Designing Brand-Building Stores

1. Designing Brand-Building Stores Bret Overbaugh, Shayna Overbaugh, Nick Phillips

2. Architecture of Elite Fashion Retailers • Elite fashion retailers such as Prada and Louis Vuitton are looking to inventive architects to set themselves apart from the others. • Architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Frank Gehry are two such architects that are being actively sought after by the elitist of all fashion designers.

3. Louis Vuitton • Conceptual architecture is a key concept for all LV stores. • 2002 – the same year that LV opened a sleek flagship store in Tokyo, designed by Jun Aoki and Assoc., the company’s overall fashion and leather good sales totaled $4.9 billion. • 2004 – After they opened up three more stores (two in Tokyo and one in New York) designed by the same company, the sales increased to $5.1 billion. • The sales jump is being attributed to the sleek design and architecture of the store; it is making shoppers wanting to go inside and then keep on coming back for more.

4. LV Store, Paris Prada, Tokyo Neiman Marcus, San Francisco

5. Quoteto Think About… “Shopping is an effective way to see the city; these days, to see what’s new in architecture, the most efficient thing to do is to go and look at stores.” – Zaha Hadid

6. New Retail • New Retail, by Raul Barranche, (a journalist and architecture critic) • He states that if brands want to compete against one another, they are going to have to hire “recognizable” architects to come up with new and interesting designs. • Retail spaces are building types that allow for innovation. • The Prada store in L.A. has a mix of “hip and open-minded” architecture; it has no front door but it has security guards for protection.

7. New Retail • The main goal for a store’s architecture was to commission a building that could be recognized and identified with the brand immediately from far away, even in photographs, without any signage. • Tourists come to the store because they see it as a destination; some see it as good and others see it as bad. The architecture is generally a form of advertising and a customer will buy things.

8. New Retail • The downside: • To alter a strong store design might suggest changing the look and identity of a brand. • The Mandarina Duck Store in Paris opened in 2001 but it no longer stands; the store’s architecture might have been the reason for the store’s demise. • BUT…. • It is important to stay fresh and new. Trendiness is a huge part of the fashion industry since it is “fast-paced and evolutionary and based on change.” • It will be interesting to see which stores from the early-to-mid-2000s are still around in 5-10 years.

9. Pros • Gives recognition to the architect. • Allows the store to be different and possibly more appealing to the customers. • Might attract new customers. • Allows for store recognition as the store doesn’t look like most brick-and-mortar stores.

10. Cons • COSTLY! • The overall design might detract customers instead of attracting them. • The design might flop. • Construction may take longer than anticipated. • Not every person will recognize the store.

11. One last quote… “The reality is that retail stores are very visible projects – for both the brands and the architects.”

12. Sources • Business Week, Nov. 17, 2006 • Louis Vuitton website • Seattle Public Library • Experience Music Project • Louis Vuitton, Paris • Prada Building • Neiman Marcus, San Francisco