Motifs within Hangzhou concept store The Mix Land reference the streetwear dictionary fashion designers like Virgil Abloh and Demna Gvasalia have helped to write – and naturally so: the shop sells brands such as Off-White, Heron Preston and Palm Angels. The studio behind the space, Xian Xiang Design, envisions it as a retail lab in which the visual language of the streetwear community can be expressed and explored.

The project’s completion comes not long after Hypebeast published its first Streetwear Impact Report, which revealed that consumers are willing to spend up to five times more per month on streetwear than on non-streetwear; it also stated that multi-brand retailers lag behind digital and single-brand platforms in terms of selling relevant products. The Mix Land’s on-brand interior is designed to appeal to streetwear loyalists who actively seek to engage themselves in the fashionable subculture.

Somewhere between a construction site and a sleek, high-tech laboratory, the interior revolves around three main installations. One symbolizes power, displaying newly arrived garments in a metal shell and bathing them in warm yellow light; next to it, a transparent box releases smoke, conveying amplification and energy. Elsewhere, a container filled with blue liquid emulates the process of condensation, visually corresponding with such similarly hued features as a bench, cabinet and carpeting. The final installation – a metal ‘operation desk’ shrouded in mist – reflects decomposition, and the search for new forms.

Xian Xiang Design acknowledges the fast-moving trends of streetwear, indicating that the space’s fluid quality makes it fit for adaptation – like the ‘ever-changing street culture itself’.