Paco and Bustout

dsc01976

Paco Ou just opened Bustout, the largest and most cutting edge street wear emporium in Beijing. My review of the shop will appear in the February That’s Beijing, so I don’t want to say too much here. Keep your eye out. He wants the store, among the most spacious retail spaces I’ve seen here, to be a platform on which education of local youth on the origins of hip-hop culture can occur. Apparently, middle class kids in baggy jeans and over-sized headphones don’t really understand the culture behind the look and the music. According to Paco, the hip hop artists that do achieve mainstream success in China do not play genuine hip hop, from the perspective of the music itself and the feeling that goes into it. I agree with him on this. I’ll give a lot more detail on Bustout within the next couple weeks.

Nels Frye is a freelance writer, photographer, consultant and stylist, based in Beijing. Focuses are on street style, other consumer trends, and broader social issues.

Comments are closed.