Interaction has long been the nut to crack for retailers, who strive to unite their physical and digital platforms. Illustrating how to get customers through the door, Ssense rang in the stark five-storey, 13,000 square-foot space designed by David Chipperfield Architects with a performance by Arca on Thursday evening. Dressed in a skimpy outfit comprised of rubber, latex and vinyl, the electronic artist slithered his way up and down the stairs and around the art installations – a pink pool filled with jasmine flowers, a fetish cage on a runway, a stockpile of cords and microphones – chanting emotional ballads in a brilliant performance that set the Ssense agenda. Founded in 2003 by three Syrian immigrant engineer brothers, the retailer was among the first to support designers like Vetements’ Demna Gvasalia and Off-White’s Virgil Abloh, who have gone on to conquer Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton, respectively. “It feels like a huge validation of what we set out to do from the early beginning,” Atallah said. “We want to support people, who have different perspectives and are not playing by the book. This is what moves the world forward.”