Elle makes a Mynt with store design

Fashion brand Elle, the clothing arm of the glossy magazine, is trialling a new store concept designed to increase associations with the publication, prior to an ‘aggressive’ roll out next year.

Leicester-based Mynt has created the new look, which opened last week in Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre. It is Elle’s ninth UK standalone store.

‘We wanted to introduce more of the brand into our stores,’ says Elle head of brand Bethan Alexander. ‘Since our first store opened four years ago, we haven’t moved on. The stores need a new lease of life as they’ve become a bit stale,’ she adds.

The consultancy was briefed to increase definition of the different clothing areas and asked to add ‘sensuality’, she says. The revamped look was inspired by the shape of curvy red lips, explains Mynt design director Carl Murch.

‘We’ve used brilliant red, soft pink and white colourways against chrome and mirrored surfaces. A curved red beam runs from front to back in the store, suspended just below the ceiling,’ he says.

Elle is planning to open six new stores next year featuring the concept designs. If successful, the company will also introduce elements to its eight existing stores, Alexander adds.

Mynt was appointed without a pitch following its work earlier this year on the company’s sportswear brand manual.