For being next door neighbors, Hong Kong and Shenzhen share little on the subject of suiting style. Where the average Hong Kong twenty-something prefers a typically western palette of banker’s blues and notched grays, their mainland counterparts stretch towards hyper fashions and over-the-topitude. Silk chests under suede lapels. Übertight black stretch trousers. Square-padded shoulders. Designer names in boldface.
However preferences lie, Hong Kong boasts an international port of call for revered trunk shows and the haberdasheries that host them. However, the People’s Republic has waited sorely without either. That is, until now.
As I mentioned earlier this year, within the rough landscape of designer labels and their misspelled knockoffs, there exists diamonds of true craftsmanship. My recent trip to Beijing pointed me towards another: BRIO. This store has raised eyebrows since opening earlier this year, with a regular stock of fine Italian brands and English shoes never-before seen in China. In addition, the shop regularly hosts Luigi Dalcuore and Salvatore Ambrosi, heralding a possible shift of the menswear scene for a country who’s ever-growing economy is set to overtake America’s by 2030. I just couldn’t just pass on the opportunity to visit.
Upon entering its double doors, the shop radiated with bright hues and texture, summer patterns blending over goldenrod walls. After wandering about Beijing’s smog-tinted streets, BRIO’s interior was a welcome escape on a June afternoon.
This main floor boasts a procurement of top-quality brands I’d never seen in China, many I’d never heard in my career. One long shelf lined with understated pairs of Edward Green and voluptuous counterpoints of Stefano Bemer. A rack of Sartoria Dalcuore suits and odd jackets, contrasted by white slip stitches for finishing. Carpet-thick rolls of Scottish tweed sitting ready for winter orders. And for good measure, the paisleys and polka dots of neckwear from EG Cappelli and Begg & Co. hang and roll like ornaments carefully placed. An impeccable symphony of color, fabric, and undeniable taste plays here.
If for whatever reason this space wasn’t enough, BRIO owns a basement floor to evince a true gentleman’s paradise. At the foot of the staircase lies a dedicated tailoring room for adjustments on the fly. Across the way is the spacious members’ room, where new acquaintances could pour each other a dram at the marble counter top, or pick out a fine cigar from a four-foot trunk and puff freely with heels sunken into a leather ottoman. Finally, behind this room sits a full-service barbershop, adorned with straight razors and chrome & leather chairs to complete its idiosyncratic flair.
With the tour complete, it was time to get a closer look at the goods. Most of BRIO’s collections are store-exclusive collaborations, spanning the menswear spectrum from timeless classic to outright dandy. Off the peg, a Dalcuore jacket fit my shoulders excellently, its lightness attributed to minimalist, precise construction of Neapolitan tradition. The hand-stitched edges of their Martinenghi weekender give firm form to the supple leather. My favorite had to have been the collection of umbrellas from Mario Talarico; the bold can sink their teeth into any storm with one model’s boar tusk handle, glinting in a ferocious hook. Even undergarments are available, such as German-made the old way cotton boxers from Merz b. Schwanen, are boxed and ready. Head to toe, BRIO has something excellent for you.
As a home is an extension of its owner, I’d have to assume that an experienced curator founded BRIO. The brands alone suggest discerning taste, with each handmade flourish and graceful imperfection shining under the house’s lights. The store also reserves many of its walls for enormous canvasses of fine art, sculptures, or antique tools of the trade; even the central table’s ebony undulations are something to behold.
As I understand, BRIO’s founder, George Wang holds no art degree, nor guided tourists at the Louvre, but rather jumped the financier’s ship to create this store. But his eye as a curator is unmistakeable; Mr. Wang opened an art gallery as much as a clothing store. And which is what is up to you.
Under deliberately angled lights you can admire the oiled brushstrokes upon six-foot tall canvasses by local and international artists. Just the same you can look up close to a pair of Dovers and examine what goes into a pinnacle of shoe making. From a wall hangs a lipstick red sculpture, glimmers and shadows running off its facets. And from a wooden hanger a jacket’s generous lapel rolls from its third button downward.
In Italian, “brio” is spirit, liveliness, and vigor. It’s a word that inspires action. Through the doors of BRIO Beijing, you experience clothing as art. When worn, this art breathes life into what you decide to accomplish.
Additional photos:
BRIO Beijing
Unit 1-011, Building 3, 8 Xindong Road, Chaoyang district
北京市朝阳区新东路8号院3号楼1-011
+86 8400 4635 • info@conbrio.cn
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