It looks like back-again Blackjack is an evolving space

Great is the retail space that is not fixed in its concept—spatial or merchandising. The Shopping Gallery unit at voco Orchard that was assigned to the Club 21 house brand Blackjack seems to be so. It is evolving. Or at least that was what appeared to us early this week, when we were at the retail floor of the hotel. While the re-imagined Blackjack logo was still emblazoned on the rear wall of the store, the windows on each side of the entrance now sported the name Club 21 Lab. It was also described, as before, but somewhat to our confusion, Blackjack Community Club Viewing Deck. It was obvious that Blackjack, eight months after it opened, was now no longer the mono-brand store that it was initially marketed to be.

The look of the store remained largely the same: black and white, and rather severely so. It was, compared to the past, more busily stocked. The right side was now dedicated to the pop-star Jackson Wang’s fan-beloved label Team Wang Design. The offerings were predominantly black and, unsurprisingly, clubby. The Blackjack label remained the core, but was lined against the left wall, with some relegated to the rear, all looking to be in desperate need of attention. Right in the middle of the store was gathered one of Club 21’s best-selling labels, the Nigo-designed “lifestyle brand” Human Made. The pieces looked more cheerful and optimistic than those peripheral merchandise. And that could be Club 21 Lab’s non-experimental draw.

Photo: Chin Boh Kay