Interactive direction for Burberry flagship
Burberry has opened Burberry World Live, its new Regent Street flagship store which has been designed with a heavy interactive weighting.
The design has been led by Burberry chief creative officer Christopher Bailey who has turned to craftsmen to enhance the space and the Burberry creative media department for interactive elements.
The name Burberry World Live is borrowed from the brand’s website Burberry World, and the 8229m2 store, which covers four floors, is being touted by the company as ‘part event space, part innovation hub, and part store.’
A suspended 38m2 screen, which Burberry claims is the biggest in a retail space in the world, dominates a central staircase – one of 25.
Interactive elements include 500 speakers and 100 screens which will look to engage customers with ‘emotive brand content, including disruptive digital takeovers – such as digital rains showers,’ Burberry says.
There is also provision for radio-frequency identification technology. RFID has been ‘woven into selected apparel and accessories’ to trigger multimedia content relevant to that product.
It means that RFID tags can turn mirrors into screens, which will broadcast content relevant to the product held by a customer who comes into proximity with the mirror/screen.
Meanwhile a hydraulic stage has been designed to house Burberry Acoustic and other live music events.
In a bid to offer a ‘progressive luxury customer service’ Burberry says it is blurring the boundaries of its on- and off-line shopping offer by arming its staff with iPads which have access to customers’ shopping history.
Materials and finishes include fumed oak, timber panelling, steel work, glass gilding with gold leaf, bronze cast signage, bronze floor grills, and radial stone floors.
The opening comes in the midst of a shake-up of Regent Street retailers, prompted by landowner the Crown Estate which is carrying out a £1bn ten-year investment programme to encourage big brands’ flagships to set up shop.
Incredibly ambitious space, very nicely executed.
Who designed it? Does anybody know?
Burberry obviously don’t want to tell us.
Here are my thoughts on the future of retail. All thoughts are welcome! http://crowdmedia.co.uk/blogposts/burberry-weaves-its-magic-into-a-new-pattern-of-thought/