Sundae School Founder and Creative Director Dae Lim wants to turn Manhattan’s Chinatown into a calming sanctuary. Now, most New Yorkers wouldn’t use “calming” to describe the bustling downtown neighborhood, but Sundae School aims to offer a momentary respite from the chaos with its new storefront inspired by a Korean temple.
“I was born and raised in Korea, I would go to temples once a month to pay homage to my ancestors and that felt like a break, so we wanted to bring that into Chinatown,” Lim tells Fashionista.
Dae Lim Photo: Gabriel Spence/Courtesy of Sundae School
Located at 117 Hester St., Sundae School’s first-ever retail location sits just three blocks away from where Lim first launched the streetwear brand in 2018. Designed in partnership with architect (and Lim’s husband) Nohar Lim Zask-Agadi, Sundae School’s minimalist, 500 square-foot space is modeled on a traditional Korean Buddhist temple and draped in floor-to-ceiling pastel pink curtains. Metal pillars and gates (designed by co-architect and sculptor Andy Kim) mirror a temple’s transitional courtyards.
Sundae School’s latest designs — which Lim says he’s approaching with more consistency than he has in the past (“Admitting is the first step,” he adds) — line the walls, including embroidered hoodies, tie-clasp outerwear and hanbok-inspired garments. There’s more to each piece than what meets the eye, as its quarter zips, for example, go through three washes (enzyme, bio and then a normal wash). The label’s entire ethos, in Lim’s own words, is to make its customers feel like they’re “taking a mental vacation wherever [they] are.”
Photo: Gabriel Spence/Courtesy of Sundae School
Sundae School’s retail concept is three years in the making and allows the label to showcase its small-batch production to an in-person audience. Sundae School will not be selling products from its sister brand Sundae Flowers, which offers tapioca-based THC gummies.
“Everyone told us to not move into physical retail, but I think it’s really about expectations,” Lim says. “I am not expecting this space to be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to rake money, that capitalistic pursuit of blowing up. This is the new Aritzia.’ We’re not here for that.” Above all else, Lim envisions Sundae School’s retail concept as a “community center.”
“In a city like New York, there are so many people, but it gets lonely out here,” Lim explains. “The [happenstance] encounters, you have to rely on Hinge, you have to rely on Grindr, so we wanted to build a community space where people can come hang out, where people can converse and where it smells good and you feel like you’re on a little break.”
In keeping with its emphasis on community, Sundae School plans to also use its space as a venue for regular collaborations, pop-ups and events for indie brands, creatives and community members. Sundae School’s Chinatown store is now open Fridays through Sundays between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m.
