Rewriting the retail rulebook at Adidas Originals, Hanbury Street

To discover adidas Originals Hanbury Street in Shoreditch, is to discover a place which puts culture first and commerce second. This unassuming experiential concept store design has quietly shaped the future of physical retail, offering a multi-layered experience for all that find it. A store that acts more like an #IRL social media channel than the traditional supply and demand retail format.

Established in the heart of Shoreditch, it integrates into the fabric of the street and its creative community, revitalising a much-loved vintage store with an 'unbranded' design. Together with adidas' customer experience design team, we created a dynamic concept store design which can be reconfigured and reinvent itself. This under-the-radar brand space is brought to life via a constant stream of culturally relevant content, product drops, experiential marketing activations, DJ sets and community panel discussions. Not only did it rewrite the retail rulebook, it became a test bed for adidas Originals next global retail design concept and won a few design awards in the process.

We took a stripped-back design approach to branding the space. It was important to both the locality and the mindset of the consumer to present the adidas Originals as being part of the creative community. Simple, subtle and un-ostentatious, this space combines the spirit of an established independent trader with the boldness and attitude of the street artist.

On-demand connectivity and consumer creativity are the new brand currency – our conceptual thinking was based upon this mindset, as we designed a place that would act as a platform for local creativity. An experiential concept store where content could get created and an events space in which everything could be live-streamed to amplify the adidas Originals’ cultural capital. Not only did Hanbury Street firmly establish itself as a key part of the London sneaker and streetwear culture, it become the most commercially successful concept store in the brand’s global retail estate (in terms of sales per sq ft). This store of the future also went on to inspire 'The Collection', adidas Originals global retail concept, now being rolled out to streetwear capitals of Tokyo, Berlin and London.

If you are looking for a global retail design agency in London to lead your brand experience project, let’s talk. You can also check out some of our award winning concept store designs on our work page, or take a look at our Wonder blog for all creative inspiration and consumer insights.

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