ALUMNI, the New York-based premium streetwear and high-fashion boutique, is pleased to announce the opening of ALUMNI of Chengdu, its first international brick-and-mortar location. Housed in 7322 Baiyao Factory, a renovated building from the late Qing Dynasty, ALUMNI of Chengdu will offer a curated selection of independent designers from around the world to a youthful and vibrant cultural hub. The store will officially open to the public on September 29, 2022, in conjunction with a celebration featuring local artists and musicians.
ALUMNI’s fourth location will join its three brick-and-mortar locations in New York – Flushing, Crown Heights, and Flatbush. A streetwear destination since its inception in 2013, the latest store will offer 26 highly-coveted labels such as Carhartt WIP, Hender Scheme, Rhude, and Y-3, along with China-exclusive labels such as Random Event, Roaring Wild, and Attempt.
Anticipating a need for a new disruptive menswear retailer, and chosen for its lively youth culture, ALUMNI founder Gene Han shares his insights on the up-and-coming fashion hub: “When I first visited Chengdu in 2018, I knew the city was special. There was an energy, creativity, and vibrancy that I hadn't seen elsewhere. You could almost feel that the city was going to be the next big thing just by being there,” Han explains. “As a native New Yorker who grew up on Hip Hop, learning about Chengdu's Hip Hop culture and experiencing it firsthand really connected me to the city. ALUMNI strives to be an ‘outer-borough’ retailer, which is to say, we focus on the locality of who we are. We strive to build community.”
Designed by the Beijing-based FON Studio, the 2900 sq. ft. boutique is housed in the only remaining industrial complex from the late Qing Dynasty in Chengdu. Formerly a gunpowder factory planned and designed by Germans and built by local craftsmen in 1906, the building fuses a fascinating mix of Chinese and Western architectural elements. Paying homage to the rich history of the space, FON Studio embraced the natural beauty of the building by combining earthy, raw materials such as birch wood and ceramics while elevating the environment with sleek metals.
“We are always keen on the subtle connection between the original sense of time of the building and these newly divided space blocks within the store,” explains Jin Boan, one of three founders of FON STUDIO. “Each part has its own atmosphere but is still connected tightly and functionally. We and the ALUMNI team wanted it to be an open reception space with multiple possibilities, to have a continuous explosion and growth of curiosity and creativity in this open space.”
With the expansion into the Chinese market, ALUMNI hopes to not only introduce streetwear aficionados and young fashion-forward consumers to emerging independent designers but also invite the world to explore the exciting streetwear culture of Chengdu.
ALUMNI of Chengdu will officially open on September 29, 2022 at A3-1, 1906 Creative Park, 15 Gaoyuanyi Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China 610000.