For Aesop’s store in Festival Walk retail centre, Kowloon Tong, the brand’s in-house Design Department looked to the streetscapes of the area. Once a walled city, Kowloon is replete with lowrise, high density buildings that nestle together to create a distinctive neighbourhood feeling. The architectural language is one of domesticity, eclecticism, and pragmatism.

Within the store, flamed granite benchtops and floor tiles reference the stoops of local walk-up residences while the stainless-steel counter contributes cool functionality. Inspired by the spectral romance of Wong Kar-wai’s film In the Mood for Love (2000), the space’s lighting is muted and atmospheric. Flashes of a passionate red and the layering of texture via a gauzy curtain further allude to the film’s breathtaking and yet suppressed intensity.