SVRN, Chicago multi-brand luxury retailer, announced that its West Loop storefront has now reopened with an extensive expansion and visionary remodel. Korean architecture firm WGNB, winner of Dezeen’s Emerging Interior Design Studio of the Year 2021, oversaw the redesign, paying homage to SVRN CEO David Kim’s Korean heritage and the story of perseverance that helped his family form a successful business venture. The Kim family fought through many battles to keep their business afloat, including their first store burning down and other rebuilds through the years due to looting and destruction. The remodel presents a purposeful mixture of synthetic and natural forms and materials while personifying the juxtaposition between balance and tension that has helped the Kim family business grow and evolve, eventually leading to the elevated and more conceptual SVRN. The new space elevates Chicago’s fashion retail industry, presenting the previously unseen approach of experimentalism and intersectionality. The storefront is celebrating the remodel with a grand reopening party on Sept. 1, 2022.
“By embodying the Eastern philosophy, SVRN’s lens would speak of collections that are not just the product of fashion and trends, but beyond garments,” said Jonghwan Baek, creative director of WGNB. David Kim, CEO of SVRN, agrees with Baek’s philosophy, stating, “WGNB was able to execute my family’s story of perseverance through an artistic lens, where the buildout of our store not only elevates the Chicago retail environment, but portrays a strong message.”
This announcement comes after 14 months of meticulous planning and design work, as well as a five-month closure period for SVRN. The storefront is excited to open and share this new experience with Chicago.
SVRN Remodel Details:
- WGNB’s first-ever North American project executed in tangent with HNR and Helios.
- Additional 1,200 square feet expansion.
- Materials like stainless steel and Venetian plaster are used in synchrony with naturally occurring volcanic rocks, blackened wood and linen, conveying a juxtaposition of intersectionality that is core to SVRN’s brand image.
