London calling!
After months of silence, new retail concepts are emerging. Here is a quick recap from our latest Inspiration Tour, where we uncovered inspiring new hot spots, and immersive pop-ups.
JACQUEMUS x Selfridges
Photo: Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation / @Cosmeticseeds
name: Jacquemus Le Bleu
type: Fashion & Accessories
location: Selfridges, London
design: Random Studio, Jacquemus
dates: 03.05.22 – 04.06.22
At London department store Selfridges, French fashion designer Simon Jacquemus has unveiled a series of surrealist pop-up installations, including a luxury bag vending machine and a swimming pool-inspired changing room. Titled, Le Bleu, the immersive space is a surrealistic interpretation of the designers’ own bathroom.
Customers can shop the pop-up for exclusive colorways of the label's Chiquito and Bambino bags, as well as a mix of hoodies, tees, and select items from the recent Le Splash collection. Playing with the conventional retail format, customers can also access a 24-hour vending machine which is located behind the main store. The machines are filled with rows of bags and accessories, allowing customers to shop any time of day or night.
The CIC Take: This exciting project combines exclusive products with immersive experiences, and continues to reinforce Selfridge's position as London’s leading experiential retailer. Le Bleu strategically targets Gen Z, captivating customers through engaging new retail formats that organically gain traction on digital platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
2. BALENCIAGA, New Bond Street
name: Balenciaga
type: Fashion & Accessories
location: 24/25 New Bond Street, London
design: Sub, Demna
Photo: Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation / @Cosmeticseeds
Balenciaga’s latest London store follows the brand’s ambition to redefine luxury from the low points of the pandemic. The result, created in collaboration with Berlin design studio, Sub, is a modern take on raw luxury.
The interior reveals the bones of the building; exposed elements, an industrial material palette of concrete, resin and stainless steel, and limited use of virgin materials result in a striking, Brutalist space that challenges customers to look at products in a different way.
Dutch Designer Tejo Remy, created stand-out furniture for the store, including seating made from compacted bales of deadstock clothing, provoking shoppers to reconsider the lifecycle of materials.
The CIC Take: Balenciaga’s new store design strategy challenges customers to reassess the codes of luxury. Moreover, Balenciaga is taking a low-key approach to promoting store openings – an approach we have seen many brands testing, as consumers become wary of the hard sell method.
3. GLOW BAR, Mortimer Street
Photo: Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation / @Cosmeticseeds
name: Glow Bar
type: Beauty services
location: 70 Mortimer Street, London
Glow Bar focuses on holistic stress management solutions, alongside a retail, spa and cafe environment - it’s a unique self-care destination where women can drink adaptogen elixirs and then sweat out the stress in a state-of-the-art infrared sauna.
Sasha Sabapathy founded Glow Bar with the mission to help other women manage their stress levels by applying the strategies she learned to combat her own anxiety, which includes drinking adaptogenic herbal remedies, taking regular infrared saunas, aromatherapy and, of course, crystals.
The CIC Take: Glow bar is an exciting new wellness retail concept where beauty, wellbeing and skincare blend with socialising and community-building. The space provides shopping, treatments, and a café all under one roof to create a true wellness lifestyle destination - specifically targeted at addressing women’s physiomotional needs.
4. GLOSSIER, King Street
name: Glossier
type: Makeup, skincare
location: 43 King St Covent Garden, London
design: Glossier
Photo: Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation / @Cosmeticseeds
Located in one of Covent Garden piazza’s oldest surviving buildings, Glossier’s first international outpost impressively marries grandeur with modernity. Designed by the brand’s in-house team, the store is bathed in Glossier’s signature pink hue, with marble accents, perforated metal walls and parquet flooring. Original architectural features including arches and cornices add to the sense of opulence. In-store features include mirrors emblazoned with Glossier's slogan, "You Look Good”, and a "wet bar" where shoppers can play with testers and freshen up at individual sinks.
The CIC Take: The store design playfully balances heritage with Glossier’s fresh, modern style to create a dynamic space filled with tactile architectural elements. The “wet bar” sampling area represents a welcome return to in-store testing, encouraging touch and play in the post-pandemic beauty space.
OUR INSPIRATION TOURS ARE BACK…
Feeling inspired? For a more detailed tour of London’s vibrant beauty scene - from the legacy department stores to the latest pop-ups, the cult boutiques to the indie disruptors - then drop us a line to find out all you need to know about our curated Beauty Tours.
Come and join our team on an inspirational retail safari through London’s brightest and best beauty hot pots.