For many restaurants, the aesthetic is a major part of the dining experience, and cult Taiwanese favourite Bao is most certainly one of them. The cluster of London eateries — which includes other concepts such Bao Cafe and Bao Noodle Shop — is equally famed for its meticulously curated visuals as it is for its quirky, inventive menus.
Now, the restaurant group’s founders, Shing Tat Chung, Erchen Chang and Wai Ting Chung, have teamed up with fashion concept store Dover Street Market on a pop-up selling a myriad of merch created in collaboration with brands such as Carhartt WIP and Simone Rocha to commemorate the year of the dragon ahead of lunar new year celebrations on February 10th.
Open until 11th February, the store on Haymarket includes short and long sleeve crew neck T-shirts by Carhartt WIP for DSM illustrated with the Bao ‘Lonely Man’ sporting a dragon tattoo across his back. Meanwhile, the teams at highly coveted brands Simone Rocha, Shushu/Tong and Deathmask have dreamt up an array of bags, shoes and hats to sit alongside the Bao team’s own design pieces, which includes umbrellas emblazoned with men bouncing on pillowy buns, limited edition dragon caps, year of the dragon wall calendars and custom-made dragon Zippo lighters.
For those feeling peckish, Bao are also offering a limited edition baked bun in the shape of a dragon claw filled with molten chocolate and cherry, plus a range of their branded snacks and drinks to take home, including noodles, sake, gin, and the restaurant’s signature house sauces.
