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Emily Martin sits down with four designers from prominent retail design practices to ask them to forecast upcoming trends and to comment on current developments in retail design

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Anshu Srivastava
Director, MRA Architecture & Interior Design

FX: What inspires you to work in retail design, and what are the rewards?

AS: As architects and designers we are interested in the concepts and the creative processes that help to create the world around us. One of our key motivations at MRA is the desire to be artistic. For our business, we have chosen to specialise in the area of fashion, because our clients are themselves artists and designers. As a result, we find ourselves at the heart of the creative process, which is incredibly exciting and rewarding.

FX: Do you have any areas of particular interest that you like to explore?

AS: Currently our studio is particularly interested in three ideas: The way fashion and art have been intersecting at a conceptual level during the past 20 years and the kind of architectural spaces this demands; the effect the proliferation and ubiquity of the [computer ]screen is having on our 'ways of seeing' and how this is affecting the finished product; and how the social-media explosion and new technologies have enabled brands and consumers to connect more directly with each other and on a more personal level than ever before.

Juicy Couture , a Retail project undertaken by MRA; Photo Credit:Nick Guttridge

FX: What has changed within retail design?

AS: During the 10 years since MRA was founded we have witnessed the way in which fashion conglomerates have moved the restricted production of haute couture into mass production on a global scale. In this new landscape, where luxury became more affordable and available, brands were faced with a problem: How to differentiate themselves. Some looked to the past for authenticity and distinction, but others, such as Miucca Prada, turned to artists and the avant garde. Prada realised that in a globalised luxury business, aesthetics - previously subordinate - now equated with commerce.

Art wasn't just used superficially to help rejuvenate a brand's image, instead it found its way into the end-products themselves. When Prada turned to the world's best architects (for example, Herzog and de Meuron and Rem Koolhaas) to design its epicentre stores in 2001, it was a game-changer. Affording the products such unprecedented space and consideration increased the perception of the value of the objects by giving them a gallery-like reverence and elevating their status to that of art. These projects made a statement about the power of fashion retail in the global economy, and we have now seen multiple stores that have been inspired by them. There is no question that art, fashion and architecture are fused together as never before.

We have experienced this phenomenon first hand in our design for a new interior retail concept for matchesfashion.com, due to open in Wimbledon later this year. From the outset, we felt we needed to approach the project from an artistic viewpoint. Through a close appreciation of our client's tastes and creativity, we have derived a bespoke architectural language for this project. The concept was inspired by our client's flair for finding exciting new designers and selecting the most beautiful pieces, the 'Matches Edit'.

These themes of selection and presentation led us to explore artistic ideas of collage and projection in the design of spaces and in the display furniture itself.

FX: How is technology influencing retail design?

AS: All of this is being viewed on the many screens that dominate our lives. Increasingly, we see the world (not to mention shop) through the digital lens. Fashion appears to be moving away from technical artistry and super-exclusivity - the classic territory and preoccupations of haute couture - to a more graphic style of presentation, which is apparent in the work of many current designers. That's not to say that there isn't a high level of craft and detail. Products may still possess the hallmarks of luxury in their technical execution, but that is not the main draw. These products are designed and presented to look fantastic on the small screen and immediately grab our attention.

This new wave of fashion designers has grown up in the age of the 'multiscreen' and knows how to manipulate the technology to their benefit. Right from the start of their careers these designers have used conceptual art to create impact and value in the marketplace, in ways that are inexpensive and readily accessible to them. The new gallery where these designers can catapult themselves into the limelight is, of course, the internet. In this new Age of Technology, these are online businesses first and foremost.

Espirit, a Retail project undertaken by MRA

FX: What future trends are you predicting?

AS: Generally we have noticed that 'the store', is becoming not so much a place to display the inventory of a brand, but rather a space to showcase selected products, to provide a spectacle and to act as a touchpoint for the customer. As people do more shopping online, the luxury retail experience must be developed to give customers a real connection with the brand. They want to be immersed, to touch, to feel a more personal interaction - meaning that the physical store becomes ever-more important as a way for the label to reinforce its relationship with the customer.

In our current portfolio of projects, we see the desire to create a seamless customer experience between the clients' websites, mobile sites, apps, in-store technologies and delivery technologies.

House of Hackney, Retail project undertaken by MRA; Photo Credit: Adrian Ruiz Martin

At our store for House of Hackney in Shoreditch High Street, it was the first time House of Hackney's online activity was translated into a bespoke physical space. Online and physical sides of the business were reconciled aesthetically and technically with iPad EPOS software. Now online and in-store transactions are effectively one and the same thing.

In terms of future trends, I go back to my earlier point about how art and architecture fused with fashion to help brands differentiate themselves. But what if all brands use art in this way, as they seem to be doing? Will brands then need a new way to differentiate themselves? Luxury is, after all, a relative and shifting concept.

Ferdinand Cheung
Benoy

FX: The Chengdu IFS mall development in the megacity Chengdu in south-west China aims to 'embody street life and the cultural life of the city'. How?

FC: Chengdu IFS brings to the area a new diversity that revitalises and promotes synergy with the local environments. offering a balance between commercial, civic, and cultural spaces. Situated in a prime location, the development celebrates the city by amplifying the spirit of the street through rich, open spaces. Chengdu tops China's 'new first-tier cities' chart with its unique commercial and retail attraction. It is known as the 'fourth fashion city in China', with a strong consumption power. Together with the city's deep historical and cultural setting, the design for the mall aims to reflect on these qualities and amplify these characteristics by injecting new commercial and cultural elements. And most of all, to create a memorable unique destination in Chengdu.

Designed by Benoy, The Chengdu IFS Mall, in Chengdu, South-West China.

FX: What was the design thinking and inspiration behind the project?

FC: We really wanted to achieve a level of timelessness that we see in leading designs around the world. It was crucial from our point of view that what we created would last the test of time. For Chengdu IFS we have kept the spatial treatment relatively clean and minimal. The whole experience is about the space that is sculpted and designed. We let the shops do the talking - we don't try to overpower them. And the ultimate aim is to create something that is enduring.

Innovation must also be drawn into the concept of the development itself - we wanted to create a 'city within a city' - and this really sums up the changing face of retail around the world. The tendency in Asia is to create mixed-use projects - where people live, work and play all under a single roof. So we have to approach the design as a 'city' itself - which is especially challenging. Each function has its own requirements yet must interface with one another.

So for Chengdu IFS we are designing a 'destination' - injecting a lifestyle into the development and the city. We have combined the retail and commodities with dining, art, culture, and local heritage - injecting innovative design ideals from other parts of the world to reinvent an identity tailored for Chengdu.

Designed by Benoy, The Chengdu IFS Mall, in Chengdu, South-West China.

FX: What about other design projects, do you seek similar inspiration?

FC: To remain at the forefront of retail design the inspiration for new schemes is always changing and evolving. It is important for us to connect our schemes in the urban fabric, understanding what makes the area tick and how we can augment those deep-rooted ideals.

Whether that is through fashion, art, the environment, culture - getting to know the site you are working within is always our first driving inspiration.

The next thing is really down to how the master plan is being executed - how the project reacts to the adjacent context; how it stitches on to the urban fabric; how it drives the pedestrian flow around and into the retail hub; how to create spatial interest and to provide a setting that is flexible for changes and events - all these questions propose ways in which we seek inspiration.

FX: What role does technology play in the evolution of retail design and can this help deliver better retail customer service?

FC: As within many industries, technology is driving change. Within retail, it provides an exciting platform to innovate and create a more customer-centric experience.

Online retailing may be booming, but consumers still seek social interaction. Designing is all about creating an 'experience'. Architecture is the hardware that provides for a spatial experience, while the technology is the software that facilitates and enhances one's experience.

And yet, these are just elements to embellish and enrich the experience of navigating through the shopping mall. The key is really the programs - the shops - themselves.

Lindie Champion
Director, Kinnersley Kent Design

FX: Mick Kent spoke about retail internationalisation at the Euroshop Forum for Architecture & Design. What were the main topics he covered?

LC: The main focus was on local adaptation of retail and leisure brands through design. As a side note we are vehemently opposed to 'cloned stores' around the world and believe that retailers have a responsibility to adapt their offer to the local market and add something to the local community, but to do so without diluting their brands.

We live in a global economy and a global retail market. Internationalisation is a requirement for retailers that are looking to grown beyond their home market, are mature, facing difficult and sustained economic pressure, or that have developed brands that are truly global in nature.

KKD has experience of both creating new brands and helping them grow into global ones, and helping mature retail brands grow by entering new markets and ensuring their continuous relevance in today's competitive marketplace. Mick shared top tips on avoiding the pitfalls of retail internationalisation, from a retail design and branding perspective. Using a series of case studies, we were able to demonstrate how we've adapted established brands to make them relevant to the local market.

Kinnersley Kent has worked on projects including Pita Social fast food outlet, initially in New York

FX: Can you give some examples of KKD projects?

LC: The introduction of the first overseas House of Fraser to Abu Dhabi and Waitrose to Dubai, and creating and growing gourmet brand, Bateel, internationally while staying true to its Arabic roots. Taking Fortnum & Mason to Japan and the expansion of the East India Company internationally. We also created a new fast-food brand for the USA, Pita Social, and are preparing it for future roll-out, both in the USA and the Middle East.

Kinnersley Kent has worked on taking the House of Fraser to Abu Dabi

FX: What have you noticed as being the current and future trends in global retail design?

LC: That the modern shopper can't be confined. With the rise of omni-channel retailing, shoppers and technology are dictating and driving what, where and when they shop. Fashion retailers are evolving to capitalise on this trend. Multi-channel retailers that know how to use e-tailing in synergy with bricks and mortar are those emerging as the real winners. The online channel for some department stores, for example, have become their new flagships.

Convenience and price could be the main drivers of this, such as click-and-collect initiatives, out-of-town department store locations and order & delivery within two hours, and so on.

Burberry London, for example, designed its physical store to reflect its website. The environment is full of interactive screens acting as mirrors. It uses display cases to create seasonal moods, for example simulated rain storms to sell more raincoats. And the Karl boutique in Amsterdam is as much a boutique as it is a digital experience. Some experiences are gimmicky, others are innovative. For example, fitting rooms are transformed into look books, so you can record your look and view it on touch screen. In addition, you can add Karl-inspired filters and share your results on social media. In addition to (young) shoppers, it also attracts a fair few fashion bloggers, which could create a buzz around the lifestyle collection.

FX: What part is technology playing in delivering customer service in retail and what developments could we expect?

LC: I'm sure that those retailers known for excellent customer service can easily capitalise on crowd sourcing within their current customer base (if they don't do so already), for example, making 'journalists' out of mums blogging or students with a creative writing specialism to drive content directly to their site in a peer-to-peer way. Not only will it reinforce what the retailer stands for, it adds additional value and keeps people returning.

We're seeing more and more [fashion] brands as forward thinking, with a savvy approach to digital marketing, commerce and community-building initiatives. For example, making shopping experiences enjoyable with, for example, quick pay to skip queuing, relaxing gamifying - such as paying with points earned exercising - and social validation, such as how popular clothes are on Facebook. Trends we've spotted include clothes hangers with small screens with the number of Facebook likes (in C&A Brazil) to show how popular an item is. In contrast, Selfridges in London's No Noise campaign offered an interesting antidote to visual and verbal noise in its silent zones - no shoes allowed, no phones, and all products debranded.

Giving homeless people the same dignity afforded paying customers, The Street Store (South Africa) is a rent-free, temporary store that provides poor neighbourhoods with free clothes and fashion advice. Rather than rely on bricks and mortar, The Street Store uses cardboard branding to set up outlets in public venues and on the sidewalk (with the proper permissions). Each store is stocked with donated clothes, and the cardboard doubles as stands and hangers to display garments, much like any other fashion store. Although all of the items are free, volunteers are on hand to give customers advice on which fashions might suit them best.

Matt Yeoman
Director, BuckleyGreyYeoman

FX: What have you noticed as being the current & future trends in global retail design?

MY: You won't stop the rising tide of online sales. But that's no reason that we can't rediscover the value of the physical retail, where the potential of shops to act as a 'brand embassy' is the real opportunity for mature, multi-channel brands.

Brands are celebrating the physical presence that their bricks-and-mortar assets give them. The Apple Store is a great example: a shop without shelves for a business that could happily conduct sales online in the same way that the rest of its industry does, yet it has invested in some of the most expensive, high-profile retail space in the world's global capitals.

Our work with Fred Perry shows why. While it's nothing new for a brand to run a chain of boutiques, I predict that this will soon become the norm. The idea that the high street can sustain lots of 'all under one roof' retailers competing on price has been blown away by internet shopping. The opportunity of a shop is to provide an enhanced, super-strength distillation of all a retailer's brand values that will really impress and inspire their customers. Our stores are an exercise in brand that communicates as powerfully as a brochure or a website: a physical space where customers can expect an extra level of service and contact with the brand.

Fred Perry brand BuckeyGrey Yeoman has created a chain of boutiques

FX: What's the most radical retail project you've worked on, in scale, scope, or design?

MY: We've just been appointed as Fred Perry's worldwide retail designer - we are taking an iconic British brand global.

FX: How important is technology in delivering customer service for retail clients? What technology developments can we expect to see?

MY: The rise of 'click & collect' in Argos's new digital stores is a great example. It has taken cues from the design of hotel lobbies to really reassess the store experience: merchandising is minimal and the laminated catalogues and betting-shopstyle pens have been replaced by iPads.

People collecting their online purchases are meant to be served within 60 seconds. The convenience this could potentially offer could give a new online-focused Argos the edge over its competitors, and I would watch that with interest.

For the Fred Perry brand BuckeyGreyYeoman has created a chain of boutiques

FX: Do you have a favourite project that you've worked on that stands out for whatever reason - lovely client, allowed free rein, amazing/ unexpected results, new materials?

MY: We're working on a new project for Louis Vuitton, which we are very excited about - but we can't tell you any more at this stage!