Inspired by M. C. Escher’s famous experiments with perception and perspective, Roman architect Francesco Gatti has created an ALTERnative – you see what they did there? – fashion store for the usually conservative retail streets of Shanghai. Inspirited by the “crazy and brave” vision of owner Sonja Long to present a new template for a high-end fashion outlet in Shanghai, Gatti worked spontaneously; fashioning shelving from staircases, toying with their positioning and creating the kind of impossible environment that Escher was so fond of.

Introducing many international brands to a Chinese audience for the first time, Long’s vision of a cutting-edge concept store is about “inverted values, alternative beauties and subverted point of views” and is every bit as bold and multidimensional as its environment. ALTER, its “brave” owner, and its “crazy” architect are most definitely ‘ones to watch’…