Designing luxury retail for the future

Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols department store modern fashion display for shoes

New Retail Concept

A new store concept for Harvey Nichols broke the rules and challenged the predictable and established principles of luxury retail.

Studio
London
Launched
July 2015
Awards
Store of the Year Retail Week Awards
Idea

Game changer

Yes, luxury retail is renowned for high end design, but it is also a category rife with cliché. As Harvey Nichols embarked on a global reinvigoration of their store concept, it was keen to avoid the usual department store tropes and stay true to their brand values of being witty and fun.


There are no branded concessions and cleverly there is no walkway, encouraging customers to meander between brands.


Design Week

Eschewing typical design

For the Harvey Nichols audience, luxury is not defined by brands themselves, but instead the curated lifestyle they help to create. We knew that the new store concept would have to be designed around these customers rather than branded concessions.

Controlled disruption

Our guiding principle was the idea of ‘controlled disruption’ and that helped us to craft a truly unusual store layout. The disparity and eclectic approach to materiality, the contrast between rough and smooth surfaces, the variety and quirkiness of the furniture creates a very unusual, almost subversive design vocabulary.

Impact

Value for the audience

A significant departure to the typical ‘shop within shop’ approach taken by most department stores today, Harvey Nichols customers are able to browse the department store in a way that feels truly unique and curated.

Value for the brand

The generic approach to branding, with no concessions, reinforced Harvey Nichols iconic status beyond labels. The project won a prestigious Store of the Year Award at the Retail Week Awards.


The experiential aspect to the store is now a focus for Harvey Nichols when it comes to bricks and mortar.


The Drum

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