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2017
FOOL’S GOLD
RECORD STORE
When Brooklyn-based record label Fool’s
Gold celebrated its tenth anniversary in
2017, its reward was a new store. ‘I’d been
following the brand and its founder, A-Trak
[a Canadian DJ who’s affiliated with Kanye
West], ever since college. When they reached
out I was like, oh shit – I didn’t even know
they had a store.’
Like Off-White, Fool’s Gold isn’t
your traditional retail outlet. The company
needed a space to host events, exhibitions
and special launches – all within a very tight
budget. ‘We chose to make industrial materi-
als appear high-end and luxurious. It’s some-
thing we’d already initiated with Off-White.
Since our background is more civic than
commercial – and we had little experience
in retail design – we gravitated towards
materials we knew: concrete, polycarbonate,
drywall, Styrofoam.’ Wong employed things
that are typically concealed in an effort
to achieve interesting conditions. ‘Some
materials we used as displays, a technique
that now seems to be bleeding into the com-
mercial and exhibition worlds.’
Wong remarks that the smallest shop
he’s ever worked on produced an extremely
absorbing layout. To make the space seem
bigger than it is, the team divided it into six
pockets. ‘Instead of a room that you can see
at a single glance, the interior is broken up.
You come across different displays as you
move through the tiny interior.’
Wong’s work for Fool’s Gold showed the
designer’s ability to think outside the traditional
scope of what a retail outlet should be.
‘Conjuring an
unconventional
environment as
a platform for
a shop works
better than
trying to create
the store itself’
70 PORTRAITS