Sundae School Founder and Artistic Director Dae Lim needs to show Manhattan’s Chinatown into a chilled sanctuary. Now, most New Yorkers would not use “calming” to explain the bustling downtown neighborhood, however Sundae College goals to supply a momentary respite from the chaos with its new storefront impressed by a Korean temple.
“I used to be born and raised in Korea, I might go to temples as soon as a month to pay homage to my ancestors and that felt like a break, so we needed to convey that into Chinatown,” Lim tells Fashionista.
Dae Lim
Picture: Gabriel Spence/Courtesy of Sundae College
Situated at 117 Hester St., Sundae College’s first-ever retail location sits simply three blocks away from the place Lim first launched the streetwear model in 2018. Designed in partnership with architect (and Lim’s husband) Nohar Lim Zask-Agadi, Sundae College’s minimalist, 500 square-foot area is modeled on a conventional Korean Buddhist temple and draped in floor-to-ceiling pastel pink curtains. Steel pillars and gates (designed by co-architect and sculptor Andy Kim) mirror a temple’s transitional courtyards.
Sundae College’s newest designs — which Lim says he is approaching with extra consistency than he has prior to now (“Admitting is step one,” he provides) — line the partitions, together with embroidered hoodies, tie-clasp outerwear and hanbok-inspired clothes. There’s extra to every piece than what meets the attention, as its quarter zips, for instance, undergo three washes (enzyme, bio after which a traditional wash). The label’s total ethos, in Lim’s personal phrases, is to make its clients really feel like they’re “taking a psychological trip wherever [they] are.”
Picture: Gabriel Spence/Courtesy of Sundae College
Sundae College’s retail idea is three years within the making and permits the label to showcase its small-batch manufacturing to an in-person viewers. Sundae College is not going to be promoting merchandise from its sister model Sundae Flowers, which presents tapioca-based THC gummies.
“Everybody advised us to not transfer into bodily retail, however I believe it is actually about expectations,” Lim says. “I’m not anticipating this area to be like, ‘Oh my God, we will rake cash, that capitalistic pursuit of blowing up. That is the brand new Aritzia.’ We’re not right here for that.” Above all else, Lim envisions Sundae College’s retail idea as a “group heart.”
“In a metropolis like New York, there are such a lot of individuals, nevertheless it will get lonely out right here,” Lim explains. “The [happenstance] encounters, you must depend on Hinge, you must depend on Grindr, so we needed to construct a group area the place individuals can come hang around, the place individuals can converse and the place it smells good and you’re feeling such as you’re on just a little break.”
Consistent with its emphasis on group, Sundae College plans to additionally use its area as a venue for normal collaborations, pop-ups and occasions for indie manufacturers, creatives and group members. Sundae College’s Chinatown retailer is now open Fridays by Sundays between 12 p.m. and seven p.m.
