The Levi’s London Flagship that changed retail

London is a fashion capital, and a leader in the world of design. Levi’s is the inventor of blue jeans and now a global denim retail brand. Bring the two together and magic happens.

A proud moment in our retail design archive, the Levi’s Regent Street Flagship was a real game-changer in the retail design industry. Flagship store design, at the time, was determined by scale, size and volume of product. We rewrote the rulebook on this, pioneering 'brand storytelling' and bringing experiential marketing to the heart of the Flagship store design - that became the new retail precedent.

What was so iconic about this store design concept? It was the myriad of retail design innovations working together to realise the unrealised. Firstly, we re-imagined the role of the retail window display – breaking down the walls of these static, mannequin filled displays and opening up the floor space, redesigning it an as exhibition-style entrance experience. Called the ‘Origin’ space, it was a live and enigmatic retail activation space where you could watch live music, view art installations and explore new product innovations or brand heritage stories. This created a compelling reason to revisit with imaginative showcases that blended creative culture with inventive craftsmanship.

To house this new brand experience, we created an interior design concept with a series of design elements that were so synonymous with the brand, they couldn’t be replicated. Spanning five metres, a gallery wall displayed a repetition of unique components required to make Levi's unique blue jeans. A glass vitrine in the staircase also showcased a genuine original 201 Jean, on loan from the Levi’s design archive in San Francisco. The entire interior design is a clean, industrial and work-wear inspired aesthetic, with each and every material used in the new retail concept, some way connected back to the Levi’s denim factory.

Last but not least, we took a truly customer-centric approach to designing the visual merchandising and browsing experience. While the entrance gallery and ground floor space were all about the brand experience, the basement was designed to be an unrivalled product destination. Secreted away from the crowds of Regent street, it offered a more relaxed, elevated and well-crafted shopping experience. Taking inspiration from the "Inspection Room" of the factory, this inspiring interior design was split into zones allowing customers to shop by either fit or finish depending on the individual's preference. Key fits and finishes were displayed on illuminated inspection cabinets, with a simple letter and number navigation system taking customers to stock held in adjacent wall bays. At the rear of the retail space, changing rooms featured one of the earliest iterations of connected fitting rooms with ‘emergency stop’ call buttons used to notify staff for different sizes.

Opening to wide-spread acclaim, our retail design concept re-ignited the denim category from homogenous workwear to a staple of fashion while reinventing flagship retail in the design process. Held up as a retail best-practice in brand storytelling, brand experience design and product presentation for years to come – this London flagship design continues to influence and inspire to this day.

Want to know more about our award winning retail design studio and what we can do for your brand, let's talk. You can also head over to our work page to check out other brand experience case studies in other major fashion capitals. And, don't forget to take a look at our Wonder blog for strategic design insights and the latest creative inspiration.

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