The Beijing Location Features an Architectural Collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron
Swedish fashion house Toteme has inaugurated its latest flagship store in Beijing, marking its first architectural collaboration with the Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron. Located in the bustling Sanlitun district, a hub for shopping, dining, and entertainment in eastern Beijing, the flagship is Toteme’s first in China.
The design of the store retains the natural shapes and proportions of the existing building while responding to them with a design perspective that immerses shopper’s in the brand’s sculptural and minimalist aesthetic. The façade, a double-story structure at a prominent corner site, is crafted from pleated white stone that transitions into white metal. A notable feature is a 15-meter-long bench that encircles the façade, emitting a soft glow from its backlit glass.
“The Beijing flagship was our first project with Herzog & de Meuron, and it was an inspiring collaboration where we exchanged ideas organically. We wanted to create something that hadn’t been done before, that played with the architecture and space itself to communicate Toteme’s aesthetic values in a highly evocative and immersive way. They were the ideal partners to push the boundaries of our visual language,” said Karl Lindman, co-founder of Toteme.
Internally, the store features a hollowed-out, high-ceiling design that accommodates Toteme’s distinctive language of geometric forms and natural elements. Central to this is a grand sculptural staircase made of lacquered steel. The staircase expands in complexity as it rises, culminating at its peak where jewelry is displayed under hand-blown glass domes beneath a vast three-dimensional screen that airs silent films by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman.
Toteme’s signature monochrome color palette is applied throughout with artistic subtlety to create optical illusions. Floors and ceilings in high-gloss black lacquer wood enhance the verticality of the space, and custom wood tables rise seamlessly from the floor. The ready-to-wear collections are set against pleated white fabric walls that mirror the exterior design, floating in the air alongside accessories displayed on rippled glass surfaces.
For the opening, the flagship showcased three exclusive colorways of the new Bevel bag, alongside the complete Spring 2025 collection of ready-to-wear, shoes, small leather goods, accessories, jewelry, and bags.
