virtual tour of clothing store

Step inside the greatest fashion stores around the world

A virtual tour of the world’s best-designed fashion stores, from London to Tokyo, Atlanta to Shanghai

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London to Tokyo, Atlanta to Shanghai, we take you inside the best-designed fashion stores around the globe, whether art-filled boutiques, modernist monoliths, or renovated classics.

Inside the best global fashion stores

Jimmy choo, paris, france.

A collaboration with Harry Nuriev’s Crosby Studios, Jimmy Choo’s new pop-up store in Paris is centred on the brand’s signature oyster-coloured shoe boxes. Located on Avenue Montaigne, the space also draws inspiration from a bank vault, housing limited-edition and collector’s items in a space designed to ‘turn the traditional notion of a luxury boutique on its head’. ‘I was inspired by shoe boxes and elevating the idea of the stock room, bringing the back of house to the storefront,’ says Nuriev. ’I love to transform and expose unusual items.’ Open until December 2023.

Comme des Garçons, Paris, France

Comme des Garçons has opened the doors to a gleaming new store on Paris’ Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The four-storey space, intersected with sleek red and white walls, is designed to create an ‘explorative‘ experience, whereby items are waiting to be discovered amid a winding layout. Alongside classic Comme des Garçons lines – from Shirt to Homme Plus and Parfums – the store will also feature lines previously only available outside of Japan, as well as reissues of Rei Kawakubo’s influential Comme des Garçons furniture line. Read more here.  

Versace Home, Harrods, London, United Kingdom

‘Vibrant opulence’ is how Italian fashion house Versace describes its latest opening, a new space in London’s Harrods department store dedicated to its homeware line. Located on the third floor, the 160 sq m space mixes classical inspirations – columns, marble, nods to Greek culture – with the house’s sleek modernity. Furniture in the space, created and distributed by the Luxury Living Group, spans the ‘Zensational’ modular living room set, the ‘Medallion’ coffee table, and the ‘Goddess’ light fixture.

Bottega Veneta, Paris, France

Coinciding with the arrival of fashion week in the city – and following a standout S/S 2024 show at Milan Fashion Week – Matthieu Blazy reopens the Italian house’s Paris flagship on Avenue Montaigne this month (September 2023). It is the first designed completely under the creative direction of Blazy, promising a reflection of his collections in its combination of Italian craftsmanship with a uniquely modernist sensibility. Described by the house as ‘an imaginative journey through past, present, future, and beyond the world’, the 800 sq m space is largely constructed from two materials, glass – which is synonymous with Venice, close to Vicenza, Italy, where the house was founded – and Italian walnut wood. Glass-block panels (recalling those found in mid-century interiors) are embedded across floors and ceilings, while glass rails are hand-cast by Venetian craftspeople. Continuing the theme, glass handles on the front door are one-of-a-kind works by Venice-based Japanese glass artist Ritsue Mishima. The store will open with Blazy’s A/W 2023 collection, the third in his Italian trilogy, which was inspired by ‘the alchemy of the street’.

Extreme Cashmere, St Moritz, Switzerland

Amsterdam-based label Extreme Cashmere – known for its colourful and comprehensive all-cashmere wardrobe – has opened the doors to its first boutique, located in St Moritz, Switzerland. Created in collaboration with Apropos – The Concept Store, the Via Somplaz-located store features a number of washing machines, where customers can have their Extreme Cashmere products washed and cared for (garment care is ‘an integral part of the Extreme Cashmere DNA’, say the brand). Elsewhere, an uncomplicated interior includes sliding wooden cupboards to house the washing machines, a curtained fitting room, and wooden shelves to display a selection of the brand’s rainbow-coloured offering. Read more here .

Ulla Johnson, Los Angeles, United States

New York-based designer Ulla Johnson drafts West Coast design legend Kelly Wearstler – a former Wallpaper* guest editor – for its latest outpost in Los Angeles’ West Hollywood neighbourhood. The earthy, sun-lit space provides an echo of Johnson’s craft-infused designs – much of which is inspired by travel and the artisans she encounters around the world – here including furniture, art and objects from creative communities in California. Nods to nature also feature, with customers entering through a Japanese-style garden comprising native plants, while a tree grows inside the main interior shopping space. ‘The space embraces the natural world, timeless design from the 70s and 80s, and modern commissions from some of our favourite artists,’ explains Wearstler. ‘It was important that the architecture and interiors evoked Southern California, which couldn’t be a better setting for Ulla’s collection – I’m excited for her fans to experience it.’ 

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Lanvin, New York, United States

Designed by Bernard Dubois Architects, Lanvin’s serene new store on New York’s Madison Avenue captures what the French house calls ‘the exuberance and chic of Lanvin’ today. Dubois’ recognisable neo-modernist design signature is found throughout the store, the Belgian architect drawing particularly on the art deco and neoclassical movements with sleek riffs on ornamental enfilades, columns and architraves alongside rich swathes of beige velvet. Furniture and fixtures are selected from both Lanvin’s historical archive of objects and Dubois’ own designs, while a private salon is dedicated to the house’s new ‘Edition Soir’ collection, which comprises evening and cocktail-wear. ‘A singular sophistication,’ describes Lanvin of the new concept, which will be rolled out around the world over the next year.

Stone Island, Munich, Germany

Located in Munich’s Old Town, the latest OMA /AMO-designed Stone Island store focuses on the brand’s longtime links with innovation and experimentation. A three-storey space, it continues the ‘redefinition’ of the brand’s retail stores which began in Chicago last year, featuring elements which nod towards Stone Island’s unique fabric-dyeing process – from screens showing working and factory processes to a mélange of textures, including burnt cork, sand-sprayed surfaces and Tyvek ceilings. Places for the Stone Island community to gather, like an amphitheatre in the basement for talks and presentations, also feature. ‘In a time when the digital becomes such a ubiquitous form of communication, we think that physical spaces where like-minded people meet are important,’ Samir Bantal, director of AMO tells Wallpaper*. ‘I want people to feel like they want to explore the store; that every part has something to discover, be it product, be it architecture, be it material.’ Read more here .

Dior, London, United Kingdom

Dior has opened the doors to a new boutique on London’s Sloane Street, featuring womenswear, high jewellery – and for the first time in the Knightsbridge location – menswear. The house’s criss-crossing cannage pattern features across the exterior and as a motif throughout the three-storey store, which draws on the architecture of the house’s flagship at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris. This means Versailles parquet, Toile de Jouy prints and a light, elegant palette of beige, cream and white. Artworks by British artists Victoria Morton, Peter Seal and Selma Parlour also feature, alongside furniture by Christophe Delcourt, Patricia Urquiola and VonneGut/Kraft. ‘An ode to refinement and the Dior dream,’ says the house. 

Supreme, Seoul, South Korea

Supreme’s new Seoul outpost marks the brand’s first flagship store in Asia, outside of Japan. Located in the city’s Gangnam District, the spacious interior centres around a supersized recreation of the brand’s A/W 2017 ‘cash paperweight’, a stack of 100-dollar bills encased in perspex. Other notable features include a hand-painted mural by Rita Ackerman, installations by Nate Lowman and Fuck This Life and speakers by Devon Turnbull, all longtime collaborators with the brand, which was founded in 1994 on New York’s Lafayette Street. 

Bottega Veneta, London, United Kingdom

Bottega Veneta reveals a new Sloane Street location which encapsulates Matthieu Blazy’s discreet but luxurious vision for the Italian house. The store’s palette and materials are inspired by the Veneto region in Italy – where in 1966 Bottega Veneta was founded – such as terrazzo flooring in bardiglio, carrara, verde alpi, and grigio carnico stones, made to reflect ‘the oscillation of waves’ in Venice where such flooring is ubiquitous. Thick walls and glass cabinets complete the intimate space, which is meant to evoke the feeling of stepping into a home.

Burberry, London, United Kingdom

Burberry continues its latest chapter under Daniel Lee with the opening of a new store on London’s New Bond Street. A stripped-back, minimal design with moments of colour from blue to beige, the focus is placed on the collection itself, which will feature Lee’s designs from September 2023 (his first collection was revealed last year). ‘The store showcases our beautifully crafted products in a luxury setting that connects our customers with our brand and unique heritage,’ says Jonathan Akeroyd, Burberry’s CEO of the 22,000 sq m store, which stretches across three stories.  Read more here.  

Saint Laurent, Capri, Italy

Saint Laurent’s latest store arrives on the glamorous Italian island of Capri in time for summer, marking the second location designed with creative director Anthony Vaccarello’s ‘new architectural vision’ for the house’s retail spaces. Located on the bustling Via Camerelle and drawing inspiration from the Amalfi locale, the serene space features handmade stucco on the walls, floating marble displays and terrazzo floors (a flash of ocean blue comes from the colourful glass included in the latter). Another Saint Laurent space on the island – also on Via Camerelle – is renovated in a similarly stripped-back style, mixing wooden elements with accents of white and blue. Across the two stores, shoppers can find women’s and men’s collections, as well as accessories and shoes.

Acne Studios, Miami, United States

‘Tropical softness’ is how Acne Studios describes its latest store, open now in Miami’s design district. Imagined by Swedish design studio Halleroed – a longtime collaborator with the brand – the precise 200 sq m space is based on a modular system in polished aluminium with walls in white marmorino, a high-gloss white plaster, and contrasting black granite steps. British designer Max Lamb ones again provides furnishings (‘organic and irregular shapes’, reminiscent of the brand’s S/S 2023 collection) and Benoît Lalloz the lighting (curved light fixtures which first appeared in the brand’s rue Saint Honoré store in Paris, opened in 2022), having both been a key part of Acne Studios’ other recent store openings and renovations. Miami’s Art Deco history, meanwhile, is nodded to in mannequins created by artist Daniel Silver, capturing the city’s innate glamour in the brand’s typically idiosyncratic style.

Filippa K, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Filippa K has opened a new flagship store in Amsterdam, a reflection of a recent opening in Helsinki, which represented a new chapter in the Swedish brand’s retail offering. In fact, Filippa K call it a ‘continuation’ of the Finnish space, uniting once again with architectural practice Profan on a store which opposes the ‘raw and refined’ alongside references to nature. In Helsinki, Filippa K and the Profan team – made up of architects Disa Braunerhielm, Maximilian Olsson and Anton Bogå – looked towards cool Scandinavian skies for inspiration; in Amsterdam, the store is an icy blue, referencing ‘misty Nordic landscapes’ (in particular, those in northern Sweden, where the brand photographed a recent image campaign). The store – which features subtly distorted chrome rails, as if viewed through water – is the latest step in Liisa Kessler’s transformation of the brand, having been appointed as creative director in January 2022. 

Lemaire, Paris, France

Lemaire has opened its latest outpost in Paris’ Marais district, a serene 340 sq m space at 1 Rue Elzévir, a street named after a family of Dutch printers who worked in the city during the 16th century (the neighbourhood also houses the brand’s offices and a store devoted to accessories). Typical of the brand – which is helmed by Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran – it is a space of refined taste, the white-walled rooms enhanced by flourishes of decoration, from Moroccan Bejmat floor tiles and handwoven abaca mats to furniture by Italian modernist Enzo Mari. Artworks associated with the brand’s collections will also be displayed in the store; first, a small exhibition of works by Noviadi Angkasapura, a previous collaborator, will take place in May. ‘The new shop draws from wide-ranging expertise in line with our fundamental values and celebrates the functionality, practicality and flexibility embodied by Lemaire clothing,’ say the designers.

Khaite, New York, United States

Stepping into Khaite’s first global flagship, located on Soho’s desirable Mercer Street, is more akin to walking onto a film set or into a gallery space. The clothes and accessories are displayed with luxurious room to breathe on custom rails dusted with an edited offering (those who know to ask for additional styles kept out of sight, ask). The vast former garage – 4,000 sq feet of ground-floor and an additional 3,000-sq-foot office and back-of-house downstairs – was transformed by Khaite’s founder Cate Holstein and architect Griffin Frazen in just a year (the pair are married, which allows them to speak in shorthand). 

Inside, a dramatic shaft of ‘daylight’ runs the length of the store, cleverly programmed to reflect the time of day outside. The poured concrete and plaster interior is carved up with imposing Richard Serra-esque curved-iron partitions, while daylight floods in from two skylights at the back of the space, illuminating a real evergreen tree that will blossom seasonally. ‘We leaned into elemental qualities like natural light, preserving the scale and openness while creating intimate spaces,’ says Frazen. Every sense is considered; specific areas have been created so that if you stand in just the right spot you will hear a whispered secret message. Tilly Macalister-Smith

Alaïa, New York, United States

Following what was considered to be a highlight of January’s couture shows – whereby Alaïa’s creative director Pieter Mulier invited a handpicked audience of press to attend a viewing of the collection in his Antwerp home – Alaïa opens its first store in the US since the 1990s. Barely detectable tonal signage demarks its new Soho home (if you know, you know), which was designed by Sophie Hicks, also responsible for the brand’s boutiques in Tokyo and Shanghai. ‘New York has a very special significance for me’, says Mulier. ‘It’s the city of resilience. And resilience is the feeding ground for creativity. That’s why it is so important for Alaïa to be present, once again, in the heart of New York.’ Mulier curated the art and furniture on display, which will rotate with new items: to kick off, a host of American artists including two chairs by Donald Judd, whose foundation is just around the corner, with a series of 18 prints by Robert Rauschenberg, a Mike Kelley diptych, and a large scale work by Jonathan Horowitz. TMS

Bottega Veneta, Zurich, Switzerland

A new Bottega Veneta store opens this month (December 2022) in Zurich, Switzerland, marking the Italian house’s flagship store in the country. A reflection of Bottega Veneta’s roots in ‘craftsmanship, creativity and Italian design’, and the luxurious pragmatism of current creative director Matthieu Blazy, the 180 sq m space features custom seating by Cassina (drawing inspiration from Mario Bellini’s 932 modular sofas) and door handles reminiscent of those found on the house’s ‘Sardine’ handbag. The store – located in the heart of Zurich on Bahnhofstraße 25 – features mens- and womenswear, alongside a series of unique items.

66 North, London, United Kingdom

Icelandic heritage brand 66 North – known for its enveloping parkas and puffer jackets – has opened a new outpost on London’s Regent Street (the 3,500 sq ft space marks the first outside of Iceland and Denmark). Designed by Berlin-based architect Gonzalez Haase, the ‘experiential’ store features tactile walls clad in ‘rammed earth’, sculptures reminiscent of magma (a common appearance in Iceland), and a mesh lighting system with effects which mimic a ‘misty white sky’.  

’66 North was founded in 1926 to protect Icelandic fishermen from the challenges of the Arctic Circle. Ever since then, we’ve made quality products that withstand the elements, all in the name of promoting a life lived in harmony with nature,’ says 66 North CEO Helgi Oskarsson. ‘The best way to present the brand and tell its sustainability story is to showcase the quality and durability of the product in our own stores.’

Self-Portrait, London, United Kingdom

A new Self-Portrait store – located at the corner of Chelsea’s King’s Road and Duke of York Square in London – was designed by architect Andreas Kostopoulos, co-founder of MPNYC. Featuring mint-green tones throughout for a ‘soothing yet distinctive atmosphere’, the store also includes natural oxide pigments, stainless steel elements (brushed, honed or highly polished) and plenty of mirrors. ‘Riffing on the Self-Portrait as a thematic focus, the design emphasises reflective surfaces while abstracting all other architectural components into a singular background layer, with uniformly pigmented Cornish clay walls and terrazzo floors,’ says Kostopoulos. ‘By leveraging minimalism, materiality, and colour, we wanted to create a more self-centred experience, filtering out the visually distracting architectural qualities and functions that typically overwhelm retail environments.’

Candamill, New York, United States

New York-based Candamill, known for its architectural handbags, has opened a playful concept store at 277 Mott Street, Manhattan. An ’immersive art installation’ made to celebrate two single handbags, the space comprises a simulated landscape through organic elements and light and sound design. Conceived to be viewed at street level (or by limited appointment), it serves ‘as a conversation piece spotlighting the brick-and-mortar retail store’s purpose in the fashion industry today’. Indeed, instead of the usual means of purchasing products, QR codes direct would-be shopper’s to Candamill’s website. PRK

Dolce & Gabbana Holiday Market, London, United Kingdom

From this month (November 2022), Dolce & Gabbana celebrate the arrival of the festive season with a special pop up in London’s Covent Garden. Featuring the colours and symbols of Sicily – the Italian island which has become synonymous with the house – the special ‘holiday market’ features unique items made in collaboration with Italian heritage brands Fiasconaro, Pastificio Di Martino, Donnafugata and Baci Perugina (presented here on Sicilian cart decorations). Shoppers will also be able to purchase items from the Dolce & Gabbana Casa collection, alongside an array of accessories, shoes and clothing from the house’s recent ready-to-wear collections.  Until January 15 2023. 

Cubitts, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

British eyewear brand Cubitts – the ‘modern spectacle maker’ is known for its vintage-tinged handmade frames – arrives in Edinburgh this month, opening two new addresses in the Scottish city’s Old and New Town (the stores take Cubitts total in the UK to 15). Typically elegant interiors – wood-lined, with traditional apothecary-style shelving and modernist details – house the brand’s collections, including two new exclusive frames at each of the stores. ‘We have the best of both worlds,’ says Tom Broughton, the founder of Cubitts. ‘Services in the New Town, spectacles in the Old Town, in two distinct but equally remarkable buildings, each with a rich history.’

AlphaTauri, London, United Kingdom

Salzburg-based label AlphaTauri – an offshoot of the Red Bull-owned Formula One racing team of the same name – has opened its first UK store in London’s Knightsbridge neighbourhood. Designed by Berlin, Vienna and LA-based Studio Riebenbauer, the interior’s sleek, brushed metal surfaces, interactive digital elements and complex installations (inspired by its knitwear and parkas) reflect the brand’s innovation-based approach to clothing, while a deconstructed AlphaTauri racing car erected on the wall provides a dramatic focal point. ‘The opening of our first international flagship store in London is another important milestone towards our global recognition,’ CEO Ahmet Mercan tells Wallpaper. ‘With the store design, we wanted to transmit our brand identity. It’s a well thought out combination of digital, innovative and interactive elements, to allow visitors to explore our world of design, premium materials and textile innovations.’

Toteme, New York, United States

Toteme co-founders Karl Lindman and Elin Kling cement their foothold in the United States with the brand’s New York flagship, located on SoHo’s cobbled Mercer Street. The duo called on their longtime collaborators, Swedish architects Halleroed, to help design the 3300-square-foot space. Colourful furniture – like a Josef Frank sofa for Svenskt Tenn in vibrant flora and fauna print – contrasts the otherwise minimal interior, while works by Marc Newson, Elizabeth Payton and Cony Meier are dotted around the art-filled space. Custom-made lighting designed by Christian Halleröd takes inspiration from legendary Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund – a nod to Toteme’s own Scandinavian roots. TMS

A|X Armani Exchange, London, United Kingdom

Following openings in Milan, Amsterdam and Berlin, this month A|X Armani Exchange celebrates the arrival of its third store in London, located on Regent Street. Housed in the historic 19th-century Westmorland House, the store retains the building’s dramatic neoclassical corner facade, while the 290-square-metre interior across two levels has a sleek, fluid design – oak-effect slats for walls, pale stone-effect floors and a contrasting ceiling in black – which reflects A|X Armani Exchange’s contemporary collections. Imagined by Giorgio Armani alongside a team of architects, the new London store reflects the brand’s other new-generation spaces, including a desire to keep environmental effects to a minimum – from materials, finishes and lighting to retaining internal structures. As such, all metal and glass elements are removable, reusable and recyclable, while lights uses innovative LED technology designed to minimise energy consumption. 

Courrèges, New York, United States

Courrèges’ latest store, which opened in New York to coincide with the city’s fashion week, marks the French house’s return to the United States (in its 1970s heyday, Courrèges had stores in Los Angeles and New York). Featuring a distinct design by Belgian architect Bernard Dubois, the Soho space (104 Grand Street) is rendered in gleaming white, with smooth geometric fixtures reminiscent of both house founder André Courrèges’ futurist fixations and current creative director Nicolas Di Felice’s knack for angular cool. The back room is made to evoke a ‘rave ambience’ – Di Felice has noted his love of techno while growing up in Belgium, and recently hosted a Courrèges rave on the outskirts of Paris – with a mirrored ceiling and ‘club-grade’ spotlights.

Ant/Dote, Atlanta, United States

Founded by Lauren Amos (of store Wish ATL) and fashion journalist Eugene Rabkin, Ant/Dote is a new multi-brand retailer in Atlanta, Georgia stocking an array of international avant garde-leaning labels, among them Comme des Garçons, Junya Watanabe, Noir by Kei Ninomiya, Paco Rabanne, Y/Project, Craig Green and more. (The head buyer is Karlo Steel, who co-founded seminal New York menswear retailer Atelier New York; Ant/Dote will be the exclusive Atlanta retailer for several of the labels.) Located in the West Midtown neighbourhood, Ant/Dote resides in a converted art deco building, originally used as a Kodak laboratory for classified government projects during the 1950s. Working with Chris Benfield of Benfield Partners on the store’s design – Benfield has previously created stores for Rick Owens, Dior and Balenciaga – shoppers are greeted with a sleek monochromatic facade, applied over the building’s original red brick, and ‘conceptual garden vitrines’ created by WrinkleMX studio. Inside, hand-poured terrazzo floors and plaster walls provide a blank backdrop for the various garments’ distinct silhouettes, while a monolithic cash desk provides the centrepiece of the space. More fluid lines are found on the cave-like lower level, housing the store’s accessories offering and VIP lounge. 

Marni, Shanghai, China

In Shanghai, London-based studios The Wilson Brothers and Brinkworth continue a partnership with Marni which began with a redesign of the Italian brand’s Milan store. It is part of creative director Francesco Risso’s desire to ‘radically reimagine contemporary retail stores’; as such, the design centres on ‘a vessel for creativity’, a space within the store designed to inspire ‘community, creativity and culture’. In Milan, it took the form of a studio enclosed in a stack of cars and caravans, in Shanghai, a ‘rock-like sculpture’ has been created, ready to ‘welcome a rotation of artists-in-residence’ (the first will be Shanghai-based Nathan Zhou, who has created a series of colourful paintings which adorn the interior). ‘I admire Francesco’s ambition to create spaces for artistic endeavour,’ says Adam Brinkworth, founder of Brinkworth, of the collaboration. ‘For me, this places Marni as a patron of the arts.’

Celine, London, United Kingdom

‘Disarming and seductive,’ writes Dal Chodha of Celine’s New Bond Street store, a sleek portal into creative director Hedi Slimane’s singular vision for the French house. Housed in a Grade II-listed Edwardian building, the sculptural space features swathes of stone, granite, marble, reclaimed oak, concrete, polished stainless steel and brass, populated by furniture and artworks selected by Slimane. The result is a melding of brutalism and French luxury – a juxtaposition which lies at the heart of Slimane’s conception for Celine. Read more here .

Alaïa, Paris, France

Renovated according to designs by Marc Newson, Alaïa’s reopened 5 Rue de Moussy store –  just next door to the house’s atelier in Paris’ Marais district – provides a ‘restored and revived’ space to showcase Pieter Mulier’s collections (the Belgium designer began his tenure in 2021, the first creative director since Azzedine Alaïa’s death in 2017). Described as ‘a space dedicated to beauty’, art, fashion and high design intermingle in the store’s rooms; a portrait of the late designer greets visitors upon entry, while works by Ron Arad, Julian Schnabel and Newson are found throughout an otherwise minimal design. ‘The space that shaped the history of Azzedine Alaïa is once again a place for exchanges, encounters and discoveries,’ say the house of the store, which marks a new chapter in Mulier’s vision for Alaïa – one still infused with the inimitable creative spirit of the house’s namesake. 

maison-alaia.com

Loewe, Barcelona, Spain

Promising ‘luxury, intimacy, and culture’, the redesigned Casa Loewe on Barcelona’s Paseo de Gracia distils creative director Jonathan Anderson’s vision for the Spanish house, which centres on a deep-rooted commitment to craft, art and design. As such, the space – first designed by Catalan Modernist Lluís Domènech i Montaner – sees Loewe’s collections interspersed with commissioned installations by artists such as Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, whose bamboo sculpture will provide a centrepiece to the store, and Catalan artist Aurèlia Muñoz, who has created a large-scale hanging sculpture in macramé (other contemporary artists in the space include Haegue Yang, Richard Tuttle, Zizipho Poswa and Takayuki Sakiyama). Elsewhere, a breathtaking array of historical works will also feature, adding to Loewe’s ever-expanding collection – notably, a series of eight ceramics by Pablo Picasso. The luxurious fittings also ally with this idea of craft and hand-feel, from maple-wood counters, warm concrete floors, and vivid pillars and tiles – in shades designed to be reminiscent of the Mediterranean Sea – created by 1880-founded Catalan ceramic factory Ceràmica Cumella.

Theory, London, United Kingdom

Theory’s new London flagship marks a milestone for the American label – rather than a typical standalone space, it is instead situated inside a vast new Uniqlo store found on the city’s Regent Street (together, the two stores number 1,900 sq m). London-based architecture studio Sybarite created Theory’s ground-floor space, a sleek, minimal design in camel, beige and caramel which the brand says captures its essence, one of ‘modernity, balance, and openness’. Shoppers are encouraged to purchase simple layers – ‘constantly uncovered as the customer navigates around and through the environment’ – from a sharp edit of foundational pieces from the brand’s men's and women’s collections. Alongside the comprehensive offering from Uniqlo, the two stores combine to create a unique and contemporary take on the traditional department store.

Gentle Monster, Shanghai, China

A robot surveys shoppers as they enter Gentle Monster's latest boutique in Shanghai – an expansive multidisciplinary five-storey space in the city's Huangpu District – which celebrates the optical brand's innovative and technologically-led approach to retail design. Gentle Haus also welcomes a host of other labels into its location: surrealist dessert brand Nuddake on its ground floor and the first Chinese flagship boutique of South Korean beauty brand Tamburins on its fourth. It took a year to develop the robotic face that sits on the 3rd floor of Gentle Haus, created by the brand's Robotics lab, as part of an exhibition space that will host roving shows and pop-up events.

gentlemonster.com

Balenciaga, London, United Kingdom

Stroll past Balenciaga's 772 sq m boutique on Sloane Street in London and you'd be forgiven for thinking the space was in a state of non-completion. In fact, the untreated textures, cracked and stained poured concrete flooring and blackened stairwells are synonymous with the French maison's latest 'Raw' architectural retail concept, one which revels in industrial flourishes and exposed fittings and the drama of the dilapidated. Here, electrical wires, air ducts and support beams are exposed and an unfinished elevator core even takes centre stage in the store. We suggest you walk past the boutique again.

balenciaga.com

Bally, London, United Kingdom

A magnificent, column-lined facade on the corner of Regent Street in Central London beckons design-led shoppers into Bally’s new 400 sq m flagship boutique. An evolution of the Swiss brand’s experiential multi-functional retail environments, first launched in Milan’s Montenapoleone boutique in 2019, the space is centralised on visual contrasts, juxtaposing marble with terracotta, and alludes to the UK's capital city's topographical and architectural history. Conceived in collaboration with Seen Displays, a London-based creative design and production agency, the store also boasts pieces designed by materiality-focused designer and maker James Shaw, on a series of strata-focused naturalistic plinths and fixtures, crafted using rammed earth, in a nod to the foundational clay of London’s architecture. 

bally.co.uk

Rinascente, Rome, Italy

Designers Frederik De Wachter and Alberto Artesani of Milanese practice DWA have created a new interior for the fourth floor of Rinascente in Rome’s Piazza Fiume. This is the first step of an ambitious redesign of the iconic building originally conceived in 1961 by Franco Albini and Franca Helg, carried out by architect Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli’s Studio 2050 and due to be completed in 2023, while the 4th floor womenswear department by DWA is the first to open, in summer 2021. The colour palette is based on imposing shades of brick red on the ceiling and mint green on the display elements made of tubular sheets. ‘We tried to find a balance between the identity of our design codes and the importance of using the space of the original project,’ say the designers. ‘It is a design made of contrasts, distributed on almost imperceptible levels.’ Writer: Rosa Bertoli

rinascente.it 

John Lobb, Beverly Hills, USA

The founder of heritage British bootmaker John Lobb famously walked from Cornwall to London in 1851 to fulfil his footwear dreams, and now the label has taken its own recent saunter around the globe. The brand is opening a series of boutiques, from Paris to Beverly Hills, designed by French architecture studio ciguë, which has also worked on retail spaces for Vejas, Patcharavipa and Aesop. These interior spaces nod to a science fiction spaceship, accented with matte metal and deep walnut wood, and feature fixtures inspired by the Uruguayan artist Gonzalo Fonesca. For lucky luxury shoppers in LA, John Lobb's Californian boutique has also been wrapped in a facade evoking the exposed brick work of the brand's Nottingham factory. It brings a touch of artisanal Britain to Beverly Hills.

johnlobb.com

Brioni, London, UK

London-based architecture and interior design company P. Joseph had classical inclinations when considering the design of Brioni's London flagship boutique, which encompasses ready-to-wear, footwear and accessories, and a suite for bespoke tailoring. The Bruton Street space in London's Mayfair is inspired by the residence of a Roman man, and its sleek interior marries marble with tuff stone and travertine and mid-century Italian furniture and tapestries from the Fifties and Sixties. There's a serene sense to the space, which denotes a series of luxurious living rooms, as delectable for the contemporary shopper as the classical one.

Acne Studios, Stockholm, Sweden

There's a classical sense of splendour behind Acne Studios' Stockholm boutique. The former bank in the brand's home city, has been stripped back to its essential design, reducing layers of recent renovation in celebration of the building's original neoclassical colonnades. Acne Studios worked with Barcelona-based Arquitectura-G on the interior overhaul of the space, who also designed the label's industrial store in Nagoya, Japan. In a play on duality, real and faux marble are presented together, alongside original and new custom colonnades. Organic slab-like marble furntiture, created by London-based designer Max Lamb, is illuminated by grid-like spotlights, created by French designer and light artist Benoit Lalloz. Lamb and Lalloz also created pieces for Acne Studios' Stockholm headquarters , which opened in November 2019.

acnestudios.com arquitectura-g.com

Maison Margiela, London, UK

Seeking out some architectural retail splendour to spark a serotonin surge on your daily walk? Should you stroll around London's Mayfair, we recommend walking past Maison Margiela's Bruton Street flagship, which has been aesthetically overhauled by Dutch architects Studio Anne Holtrop. The design of the 190 sq m space has been influenced by the textural marking of clothing, and interior elements like columns and walls have been imprinted with the fingerprints of fabric. Creative director of the brand John Galliano was also inspired by the concept of getting dressed in haste, an ideal he holds integral to its aesthetic, and pillars appear dented or curved, as if in motion. For now, we'll be satisfied peering through the windows of the store, and taking in its pared-back and tactility-focused design. When lockdown lifts, we'll be dropping in in person too.

maisonmargiela.com

Dolce & Gabbana, Puerto Banús, Spain

An ode to modernist Catalan architecture, the label’s Puerto Banús boutique, in Nueva Andalucía, also offers up a tribute to the ocean. Rustic blue ceramic walls, soft furnishings created from natural rope and a floor created using trencadís – a broken mosaic technique formed from shards of glass, all evoke maritime escape, while floor to ceiling windows reveal a resplendent real time harbour view. On the first floor, a terrace houses Dolce and Gabbana’s Martini Bar – a space synonymous with the brand’s retail vision. Imagine shopping the label's latest Siciliy-inspired wonders, before taking in the Spanish sunset upstairs, sipping on something served with a twist.

dolcegabbana.com

Loewe, Soho, New York

Picture settling into this cornflower blue Cassina 637 Utrecht armchair and surveying the art that populates Loewe’s first Manhattan space on Greene Street. In a nod to its other gallery-inspired outposts in cities including London and Tokyo, the oak, Campaspero limestone and concrete-clad space boasts a roster of pieces from the Madrid house’s covetable collection. These include three tapestries depicting photo realist scenes, created by Limoges-based master weavers in France, and conceived originally for the set design of Loewe's S/S 2020 show, and a figurative hand-painted screen by South African artist Lisa Brice. Top marks for spotting a tea bowl by the Japanese ceramicist Takuro Kuwata and 2018 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize finalist, who creative director Jonathan Anderson collaborated with for the brand's recent A/W 2020 womenswear show, on a series of sea anemone-like bag adornments and knobbly breastplates.

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake, Tokyo, Japan

For his 17th store design for Issey Miyake, Tokyo-based designer Tokujin Yoshioka was inspired by the concept of monozukuri no gemba , or ‘making things.’ The raw concrete walls of the 225sq m space house not just the label’s prismatic Homme Plissé and limited-edition COLOR collections, but also a functional pleating machine. This nods the history of Miyake’s renowned and shrouded in secrecy pleating technology. Here, two Issey Miyake engineers pleat garments – originally cut 1.5 times larger than their final size – live. The Minami-Aoyamal-located street the space is housed on is a Miyake mecca – also playing host to its Issey Miyake mainline, Pleats Please and HaaT to Reality Lab Issey Miyake stores.

isseymiyake.com

Prada, Design District, Miami , US

Peek through the white vertical blades that are clustered over Prada's Miami boutique's large windows, and you’ll find a sleek, chequer mosaic-clad treasure trove, dedicated to mid-century Brazilian design. The space – spanning two floors and 650 sq m – is populated with furniture pieces by Joaquim Tenreiro, Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler, Jorge Zalszupin, José Zanine Caldas and Sérgio Rodrigues. Take a highly-coveted seat and take in the eye-catching walls of the space, which are clad in sea green bas-relief panels, featuring various 3D floral designs from the brand’s ready-to-wear collections.

Fendi, Sloane Street, London

We were such fans of the brand’s 70s-centric Dimorestudio-designed Sloane Street outpost, that we awarded its seductive VIP room our ‘Best Personal Space’ gong in 2018’s Wallpaper Design Awards. The retro revivalist space nods to the designs of Paul Evans, Pierre Paulin and Gae Aulenti, and pairs contemporary with vintage furniture classics, like armchairs from the 1800s and an ‘Artona’ series dining table by Afra and Tobia Scarpa. We’ve also got a real soft spot for the boutique’s staircase, which is lined with snuggly double height mohair and velvet walls.

Bottega Veneta, Miami Design District, US

Imagine ascending the central dusty pink plaster spiral staircase inside the first boutique designed by creative director Daniel Lee. The calm-inducing light-filled space revels in the interplay of materials, including brass, plywood, leather, resin and reclaimed wood (Lee also favours mixed media in his accessory designs too). Fixtures in bright pops of colour, in blue, orange and green and terrazzo flooring in an array of Verde Guatemala, Bianco di Carrara, Verde Alpi and Nero Marquina marble tones bring bold juxtaposition to stark white shelving and fixtures. 

bottegaveneta.com

The Row, Mayfair, London

Less retail space, more serene gallery haven, the Annabelle Selldorf-designed boutique in Mayfair’s Carlos Place is brimming with art and design treasures. Wonder at ‘Jai Signh’s Sky’, a James Turrell light piece at the entrance of the store, descend the brand’s majestic arts and crafts wooden staircase and take in pieces by John Chamberlain and Isamu Noguchi across the brand’s two floors. The boutique reflects The Row’s other calm-inducing boutiques in LA and New York, and is populated with furniture pieces sourced from Galerie Jacques Lacoste, Galerie Patrick Seguin, Galerie 54 and Oscar Graf, which, like its men’s and womenswear, are also available to buy.

Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.

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How to Create a Shoppable Virtual Tour of Your Retail Store

There are varied predictions about the return of foot traffic to retail stores in the post-pandemic world, and the changing role of stores. Regardless of whether consumers visit stores more or less than before, increasing the ROI on retail space investments is a higher priority for brands than ever before. One way to enhance the scope and reach of your brick-and-mortar store is to digitize it. A photorealistic, 3D virtual version of your store can drive engagement and gain traction nationally and worldwide, whereas the brick-and-mortar is dependent upon regional, foot traffic.

Utilizing virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) technologies, it is possible to digitally recreate physical stores in photorealistic, 3D e-commerce sites that includes both in-store and online inventory for a fully shoppable online store experience. Essentially creating a shoppable virtual tour of the retail store. These virtual stores are designed to drive discovery, engagement, click-through, session duration, average order value, and conversion for leading retailers and brands.

Benefits of virtualizing retail stores

• Store becomes accessible to a wider audience 
• Remote shopping enabled
• Makes in-store inventory digitally accessible

Retailers can use the Obsess Experiential E-commerce Platform™ to virtualize their retail stores at a high resolution and with a fast turnaround time.

Neha Singh, CEO of Obsess, comments, “This is a very easy way to create a much richer experience for consumers online, because you already have your retail stores that you have constructed and merchandised with so much effort. A much wider audience can now visit your store, and shop it without having to physically go to the store.”

Ralph Lauren’s series of virtual flagships is a relevant example of transforming physical locations into 3D, immersive digital experiences. Ralph Lauren (RL) has virtual store recreations for their Boston , Beverly Hills , Hong Kong and Paris store locations. By visiting the Ralph Lauren website and by clicking on the “ RL Virtual Experience ” page, a visitor can travel around the world with Ralph Lauren virtually and be immersed in photorealistic renderings of their renowned and unique flagship stores in various locations. Customers can click on any product in the virtual store, and order it online, call the store or add it to their wishlist. The “RL Virtual Experience” serves as a new sales channel in addition to Ralph Lauren’s retail stores and e-commerce website.

Ralph Lauren’s digitization of their famous flagship stores around the world inspired American Girl to take a step forward in virtualizing their iconic stores, providing access to consumers everywhere. They decided to launch their virtual store to celebrate the brand’s 35th anniversary. The virtual American Girl Place is an immersive experience embedded in the brand’s website that allows customers to explore the brand’s store and shop from their computers or mobile devices.

Retail TouchPoints noted that “the results of American Girl’s virtual store have been clear, with high traffic across both experiences, strong engagement and solid click-through rates.”

Now, American Girl customers do not have to travel to New York City to experience the magic of the flagship store, they can do it virtually from the comfort of their home. Customers can even partake virtually in the location’s most popular experiences including booking tables and parties at the American Girl Café. The ability to book reservations is made possible through an integration between the virtual store and the actual store’s reservation system.

Digitizing your brick-and-mortar store is a simple way to enhance its ROI. By virtualizing your physical store, you will reach a larger audience worldwide, enable remote shopping, and ensure your in-store inventory is digitally accessible. Learn more about how to create shoppable virtual tours of your retail stores. 

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Virtual stores: Fashion’s new mode of shopping

By Maghan McDowell

Virtual stores — three-dimensional, navigable, branded spaces — are maturing beyond digital replicas of physical locations. Now, they are being designed to offer the best of both the physical and virtual worlds, turning into a third mode of shopping that resembles neither stores nor websites.

From physical stores, they borrow immersive, visually appealing experiences for both entertainment and utility; from e-commerce, they borrow convenience and data. And from the pandemic, they have gained a willingness for both brands and consumers to experiment digitally. Cosmetics brand Charlotte Tilbury has added the ability for shoppers to invite friends to join one’s shopping visit via Zoom-like video screens. Harrods’ virtual Dior Beauty store includes flowers sprouting from the polished floor, under a domed starry night sky — all inside Harrods. Ferragamo’s “House of Gifts” takes customers inside the rooms of the Italian villa where its holiday campaign video was filmed. Each includes three-dimensional, photorealistic, shoppable products, in addition to videos, music and interactive features.

The pandemic has spurred an interest in and need for virtual retail, and with renewed attention has come more experimenting. Interest has also been compounded by Facebook’s rebrand as Meta and its splashy presentation extolling the virtues of the metaverse. “There's this really interesting opportunity to build unique experiences in the digital world,” says Yelena Shkolnik, a partner at Jump Capital. “People are much more interested in their digital selves and what things look like in that environment, and they're comfortable with embracing that, which they weren't before.”

Tech platforms and fashion companies have a lot to gain. Morgan Stanley estimates that the metaverse could constitute 10 per cent of the luxury goods addressable market by 2030, representing a €50 billion revenue opportunity, with soft luxury brands (ready-to-wear, leather goods and shoes) particularly well positioned to benefit as demand for digital fashion intensifies.

Virtual stores, brand NFTs and in-game partnerships are all precursors to a full “metacommerce experience,” which would include creating, shopping, paying for and wearing digital items entirely in virtual spaces and would bridge the gap between direct-to-avatar and direct-to-consumer,” says Mike Charalambous, CEO at 3D software startup Threedium, which has worked with Farfetch and Burberry on digitising products used in virtual stores.

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Many brands have opened virtual stores in the past year, including Tommy Hilfiger , Ralph Lauren and Burberry, in addition to brand-created destinations within existing platforms, such as Gucci and Vans in Roblox and Balenciaga in Fortnite , among others. This month, Snapchat is opening virtual stores for its “Snap Holiday Market,” which includes immersive experiences for those including Amazon Prime Video, Hollister, Under Armour and Walmart.

Walmart's AR store on Snapchat enables people to in interact with and purchase product within the lens, and Hollister's AR store is a custom virtual retail space that links to a Hollister microsite.

Virtual store software provider Obsess, which raised $10 million in June from Jump Capital and others, has been working to rapidly scale its team amid considerable inbound demand from major fashion and beauty brands, says founder and CEO Neha Singh. It has created more than 100 virtual stores for brands including Tilbury, Ferragamo, Coach, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Dermalogica, providing crucial insights that are already informing how to make virtual stores more successful. “Virtual experiences have the advantage of being able to granularly track users’ activity, from tastes, to movement around the space, to demographics appeal and checkout process,” says Olga Dogadkina, co-founder and CEO of virtual retail tech company Emperia.

Despite progressing quickly beyond literal interpretations, there is still a long way to go in metacommerce, in both the technology and consumer demand. The better the experience, the more likely consumers will be to spend time in these spaces, Shkolnik says, requiring brands to build something that is still somewhat unproven. “It’s a chicken and egg problem,” she says. To encourage purchases, return visits and more momentum, this year’s crop of virtual stores are adding both fantastical and practical elements.

Beyond space and time

Virtual retail experiences, unlike physical world counterparts, have the advantage of very few limitations, says Emperia’s Dogadkina, whose clients include Burberry, Harrods, Dior, Dom Pérignon with Lady Gaga and Christie’s. This enables fantastical elements and accessibility that aren’t limited by construction needs, space size, time of day or location. Burberry and Harrod’s, for example, created a virtual Greek temple in the clouds; its Olympia bags rested on pillars surrounded by statues of goddesses.

These spaces created for Burberry (top) and Dior illustrate how virtual stores have evolved to combine both the fantastical and practical, such as realistic 3D product renders.

Dogadkina advises that spaces are visually appealing with enough “interest points” to encourage people to spend more time and interact with products, and that they should also be exciting enough to share with friends and come back for more. Singh says that after observing that people were digitally adding themselves to virtual spaces, Obsess added the ability for people to take selfies in them. This is something that Ralph Lauren also added to its virtual space in Zepeto.

Charlotte Tilbury, founder of the eponymous brand, says that the company conducted significant user-testing on what it calls the “Tilbury Metaverse,” and is the first Obsess client to add a “shop with friends” feature, in which people can send an invite link to others to explore the brand’s virtual store together through a video-call interface that is already familiar. “Consumers are used to social and interactive experiences in digital spaces, which e-commerce has lacked. But this is a fundamental part of the metaverse,” Singh says. Soon, Obsess will add the option for customer- and brand-created avatars to interact in the space. Already, customers can make appointments for virtual consultations.

Dogadkina advises brands to think differently about virtual stores than they would about designing a gaming experience. However, gamified elements can help encourage people to explore and interact, Singh says. For example, Charlotte Tilbury’s space challenges shoppers to find three golden keys to unlock access to a specific lipstick colour. Ferragamo has a gift-selection quiz, and an exclusive room for registered users. 

Shkolnik says that brands might create spaces that are entirely personalised or customised to each shopper, offer live engagement with celebrities or in-store concerts. “The really exciting leap, of course, is when you actually think about the medium allowing you to do something that has nothing to do with your physical store at all — something that customers actually want to walk around in, because the current status of e-commerce, just hopping on a web page with a bunch of Jpegs and filters, certainly doesn't replicate walking into Neiman Marcus and having someone tell you what types of pants look good on you.” Plus, she adds, e-commerce, unlike stores, is still largely search-driven. “You're not landing on it accidentally the same way that foot traffic does.”

Practical needs still apply

Successful virtual stores still have to remain earthbound in the sense that practicality and utility are essential considerations. For example, intuitive navigation, realistic 3D renders and access to customer support are all basic elements, Dogadkina says.

Obsess has found that the layout and path has to be very clear to the user; if there are a lot of options, people don’t go anywhere, Singh says, so perhaps counterintuitively, an easier path increases engagement. For example, even though Ferragamo’s virtual Italian villa includes multiple elaborate rooms, they are all within one straightforward back and forth path, versus a complicated floor plan. When people enter Tilbury's space, a brief introductory “zoom out” video shows the entire space.

This elaborate virtual set was also the physical location of Ferragamo's holiday campaign video. Although there are multiple spaces and details, the layout is linear to prevent user confusion.

“In a virtual world, simplicity, delight and space for curiosity is key, while avoiding disorientating new layouts and landscapes. We wanted to make it easy for everyone,” Tilbury says. That means that when it comes to selecting products, “we had to choose selectively,” she adds.

Additionally, Singh ads, people don’t click on elements they don’t understand, such as closed doors, so interactive elements need some visual cue. “The mystery factor online doesn’t work as well in reality,” Singh says, so in place of a closed door, a virtual space might portray a door that is slightly open.

Preparing for the future

To prepare for the future of “metacommerce”, brands should figure out what the 3D representation will look like, and create assets that can be used in multiple platforms, Singh says, in the same way that brands look consistent across multiple physical locations. Then, she advises, evaluate which metaverse platforms best align with specific customer demographics. By next year, Singh aims to expand Obsess’s scope to cover other metaverse platforms. The vision is for Obsess to enable brands to automatically publish to platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, so that they have consistent presences across platforms.

Already, Emperia and Obsess are seeing demand for permanent locations, rather than temporary, holiday-themed projects. Tilbury, for example, treats her virtual store as an ongoing, adaptable space. Threedium, after raising $2.1 million this month , is buying digital real estate and creating a headquarters in Decentraland to better enable brands to create and sell digital fashion and virtual spaces in Decentraland.

Shkolnik anticipates it will take two to three years for virtual stores to be as commonplace as mobile shopping. “What's really exciting about these virtual concepts is the discovery is so much more fluid and actually they're fun to be in. I don't know who would describe a typical e-commerce site as fun, but I might love to be in some specific luxury store.”

Interestingly, she doesn’t think virtual stores will replace existing digital channels: “There's still a lot of value in having a dedicated space where you can show up, you know exactly what you want to buy, you buy it and you move on.”

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More on this topic:

What to know about virtual stores

An augmented reality shopping boutique is here

Are branded virtual worlds the new marketing terrain?

By Vogue Business in partnership with BigCommerce

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The Future of Shopping: Virtual and Augmented Reality in the World of Fashion

In recent years, augmented reality and virtual reality are being integrated more and more into everyday life, particularly in the fashion industry and retail, allowing shopping to become more innovative, immersive and creative than ever before. New experiences are being created every day to give customers the perfect experience and make their shopping journey memorable, unique, and perfectly fit their own personal tastes.

So how are AR and VR revolutionising the fashion industry, and what does that mean for customers and the future of retail? Let’s find out. 

The Difference Between AR and VR

Over the Covid-19 lockdown, people were unable to visit physical stores which lead to a surge in eCommerce sales, with many companies making their products more readily available. 

Augmented and virtual reality have become leading innovative forces in making the shopping experience more interactive and engaging. The virtual digital experience is a creative way for brands to showcase their products and make their buyer journey smoother and more experiential.

One billion people worldwide are using AR across all industries, and 32% of consumers are using it while shopping, the key demographic being people between the ages of 16 and 44. It provides unique and exciting ways for customers to browse through products, virtually try on clothes and encourages more sales. Having said this, less than 1% of brands are utilizing AR and the potential within its technology.

Augmented Reality

AR enhances the real world with digital elements. Mobile phones are one of the primary ways to interact with the world around you, allowing you to scan products or QR codes and receive information or view yourself wearing digital clothes, shoes or the latest make-up line.

It can bring the shopping and browsing experience to you, wherever you are from a geographical perspective, making it widely available to customers even if they’re not local.

AR has been used in various ways in recent years, including in Google Sky Map and the popular mobile game PokemonGo in which when you look through your phone, you can see the Poke eggs in the physical environment around you. AR emphasizes fun and imagination. Seeing the world differently keeps things fresh, reinvigorating your interest in an everyday part of life – in this case, shopping.

So imagine you are sitting at home and you want to buy a new hoodie. You could go to your local store, browse the options they have available, feel the material, try it on in a changing room, see how it fits you. Maybe you buy it, or perhaps you decide it looked better on the hanger. But then you consider online shopping—the world at your fingertips. You can search hoodies from any brand and any shop, try them on or compare prices with a tap of the finger. It certainly makes buying a lot easier. And with the new leaps and strides AR technology is making, that online world of retail is becoming even more exciting and interactive, engaging you with the content and keeping the shopping experience feeling original and different to going to a brick-and-mortar store. 

AR Try-On is an effective way to try out a product before you buy it, all without having to travel to a store and queue for a changing room. You can see what an outfit would look like on you in an instant. Even if you don’t find anything you fancy, you can still experience the entertainment of your catwalk with the digital enhancements adding a unique flavour to the shopping experience. Better yet, you can share your experiences on social media, getting your friends and followers in on the trends and making the world of shopping more interactive, social and transforming it into a show of community spirit.

Snapchat and Instagram have been leading the charge with AR technology. Snapchat premiered AR Try-On in May this year, allowing users to try on clothes and accessories for free. In partnership with brands such as Prada and FarFetch, the new feature utilised a technology that responds to the movement of your body. Gucci has also offered AR shopping experiences on the app.

Instagram, meanwhile, has entered a partnership with Carlings and Facebook, debuting an AR t-shirt. Customers can buy the white tee from Carling’s store. When the Instagram filter is activated, the logo on the front becomes a tracking point for your camera, allowing any graphic of your choosing to become super-imposed on the shirt, no matter how you move.

Connecting apps, AR technology, and shopping have added a whole new dimension of interactivity to shopping. It is akin to carrying a pocket changing room around with you along with the added excitement of keeping up to date with the latest trends, sharing with your friends and finding new entertainment in even the smallest accessory.

Virtual Reality

VR differs from AR in as much as it creates a whole new world to the one you’re living in. It simulates reality and puts you anywhere in the world: a forest, a city, even space. VR has been most commonly used for entertainment, particularly in video games, to make you feel like you’re actually inside the world itself. But things are changing, with fashion brands beginning to utilise the technology to showcase their products in a virtual space of their choice.

Virtual reality is becoming an exponentially more popular choice for fashion shows since Covid-19 began. Back in 2020, Balenciaga hosted a VR show for its A/W2021 collection , providing new and innovative ways for guests to enjoy the latest in fashion from the comfort of their homes. This brought the excitement of the catwalk directly into people’s homes, providing them with a unique opportunity to experience high-end fashion in a new and intimate art form. 

Even earlier, in 2017, Samsung VR headsets were used at the New York Fashion Week to transport attendees to an Italian city, with digital mannequins showcasing the collections. This kind of globe-trotting experience was a whole new dimension to how brands had been presenting fashion until that point. 

With VR, even regular shopping could be taking place in a completely virtual retail space. Imagine the possibilities if a brand releases a themed collection. Perhaps a collection could be inspired by the creams and leathers of steampunk fashion, and consumers will be transported to a steampunk Victorian London, zeppelins flying overhead. Maybe you’d even spot a few historical figures as you explore the clothes on the digital models. 

VR is a hub of opportunity to revolutionize the fashion industry. There are so many more great strides to be taken with the technology. Still, the ability to travel to whole new worlds from the comfort of your own home is an adventurous and exciting concept. It will transform retail into a unique virtual fashion experience . 

Brands That Use AR and VR

With AR and VR revitalising the fashion industry and changing the way people shop, it only makes sense that more and more brands are taking advantage of the rising trend. Every brand wants to be the best brand to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime experience or the most engaging one. The competitiveness means the public is benefitting from ever-improving AR and VR shopping experiences.

Burberry has made more than one stride into the world of AR shopping. In February 2020, they partnered with Google to bring AR shopping to their Google Search technology. This allowed users in the UK and the US to experience Burberry products set into their environment, helping customers learn more about the product before purchasing. This adds an informative layer to their shopping experience by providing details you wouldn’t be able to find out in a regular shop. 

Burberry’s also created an AR experience for their SS21 campaign, which allowed users to create their own 3D Pocket Bag sculptures, pushing for more digital content and enhancing the customer’s online fashion journey. Entertainment is the name of the game. Interacting with Burberry’s products increases shoppers’ excitement and engagement with the brand. It helps to inspire their creativity and increases the sense of community, making each participant feel like an essential part of the project and thus building loyalty and love for the brand.

Burberry x Harrods also used a virtual experience to celebrate the launch of their Olympia bag. The Burberry x Harrods virtual experience is championed by a modern ethereality with 3D Greek statues surrounding the room, enhancing the Olympian heavenly tone. Using a QR code, the virtual experience allowed users,  at the pop-up locations, to place a digital version of one of the Elpis statues in their surroundings and watch it come to life and walk towards them. This helped to make the experience more immersive, allowing users to share it with friends. The whole experience inspires awe, the elegance and refinement of the virtual experience making the product that much more alluring to the audience.

The make-up and fashion brand has added several filters to Instagram, including try-ons for accessories like hats and headbands. One recent addition is a complementary experience promoting their 2020 holiday makeup line with make-up artists recreate the AR firework makeup look in real life. AR creates a visual entertainment experience in both the digital and physical worlds, building up positive perception and enjoyment for a product. The social element draws in a new demographic.

Dior also held an event in partnership with Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, to allow users to digitally try on their new Dior-ID sneakers in a selection of colours. AR is a great way to premiere new looks and test the popularity of products with the public. This engagement-encouraging approach to campaign marketing is a surefire way to get people interested in products, gaining more personal experience than they would otherwise get in a shop.

Already back in 2015, Dior has dipped its toes in VR technology,  designing a VR headset, Dior Eyes, that gives users a VR sneak peek into how models prepare backstage for a fashion show. The Eyes were created in partnership with DigitasLBi Labs using a 3D printer, and they provided an immersive 3-dimensional view of the backstage fashion world with 360-degree vision. This provided the public with a chance to experience the brand exclusively in a way they had yet to see it. 

CHANEL kicked off their use of AR technology back in 2011, enabling users to try on the J12 watch on their app without having to go into a physical store. Since then, they have worked with FarFetch to create high tech dressing rooms. Clients choose their looks and accessories, book an appointment and then travel to the boutique to experience the intelligent mirror in action. It displays their choices and shows customers multiple angles, using a Radio Frequency ID bar to detect new items brought in and subsequently displaying the original article from the runway show. This is a unique, modern approach to the shopper’s journey, bringing in exciting new features that entice people back to physical shops, tying together the real and digital worlds.

2021 saw CHANEL’s debut of its impressive Lipscanner technology , the new feature comprising an AI technology that can scan any image and find a corresponding colour from one of the brand’s 400 lip products. It encourages experimentation, with users allowed to snap a picture of any colour they like – such as pale pink candy floss – the technology will match a lipstick colour that can then be digitally tried on. The technology takes into account skin tone, age and the shape of one’s lips. With so many different products to try, users could become engrossed in seeing how they look in various shades, bringing a level of entertainment to something that can be an example of ‘going through the motions in their day-to-day life.

Online clothing store Asos is no stranger to creating a virtual experience for its users. In June 2019, they launched a Virtual Catwalk feature on their app, allowing users to point their camera at a flat surface and enjoy the AR experience of seeing a model exhibiting the brand’s clothes. This creates a more intimate shopping experience, making the clothes more appealing and accessible to the viewer. It’s informative, showing people what clothes would look like on their body type, and at the click of a button and users’ private environment.

Asos’ second venture into the world of AR came with the launch of an app called See My Fit, which allows users to see what an item of clothing looks like on different body types. It trialled with 800 products back in January 2020, slowly rolling out more options to keep up customer engagement and protect models from coming into the studio during Covid. It’s another valuable tool to help shoppers make a more informed decision about clothes, saving them the hassle of trying them on physically and significantly reducing the rate of unnecessary returns. 

Benefits of AR and VR Shopping

AR and VR shopping can make customers’ lives easier if they cannot get to a store or want to fully explore an item before buying, helping them make more informed decisions. In a Google Consumer Survey in 2019, 66% of people said they were interested in using AR for help while shopping. 

Layout of Products

A physical brick-and-mortar store can be pretty daunting. Its size and layout sometimes mean it can be challenging to find what you’re looking for. Some users find product discovery a lot easier when shopping in had experience the brand exclusively online stores, where the structure is simpler and more organised. VR shopping adds another dimension to this, making it easier to find items and see if they suit you, making the journey from browsing to buying a lot smoother, encouraging sales.

Easier to Try on Clothes

Changing rooms can often lead to long waits. So often, when shoppers are waiting for a space to become available, they tend to abandon their items and leave the store. AR changing rooms bypass queues altogether. Customers can instantly try on clothes they like, making their shopping experience more positive and providing further encouragement to purchase. It also makes the process more engaging and entertaining as you try on as much as they want for as long as they choose to. No limits and no one is waiting impatiently for them to vacate a changing room.

A Personalised and Interactive Experience

Engaging customers with fashion retail is the name of the game. If they aren’t attracted to what is being sold and how it’s being presented, they are less likely to make a purchase. An interactive VR shopping experience puts the customer front and centre, right in the thick of the action. Any information they need about a product will be right at their fingertips, and the apps can suggest products based on their search and purchase history. This increases customer satisfaction and confidence in brands, making it more likely for them to buy products and less likely for them to return them. 

Improves Brand Awareness

With AR filters and features taking social media by storm, the likelihood of users sharing their AR experience increases tenfold. Their engagement with a brand’s product inspires them to share the filters of them wearing AR make-up or clothes, generating interest from their audiences, increasing the public’s awareness of a brand’s features, and inspiring people to become potential customers.   

Future Trends in Virtual Fashion Retail

The continued rise of eCommerce and the consistent developments in technology mean that AR and VR shopping will only get bigger and better. Virtual Fashion shows continue to blend real life with virtual reality, a trend only expected to grow while brands are rolling out more and more features for use on social media such as Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest. Audiences will be treated to deeper and deeper levels of entertainment as companies begin to test the limits, extending the capabilities of AR and VR.

It also creates a more environmentally-friendly industry and makes fashion retail more accessible to the public. AR in retail is set to be worth 12 billion dollars by 2025, with one in three of the Gen Z generation projected to be shopping with AR by 2025. More than one in three shoppers expect AR retail technology to become more readily available within the year. 44% of Snapchatters are already saying they would prefer to use AR to shop for clothes and accessories over other products. This proves its usefulness in making shopping more engaging and fulfilling, bringing the essence of a physical shop into the home and enhancing it to make it a unique experience that you would only be able to have in a digital world. 

AR and VR have ushered in a rejuvenation of the shopping experience for customers, giving them new ways to look at products and making the prospect of buying more enticing. More and more brands are using the technology in creative and innovative ways, interweaving it seamlessly into their brands and the lives of their customers, creating an interactive and enjoyable experience that is more likely to drum up business, increase customer satisfaction and bring the industry further into the future. The shopping experience has been revolutionised for a new digital age of social media and entertainment, and it can only get better from here.

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We are continuing to make bold moves to establish Walmart as a destination for fashion. It started with work over the last few years to expand our assortment of quality, on-trend and accessible apparel and accessories. More recently, it includes prioritizing the creation and introduction of innovative shopping experiences that help customers discover the assortment and enable new and existing customers to shop with confidence.

The acquisition and implementation of the Zeekit virtual try-on platform are a huge part of that strategy. Earlier this year, we introduced the first implementation of the game-changing technology Choose My Model , which was met with terrific customer response.

Today, we are embarking on the next phase of our virtual try-on technology with Be Your Own Model, industry leading technology that brings the in-store fitting room experience to online shoppers. This experience allows customers to use their own photo to better visualize how clothing will look on them, and creates a gamification of shopping that we believe will be very compelling to the customer. Walmart is the first to offer a virtual try-on experience for apparel brands at scale, and it’s the most realistic application I have seen.

Our technology accomplishes this key differentiator with algorithms and intricate machine learning models – techniques originally utilized in developing highly accurate topographic maps – to show how an item of clothing will look on someone. Other experiences typically lay a photo of an item on top of another image, making it appear computer-generated. With Be Your Own Model, a customer sees an ultra-realistic simulation with shadows, fabric draping and where clothing falls on their figure in seconds. For example, a single shirt can come in six different colors, seven different sizes and two sleeve lengths. Our technology captures all the variations and shows how they look uniquely on each individual.

Not only is the technology impressive but we’re able to deliver it at Walmart’s incredible scale. The feature is now available on more than 270,000 items across Walmart’s portfolio of exclusive, elevated brands and private brands, including Free Assembly, Scoop, Sofia Jeans and Sofia Active by Sofia Vergara, Love & Sports, ELOQUII Elements, Time & Tru, Athletic Works, Terra & Sky, No Boundaries, Avia and The Pioneer Woman. Select items from some of our national brands like Champion, Levi’s and Hanes, and even some items on the Walmart Marketplace, are also part of the new experience, and our portfolio of participating brands will continue to grow.

It's also incredibly easy to use. If an item is enabled for virtual try-on, customers will see the “Try It On" button on the item page and have the option to view clothing on themselves (Be Your Own Model) or another model (Choose My Model). To use the Be Your Own Model feature, the customer will be prompted to take a picture of themselves within the Walmart iOS app. Once an image is saved, the customer will be able to view themselves as the model each time they use the virtual try-on experience.

Be Your Own Model is currently rolling out to iOS users of the Walmart app. Shortly, iOS users will also be able to take their image in the Walmart app to use the feature on desktop or web. It will be available on Android devices in the coming weeks. Launching this next iteration of virtual try-on technology delivers on our continuous goal of making online shopping an inclusive, engaging and personalized experience that better replicates in-store shopping.

We believe the largest and closest store to our customers is the one in their pockets. With both virtual try-on experiences now live, Walmart continues to offer customers an unparalleled experience that makes it easier to shop for clothes online.

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International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management

ISSN : 0959-0552

Article publication date: 5 May 2020

Issue publication date: 25 June 2020

As consumers spend more time shopping online, traditional retailers are facing a decline in on-site shoppers. To help the industry in the omnichannel era, we propose that a virtual tour of a store could affect brand equity and promote store visit intentions, based on a well-established brand experience account.

Design/methodology/approach

The virtual tour stimuli were created using 360-degree photos of real stores. Participants explored the store virtually and then completed an online survey. With 240 responses drawn from the general population in the US, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used.

Results showed that store brand experiences significantly affected consumers and the four brand experience dimensions exerted differentiated effects. Sensory and behavioural experiences directly increased intentions to visit the store, whereas intellectual and emotional experiences promoted visit intentions via enhanced brand equity.

Originality/value

This is the first retail study investigating a virtual tour through the lens of brand experience. It is also one of a handful that examined the distinctive effects of the four brand experience dimensions, which deserve scholars’ attention and further inquiry. The virtual tour can be a powerful branding tool in the online-dominant retailing era. Retailers can employ a virtual tour not only to increase brand equity but also to cultivate consumers’ intentions to visit their stores. Furthermore, the use of 360-degree interactive media to evoke the virtual experience of a store renders higher generalizability and extendibility in future research and practice.

• Virtual tour
• Store brand experience
• Visit intention
• Brand equity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the grants provided by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Project Code: 1-BE1G) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2014S1A2A2028434).This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, Global Research Network Program [NRF-2014S1A2A2028434].

Baek, E. , Choo, H.J. , Wei, X. and Yoon, S.-Y. (2020), "Understanding the virtual tours of retail stores: how can store brand experience promote visit intentions?", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management , Vol. 48 No. 7, pp. 649-666. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-09-2019-0294

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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The Moscow Kremlin  usually referred to as the Kremlin, is a fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and the Alexander Garden to the west.

It is the best known of the Kremlins (Russian citadels) and includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. Also within this complex is the Grand Kremlin Palace. The complex serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

The name “Kremlin” means “fortress inside a city”, and is often also used metonymically to refer to the government of the Russian Federation in a similar sense to how “White House” is used to refer to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It had previously been used to refer to the government of the Soviet Union (1922–1991) and its highest members (such as general secretaries, premiers, presidents, ministers, and commissars). The term “Kremlinology” refers to the study of Soviet and Russian politics.

All of Moscow’s main streets start at  Red Square , so it’s easy to see why this is considered the heart of the city. A massive space of 330 meters by 70 meters, the square is flanked by the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum, two cathedrals, and the State Historical Museum. In 1945, a massive Victory Parade was held here to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Armed Forces.

St. Basil’s Cathedral , one of the most recognizable buildings on the square, was built in 1555. The unique cathedral has architectural details inspired by Byzantine and Asian designs, as well as details that resemble those found in famous mosques. There are nine individual chapels inside the church, all decorated with colourful mural art.

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Moscow City Center, Kremlin

The treasury of our Moscow panoramas is gradually increasing.

We have already been shooting aerial panoramas for 6 years. During this period of time we shot many interesting cities of the world: New York, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Sidney, Miami, Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, Dubai, Los Angeles and many others. However, we didn't succeed in shooting Moscow, the city we live in, though we did our best. The case is the flights over Moscow are forbidden except those of Russian Federation Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Response and Russian police. Taking in consideration these administrative restrictions we applied our creativity and resolved this problem by the following:

1) We made a virtual tour over Moscow Encircling Highway :  MEH and Interchanges

2) Yauza, Ramenki, Southern Port

3) In May 2010 near the Crocus-City the first in the world 1 gig pixel panorama was shot from the helicopter. It shows the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Novodevichiy Convent, the TV Tower of Ostankino and many other places of interest.

4) This sphere shot from the height of 1000 m which shows most part of Moscow and regions.

5) Last spring we have shot the panorama of Novodevichiy Convent

6) We have done a virtual tour over Moscow State University

7) Earlier this year we have done a fabulous panoramas of Moscow City business center

8) One of Moscow City panoramas has been converted into stereo format

9) We have created a  giga pixel panorama of the center of Moscow

Also it is worth to view one of the photos by Sergey Semenov devoted to the rehearsal of the Victory Parade of May 9. 

It had success on the exhibition  World Seen by the Russians  held in Moscow, on Tverskoy Boulevard in May-June 2011.

And now we would like to introduce a virtual tour around Moscow Kremlin.

Photo by  Sergey Semenov ,  Dmitry Chistoprudov  and  Stas Sedov

18 October 2010

Open Gallery

Virtual Travels in 360°

Bellísimo !!!! Gracias por tener más información de mi entrañable Rusia por ser descendiente allí nació mi abuela y no pierdo las esperanzas de ir es maravilloso !!!!!!!

Marta Markmann, Argentina

What a wonderful picturisation! A feast to the eyes and ears.

AVR Rao, India

Excellent job. God bless Russian people.

Simon Avshalum, USA

Muchachos sois unos verdaderos artistas, exactamente un dia como hoy del año pasado (2012) tuve la fortuna de visitar Moscu y Petrogrado, vivo en Mejico, pero soy Madrileño, un fuerte abrazo

Juan Antonio Garcia, Spain

"its awesome i want to visit there once in my life time"

Mani Shanker, India

Thank you, Mani! I think you'll like Moscow if you'll visit it!

Varvara, AirPano

Je to zázrak čo ste dokázali. Neuveriteľné. Škoda, že naše Slovensko je v porovnaní so svetom zanedbané koministi sa držali pri zemi, nič nedokázali postaviť . Chcela by som ešte navštíviť Ameriku.

Angela Pelachová, Slovakia

Magnifique travail !!!!!! Quel bonheur intense d avoir la possibilité de voir la planète depuis son petit coin de pays.... Merci. Danielle Croset .Suisse.

Danielle Croset, Switzerland

Qué belleza, poder viajar a Moscu... y desde aqui de El Salvador..... Muchas gracias por compartir estos videos....

Cristina Amaya, El Salvador

Good job it's realy wonderfull.....a lot of thank for you....

pratik panchal, India

bellisimo moscu y su escultural plza roja patrimonio de la humanidad felicidades

sergiedv cevadxa, Mexico

your site has good Images but feed showing is low an yway thats good

shema gh, Iran

beautiful city

mohamed eleish, Egypt

Welcome to take photo in Chian!Haha

yi xin, China

Gr8 Work! Just 1 suggestion... Keep doing it!!!!

Mandar Vaidya, India

Many thanks, Mandar! We will!

Precrasnaia Maskva, precrastanaia Rusia. Spasiva !

PASCU IOAN, Romania

★☆☆☆☆

ahmad peko, Iraq

thank, por transportarme en sus maravillosas fotos. puedo decir conozco a moscu sin pasaporte!

jorge humberto gomez, Colombia

it is perfect.

delnia khezraqa, Iran

Sensacional!!!!!!

Paulo Rattes, Brazil

Wonderfull. so beautiful. A lot of tank for you. You are the best¡¡¡¡¡congratulation¡¡¡¡¡

Daniel garcia rusca, Argentina