As window shopping is increasingly done via the consumers’ handheld
devices, retailers are questioning the value of traditional storefronts in
acquiring passers-by. As a result, in the age of click-and-collect, shops
are starting to face inwards to heighten intrigue. But while outside
kerbside presence is traded for concealment, inside the roles are
reversed. The fitting room, previously tucked away in a hidden corner,
now takes centre stage, becoming a backdrop for livestream shopping
and retail theatre.
fit and
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Taking a central position in Studio 10’s
interior for Geijoeng’s Shenzhen store,
an acrylic tube lined with a theatrical
green velour curtain functions as a
try-on area.SHENZHEN Windowless retail is on the rise
as storefronts are losing their role as a key
merchandising tool. Traditionally used to
communicate brand identity, enable product
discovery and draw in passing customers,
window displays now have to compete with
a myriad of handheld and wearable devices.
That doesn’t mean retailers are surrendering
to the screen. They are well aware of the fact
that social media drives sales, and to benefit
from that, their stores should facilitate
online sharing.
With retailers adopting inward-
facing strategies, the battle for customer
attention is moving from the street side to the
inside. Here, shopkeepers are creating engag-
ing environments that not only offer visitors
an exciting offline experience, but also fill the
role of Instagram bait. In these retail theatres,
the fitting room, to an increasing extent,
plays a leading role. Why? Because stores in
general are literally becoming destinations to
try things on, and are no longer per definition
places of transaction. In Frame 129, Docee
Dong, cofounder of Daylab, pointed out that
their retail clients are often more concerned
with creating a memorable experience for
customers than with earning money in-store.
‘If clients enjoy their visit, they’ll order online
later,’ he said. As a result, on-site inventory
can be minimized in favour of large – and
highly prominent – try-on zones. So in
designing the physical space of e-commerce
platform Heyshop, that’s exactly what the
Shanghai-based studio did.
Architecture practice Studio 10
took a similar approach when tasked to design
a store for Chinese womenswear brand Geijo-
eng in Shenzhen, China. The shop’s entrance
corridor and window displays are paved with
semi-transparent glass brick, producing
the mysterious atmosphere inherent to the
abovementioned windowless storefronts.
Once curious shoppers enter the 120-m^2 shop
floor, they are welcomed by ‘ghostly’ layers of
reflective and translucent materials. Central
to the design concept is – you guessed it – the
fitting room. Quite literally that is. The acrylic
tube, which is lined with a theatrical green
velour curtain from Raf Simons’ collectionfor Kvadrat, is carefully placed in the middle
of the space. ‘The fitting room has become
a more important aspect of retail in the age
of social media. Changing room selfies and
approvals on social media affect the retail
experience, so we imagined the space as a
small floating stage, a statement piece,’ says
Studio 10’s principal Shi Zhou. ‘It acts as a
backdrop for performance-like purposes. The
use of the fitting room is becoming a social
experience rather than a purely functional
act.’ Hence Zhou believes the fitting room is
an added opportunity for designers to create
a space of engagement for people to share and
interact – both offline and online. FK
studio10.co72 Spaces