With the steep rise of China‘s middle class in the past two decades, quite a few homegrown fashion brands have emerged which cater specifically to the savvy youth of this influential demographic. Founded only in 2018, the clean. the simple silhouettes of Shanghai-based premium menswear brand nice rice – indeed, what’s in a name? – have resonated well with its target audience, and following initial sales online, the company has inaugurated brick and mortar retail spaces soon after. Since opening up shop at the nice rice home base, additional stores have been launched there, but also in Chengdu, Beijing, Nanjing, Chongqing, and Hangzhou. The latest nice rice store is the brand’s very first in the far south of the country. Situated in the boomtown of Shenzhen, right across the border from Hong Kong, the company has secured a unit on the subterranean B1 level of Shenzhen Wanxiang Tiandi, a large shopping centre in the city’s Nanshan business district. The interior design, created by say architects, an architecture practice based in Hangzhou, takes cues from Shenzhen‘s remarkable transformation.

Mind you, it has evolved from a backward fishing village in the early 1950s to one of the most affluent cities in modern day China. As such, the design theme is ‘boats’, and not the wooden vessels of yore, but the rather glitzy sail boats of Shenzhen’s current city dwellers. The store’s front section sees staggered masts and crossbars, and at the central diagonal staypole in the middle of the ‘deck’ holds up the ‘sail’, becoming very much the focal point of the setting. While signalling all the characteristics of a sail boats, the structure, beside being decorative, offers functionality in the form of suspended display shelves. Steel rods, suspended by inhaul cables, and steel clothing racks line the walls, offering additional display space. The front section of the nice rice is all white, but the back section, mimics the boat’s cabin, featuring an immersive all timber backdrop. Here, low seating takes centra stage, while the shop’s sales counter lines the back wall. The fitting rooms and storage space are embedded in the side walls and the wall that separates the two shop sections. The new nice rice store carries the brand’s full range of men’s apparel.