Faithful to his passion for creative encounters and collaborations, Franklin Azzi has united his vision with that of creative director Serge Ruffieux to establish a new architectural concept for the Chinese ready-to-wear label EP YAYING.

Reflecting the approach of the iconic label in the revival of luxury goods and Chinese heritage – the name EP YAYING means ‘pledge of quality’ – the two Parisian creatives appropriated Oriental cultural references and skills to define a new contemporary aesthetic.

Their creative tandem has given rise to a programme of spaces dedicated to experiencing and strolling, which, from Shanghai to New York, cultivates an oxymoron in every detail. The raw beauty of the materials, such as jade and concrete, combines with the elegance of lacquer work and embroidery. Between the association of rough and smooth surfaces, matte and gloss colours, the traditional mixing of materials of Chinese craftsmanship, the boutiques reveal their singularity in a play of contrasts between stark simplicity and maximalism. The collections of fashion and accessories are displayed around a graphic grid structure of gold metal tubes, in which slabs of rough stones of different shapes and colours are suspended or held up, like an interior landscape reinforcing the impression of the poetic antithesis between the different elements.

The architecture of the boutiques, whether within a new building or an existing one, such as the old colonial house entirely renovated in Shanghai, favours transparency, opening to the outside, and integrating nature. The fashion label’s spaces merge with public space in a principle of fluid sophistication.

From floor to ceiling, via the furniture and changing rooms designed as transition and exhibition spaces in dialogue with the overall scheme, Franklin Azzi, and Serge Ruffieux have designed an unusual voyage, composed of aesthetic and sensorial resonances.

A means for architects and fashion designers to bring modernity and craftsmanship into dialogue in an original approach that sees each new EP YAYING boutique as a venue in its own right.

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