Aura: New Menswear Boutique Brings Class to Gongti

Class and subtlety … in Gongti?

It took the creative wherewithal of Lane Crawford’s former visual merchandising director, Paul Cheng, along with experienced designer Kelly Li to accomplish this feat.

Their new menswear boutique Aura is decidedly minimalist, while its neighbors (Story Ship and MGM) fight to show off their sheen. Whereas Aura adopts an organic concept – every fixture is movable, and green plants instead of clothes decorate the display windows – its surrounding area is intent on appearing contrived.

So why did the founders choose Workers’ Stadium over, say, Guomao or Sanlitun Village? For one thing, Aura stands out here. Plus the space is large enough to accommodate their ultimate goal: to serve not only as a retail destination, but also as an exhibition for creative individuals.

To start, Paul has curated an impressive selection of about eight alternative designers, for almost all of whom Aura is the exclusive Beijing stockist. Most of them hail from Tokyo and Europe. The product range starts from RMB 900 for a T-shirt by Japan’s Discovered, and goes up to RMB 20,000 for the runway pieces by Sweden’s Obscur. At the moment, only Stratopparel is domestic – and it’s headed by Aura’s very own Kelly Li.

You’ve likely never come into contact with most of these brands before. Jan-Jan van Essche from Belgium, for instance, only makes one collection a year – and only five copies of every design at that. Paul points out the way his pieces all look “easygoing,” but still retain some “strangeness.”

Indeed, what the unique labels all share in common is a tendency towards quirk. From the cropped three-tone jackets and mini fringed ponchos of Banal Chic Bizarre to the rugged puff vests and tweed flap blazers of Mountain Research, one thing is for sure: This store is not for the faint of heart.

Paul promises that’s set to change. He shows extraordinary intuition for what will appeal to the masses, noting that Japan’s Ekram – with its “safer” down jackets – was a necessary addition, as will be future imported collections belonging to less underground labels.

Splurge on: White tee with fringed tassels by Discovered (RMB 1,480)
Also try: Triple-Major

Aura. Daily 11am-9pm. 12 Workers’ Stadium, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District (6551 0822)
朝阳区工体北路工体门12号