White Rabbit Candy Brand to Open First Flagship

A BELOVED CHINESE chewy candy dating to the 1940s has created its first global flagship in Shanghai. Like the mind-bending journey the White Rabbit took the title character on in “Alice in Wonderland,” this 2200-square-foot store plays fast-and-loose with the senses to create a memorable shopping experience. “Curiouser and curiouser!” indeed, as Alice said.

1. GOT MILK

The design team from X+Living (Shanghai), led by Chief Designer Li Xiang, says it wanted the space to be a “a large artistic installation.” The centerpiece of that effort is a twisting piece of 3-D printed white plastic resembling flowing milk that goes from being suspended in the air to the candies on the store’s shelves.

2. MIRROR, MIRROR …

… On the ceiling, in this case. While making the space appear larger, the wall-to-wall mirrors in the store add to the fluid, slightly disorienting vibe.

3. HARE-BRAINED SCHEME

Representations of the candy’s rabbit mascot can be found in a variety of iterations throughout the space, including window stickers, hanging rabbit-shaped decorative lace and molded figures.

4. BRAND COLORS

In addition to the major splashes – pun intended – of white inundating the space, also present are zones of bold reds and blues, which are the brand’s secondary colors on its candy wrappers.

5. IRREGULAR ILLUMINATION

Spherical lights placed in a seemingly haphazard configuration help create what designers describe as “a surreal magic filter to the space,” all part of an effort to produce more narrative tension and emotional resonance within the store.

PHOTO GALLERY (9 IMAGES)
? SHAO FENG, SHANGHAI