Amid the coronavirus pandemic, menswear outfitter O.N.S Clothing opened the doors of a new store designed by Hong Kong-based studio COLLECTIVE. Right before government-mandated shutdowns began, the furniture brand was wrapping up construction on its own new headquarters in New York.

“Before lockdown, we were on a schedule to complete construction in two weeks. Once the lockdown happened and construction slowly started back up, we were faced with larger challenges that were created by vendor supply chains and a lack of manpower, which elongated the whole process,” said Betty Ng, founder of COLLECTIVE.

It’s unfortunate because COLLECTIVE positioned the new store as a space for both retail and events.

“Our mission is to one day utilize the space for music events accommodating 100-to-200 guests and events for a smaller audience of 50-to-100 and intimate events like panel talks and readings,” Ng said.

Her studio outfitted the establishment with a “stage” with an obliquely cut curtain that defines the room. Crafted from fabric made by Danish textile purveyor Kvadrat, the 100-foot curtain can be deployed to transform display areas for exhibitions, pop-ups, trunk shows, and so on.

“It’s a new type of event venue within a traditional sales outlet, where retail hybridization can happen with crossovers and bringing in setups for the fashion community,” said Ng.

Walk through the space on our interiors and design website, aninteriormag.com.