When UK fast-fashion retailer Missguided opened its first bricks-and-mortar store recently, it revealed a space heavily influenced by social media.
From the ‘millennial pink’ interior to the branded monster truck and cheeky signage, the 20,000 square foot space in London’s Westfield Stratford was designed to offer a seamless online/offline retail experience for Missguided’s hyper-connected, fashion-hungry fans.
Missguided founder and CEO Nitin Passi said social is extremely important to the brand and its 16- to 35-year-old target customers.
“Social is huge for us so this will be a prominent feature throughout the stores and we will promote interaction with our customers as well as use the store as an opportunity to attract new customers who wouldn’t necessarily shop with us online,” he explained.
“Stores are something our customers have been asking us for, for a number of years and it gives us a great opportunity to bring the brand to life.
“We believe the retail environment on the high street has got a bit stale so we have decided to take some of our online learnings and brand DNA into a physical space and use technology and in-store experiences to bring them to life.”
The Missguided store concept
The ‘On Air’ store concept was inspired by a TV studio and caters to Missguided’s social media-obsessed customers by offering a constantly changing space and lots of shareable moments.
Digital canvases and screens throughout the store bring social media to life with live streamed content, and signage encourages customers to download the Missguided app and to follow it on Snapchat.
London design agency Dalziel & Pow, which worked with Missguided on the store, described the space as “uniquely Instagramable”.
“The store concept encourages girls to be creative and in constant conversation with each other by turning social media into a live, physical experience, making them feel part of an exciting community,” the firm said in a statement.
“In a rapidly digitising world the balance between physical and virtual has been consistently shifting and this new sensory experience throws traditional navigation prompts out the window, in favour of free exploration and immersion.”
Instead of traditional navigation paths, the Missguided store emphasises discovery, with lifestyle displays spread throughout. The brand also made the unconventional decision to bring fitting rooms to the front of the store, designing the area as an interactive lounge space.
Inspired by a glamorous Miami Beach pool party, palm trees surround the space and a swimming pool animation is projected onto the ceiling. Comfy seating areas encourage groups of friends to spend time showing off looks and exploring their personal style.
The Stratford store marks the start of a rapid bricks-and-mortar rollout for Missguided, with a new store coming soon to Kent and further openings planned in high footfall areas around the UK this year.
All images via Dalziel & Pow.
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