space an elegant, uncluttered feel, placing emphasis on the aesthetic immersion in a high-fashion reality.
The Hong Kong HIT Gallery is to be found in the Times Square shopping center and it is 100-square metre of cool and minimalist visual impact. The highlights of the spaces are strongly neon-lit ceilings, a perimetre of illuminated arches enclosing a sparse assortment of apparel, walls painted by an indefinable tone of light-blue, ideally neutral so as to provide an optimal backdrop for the stock, and black-and-white striped floors presenting a somewhat optical effect. Novembre confirms the strong Italian imprint of these stylistic choice and nods to the surrealistic atmosphere of the paintings of Giorgio De Chirico in imagining the space. Open squares one accesses through arched passages dominate the way the visitor is guided through the shopping itinerary. The light, the sky-blue surroundings and the presence of two symmetrical bust-shaped fixtures at the centre of the customer journey through the store add to the enticing visual stimulation, whereby accessories and clothing alike are placed in niches and cut-off areas allowed by the design in a way that never allows for a dull gaze. Occasionally, the eye catches an unusual element confirming the dreamy atmosphere of the place, such as the Her Chair, shaped as a naked kneeling woman, also a signature piece of Novembre.
Starship or futuristic enclave, the feel is distinctly contemporary and forward-looking, a brilliant tackling of merchandising challenges and a step toward the future of luxury retail.
