Source: Vogue
New experiences, Gen Z values, and intelligent art—how retail stores are inviting shoppers back in again
Immersive retail experiences are hardly a novelty these days. In the last decade alone, fashion retailers across the globe took store design to the next level. From Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Dior, three of the world’s most valuable luxury brands, to younger direct-to-consumer ones like Kith, Story or The Phluid Project — there’s really no denying innovation. What started off as a concept or an experiment with a handful of brands seems like a non-negotiable for all brands as we’re seeing a swift rise in ‘dopamine displays’ today.
So what are dopamine displays, really? Simply put, it’s the imaginative use of colour, art, culture and design as a means to engage with the ever-evolving palette of the Gen-Z and millennial consumer. The kind that’d go viral on Instagram or Tik Tok. It’s hard to tell if it’s the post-pandemic ‘revenge-shopping’ mentality, or the need for something new and fresh that’s influenced this phenomenon. In every sense of the word, maximalism has taken over, and we’re here for it. Shelves stacked with just clothes won’t do. Neither will typical display counters. Fashion today isn’t just about the products themselves, but the narrative surrounding them. Without thoughtful curation and storytelling, it’s unlikely that brands can find success in making store visits more memorable. But there are some brands that are ahead of the curve — and here’s what they are doing to bring more permanence to these highly sensory experiences.
Brands are using art as an ephemeral draw
Dopamine displays are definitely not for the faint hearted. There’s a common theme to every brand that’s investing in them and it’s usually the unapologetic use of rich, pigmented tones that are bound to pique the curiosity of even the most unintended passerby. Louis Vuitton is a prime example of how to do this well. They’ve been known to create some of the most larger-than-life exhibits in the last few years — the Louis Vuitton X Rodeo Drive featuring 180 archival items, the orange monochromatic pop up at Chicago’s West Loop only retailing menswear summer essentials or their new holographic flagship store in Ginza Namiki in Tokyo — all of which are truly visual treats that live rent free in our heads. The colourful displays don’t just end with the façade, but are extended to every corner of the store. The Louis Vuitton Bond Street store in Mayfair, London could easily pass off as an art exhibit, owing to the number of artists commissioned to make it come alive. From the Sarah Crowner installation at the entrance featuring a seven-metre-long frieze of pinks and neons to sculptor Annie Morris’s stacks of brightly coloured carved-foam orbs and the Campana Brothers’ signature cocoon chairs, the store grips you at every turn with its use of colour. Their most recent ‘Walk In The Park’ pop up in SoHo, Manhattan had the space enveloped in neon arches with a rainbow-theme throughout for Virgil Abloh’s Fall/Winter 2021 menswear collection.
Brands are centering new experiences around Gen-Z values
The pandemic has changed the way we shop. Experience visits, unlike curbside pickups or ecommerce, are a whole other ballgame that require continuous reinvention. Given that Gen-Z prioritizes history, education, sustainability, transparency and social impact, these ‘concept’ stores are a great way to beta test beyond sales for equally important factors like brand recall or long-term loyalty. Earlier this week, Burberry just launched their first immersive installation ‘Imagined Landscape’ in Jeju Island, Korea to showcase their newest outerwear collection. The play on mirrors and reflections is a nod to the world we live in today — “the blurring lines between nature and technology, the indoors and outdoors, the real and the imagined”, as quoted by the British fashion house. As part of their ongoing commitment to lead positive environmental change for a more sustainable future, they will support the continuing preservation of Jeju Island through a five-year partnership with the non-profit organisation Jeju Olle Foundation.
On the other side of the world, the ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ exhibit is back in Brooklyn after a successful run in Paris. It’s an homage to the luxury house’s legacy featuring 200 haute couture garments, photographs, videos, sketches, accessories and more with some never-seen-before items on display. The intention of these over-the-top exhibits is to enable shoppers to buy into the brand in its entirety and to have a luxury purchase mean something more than just a transaction — all of which is quite compelling to the Gen-Z cohort.
Brands are building culturally driven stores
There’s been a mindset shift for brands around possibilities in product presentation. Dopamine displays are one thing, but the experience, in totality, is meant to create excitement. Culture is carefully being woven into every aspect. We’re talking cereal bars at cult sneaker stores, french patisseries serving as romantic runway backdrops, luxury houses merging with tech giants, iconic jewellers teaming up with skateboarding brands and bringing allyship and politics into mainstream fashion — literally anything is possible, and most importantly, welcome.
Speaking of unpredictable offerings, the #HermesFit Pop-Up in Brooklyn earlier this month was designed keeping the brand’s signature Hermes orange in mind. The French luxury house swapped regular workouts with light cardio, dance and strength conditioning classes like ‘Kickboxing With Bracelets’ and ‘Carre Yoga’, where standard equipment was replaced with scarves and bracelets to make them more fun. Unusual? Yes. Up for it? Why not? The success of these concepts have little to do with how ‘practical’ they are. After spending nearly two years in quarantines on-and off, people are looking for new experiences that aren’t a constant reminder of their typical pandemic routines.
The Fendi x Skims collaboration is another example of something short-lived yet highly anticipated. The collab might not be as unexpected given the nature of Kardashian West’s drops in the past — but there’s no arguing that the pop-up was dopamine-inducing. With a limited edition capsule, neon signage and fuschia pink lighting, it was, in every way, LIT. Is this a cue for us to manifest an Ivy Park x Fenty collab?
