In July 2026, LANG moved from its original flagship store in Chinatown Los Angeles to its new home in ROW DTLA. The new space was designed in collaboration with Studio Paul Chan, paying tribute to not only the traditions and aesthetics of Hong Kong, but also to the unique cross-cultural perspective that LANG draws from its roots here in Los Angeles. A story that can only be told through the lens of our founder, Kayla Wong.
The development of the store has been such a rewarding experience for our entire team, and we want to share all that we have learned with our community. From self-reflection to candid dialogues, we take a closer look at the new LANG store and some of the key elements that you can find in the space. Each feature has been included with intention and has been designed to quote key cultural (and even sentimental) moments derived from Hong Kong traditions, as well as from Kayla's own experiences.
At the end of the day, this new chapter of LANG ushers in a new but familiar vision. One in which we can continue to uplift Asian creators and designers, and also offer a space that extends beyond retail. We see LANG at ROW DTLA as a place of inspiration and awe. We want the space to be one of exploration — a place to discover new brands, new art, new stories, new ideas. This is as much our story, as it is yours.
Founder's Statement
LANG first started as nothing more than a name. I wanted something simple to convey the intangible quality of Hong Kong — its frenetic bustle, its juxtaposition of tradition and modernity, its distinct aesthetic imbued into its very streets. To me, LANG is a word that perfectly encapsulates the stark simplicity of beautiful things, but also the diversity of beauty and the complexity of emotions that it evokes.
With our new store, we wanted to create something visually bold. A space that feels like home, but also a place for exploration. We wanted to use colors that evoke both Hong Kong and LA, use design language that feels both East and West.
When Paul and I had our first conversation about the new space, we immediately felt a kindred understanding of what the new LANG store would represent. With a shared affection for both Hong Kong and Los Angeles, we knew that the store would symbolize the ethereal feeling of transience, the floating sensation of familiarity when calling two places home.
LANG is my love letter for everything that I love about Hong Kong. My heart. But also for Los Angeles. My home. Our new store in ROW DTLA is a convergence of my experiences in both cities, and I cannot wait to share this next step in our LANG journey.
With love,
Kayla Wong, Founder of LANG
A Conversation with Paul Chan
LANG: How did you approach the design of the new store?
Paul Chan: The design perspective came very naturally from my first meeting with Kayla. We found ourselves sharing stories about growing up in Hong Kong and what it feels like to now live in Los Angeles, carrying with us that sense of being in between two places. That shared experience became the foundation of the project.
Hong Kong became the muse, but conceptually, the project is really about bricolage. The project begins with what is already there, and my role is not to impose a singular vision but to curate relationships between things.
For LANG, those relationships exist between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, between clothing and architecture, between memory and contemporary life. The store is not a recreation of Hong Kong. It is an assemblage of fragments, atmospheres, and cultural references that have been transformed through their encounter with Los Angeles.
L: Many of the elements in the store were designed in collaboration with SUAY, a Los Angeles based, 100% vertical sewing and production shop founded in 2017. Can you tell us a bit more about this partnership?
PC: The collaboration with SUAY centered on reinterpreting familiar Hong Kong materials and everyday objects through the lens of tie-dyed textiles and circular design.
The custom sofa draws inspiration from the iconic red, white, and blue woven bags that have become a symbol of Hong Kong's culture of resilience and migration. Rather than reproducing the material literally, the design translates its familiar color palette into a custom tie-dyed textile that also nods to Los Angeles surf culture. The result is a dialogue between two places, where a recognizable symbol of Hong Kong is reinterpreted through the visual language of Southern California.
The seating cushions reference the humble dish rags commonly found in Hong Kong cha chaan teng cafés. SUAY custom dyed these rags using the same red, white, and blue palette, transforming an ordinary utilitarian object into a tactile element within the store while preserving its cultural memory.
L: How were the lanterns made? What were they inspired by?
PC: The lanterns were custom-designed and fabricated in-house. Each one was carefully hand assembled, then put through a custom aging process to emulate the weathered quality of traditional paper lanterns that have been exposed to the elements over many years. Every red Chinese character was hand-painted rather than printed, giving each lantern subtle imperfections and an artisanal quality that reflects the handmade traditions they reference.
The design was inspired by the lanterns created for Da Jiu (打醮) festival, a traditional Taoist festival celebrated in Hong Kong. What has always fascinated me is the ingenuity of these temporary festival structures. Built with bamboo scaffolding, paper, fabric, and hand-painted graphics, they are incredibly vibrant, joyful, and ephemeral. There is something beautiful about the way these festivals transform ordinary streets into immersive environments through simple materials and extraordinary craftsmanship.
For both Kayla and me, these lanterns became a way of paying homage to the Hong Kong we grew up in. Rather than creating literal reproductions, we wanted to capture the spirit of those festivals and preserve the memory of a craft tradition that continues to shape our understanding of place, culture, and community.
L: Can you tell us more about the modular design of the space? Specifically the integration of the curtains.
PC: The curtains play both a practical and atmospheric role within the project. From the beginning, we wanted them to introduce a sense of theatricality, creating a soft backdrop that makes the experience of entering the store feel like stepping into another world. They gently frame the space rather than define it, allowing the architecture to feel immersive without becoming overly literal. The deep blue velvet sits in conversation with the lush maroon moiré wallpaper and the rich reddish brown tones of the mahogany millwork, creating a palette that feels both intimate and cinematic.
The curtains are also fundamental to the modular design of the store. Fashion retail today is about much more than displaying clothing. It is about building community. We designed the space to shift effortlessly between a calm, contemplative showroom and a venue for openings, parties, performances, and conversations. The curtain system allows the store to expand and contract, creating different spatial configurations without the permanence of walls. Areas can be enclosed for intimacy, opened for circulation, or transformed into gathering spaces depending on the occasion.
L: How were the “washi paper” tables made? Where was the paper sourced from? Any other notable details?
PC: Although we refer to them as the "washi paper" tables, that is really just a shorthand. The surfaces are actually composed of a collage of handmade papers sourced from across Asia and Latin America. Each paper carries its own history, material tradition, and way of making. Some are made from recycled cotton rag in southern India, others from banana fibers in Thailand, while the Amate papers are still produced by Otomí artisans in central Mexico using techniques that date back to pre-Columbian civilizations. We also incorporated Yucatán papers that combine ancient Mayan papermaking traditions with Japanese washi techniques, alongside handmade papers from Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
For me, the tables are a metaphor for Los Angeles. The city is not defined by a single culture but by countless histories that have arrived from different parts of the world and found themselves existing together. Much like the papers, these cultures do not dissolve into one another. They remain distinct while continually overlapping, borrowing, and influencing each other.
What I find most beautiful is that each sheet of paper carries evidence of the hands that made it. You can see the fibers, the uneven edges, the subtle imperfections left by different papermaking traditions. Together they become a quiet celebration of craft, migration, and cultural exchange, suggesting that identity is never singular but always layered, assembled, and continually evolving.
Visit LANG:
ROW DTLA, 777 S. Alameda Street, Building M2, Suite 132
Tuesday — Sunday, 11am — 6pm
Photography: Alice Choi/LANG