SPAN Architects outfit Calvin Klein's Shenyang boutique.

The iconic American brand that helped launch the careers of Brooke Shields, Kate Moss, and Mark Wahlberg with titillatingly controversial ad campaigns, has opened it's retail doors in China under the deft design direction of New York-based SPAN Architects.

The Collection store in Shenyang is a balanced combination of the existing architectural language of Calvin Klein, merged with new elements with a linear lilt that is both flexible and still instantly recognizable. The niches and case goods that define the discreet luxury of the brand have been re-imagined into a residentially scaled series of fixtures and furniture shapes that invite closer inspection of their contents.

SPAN also introduced a new spatial element in the form a salon. Inspired by the intellectual soirees of European artists and taste-makers in the 17th and 18th centuries, the ck salon functions as a "curated space where elements of the whole collection can exist in a more intimate environment." The salon takes the shape of blackened steel ribs of different dimensions repeated at varying intervals throughout the center of the store, which frame, filter and highlight a monolithic lit pane at the back of the space. The concept of the lighted wall was an existing one in current stores that SPAN elaborated upon to create a series of regulated lines in the ceiling which extend to floor, breaking up the space and enhancing the salon framing device.

The color scheme is exclusively black and white, featuring elements of lightly veined marble and glass, combining classy formality with austere modernity. The clothing and accessories are reverently framed and displayed like pieces of art, yet still made accessible by the open and interactive layout of the store, as well as the familiar comfort of the Calvin Klein designs in and of themselves.

Photography courtesy of SPAN Architects