Guess flagship store, New York

September 20th, 2011 by retail design blog

The 30-year-old fashion brand has repositioned itself on New York’s Fifth Avenue with a store that celebrates both its history and its future. You don’t have to guess whose store this is. Right at the threshold of the 13,000-square-foot flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue at 47th Street, you know exactly where you are. Guess.

The brightly lit, black and white interior with a crisp accent of red is environmental branding at its best. The personal touch of a live greeter at the front door is accompanied by several groupings of mannequins, posing as standard bearers of the brand. Three high-gloss red mannequins, vertically positioned after a 10-foot transition into the store, offer a simple welcome.

Once the salutations are complete, the customer is drawn toward the denim bar, the prime touch point of the company brand and hallmark of its history, prominently located on a back wall at the end of a major sightline. Another six mannequins, accentuated by a translucent red glass backdrop, stand poised atop a custom steel patina cube unit. The mannequins are holistically finished in the same patina.

The brand’s history, which goes back to 1981 when the Marciano Brothers founded the denim company, is romanced throughout the space. So a pair of original three-zipper Marilyn jeans, the pocket autographed by Mick Jagger, is framed under glass and displayed on a wall adjacent to the denim area. Guess’ signature black-and-white imagery also makes a statement as oversized lifestyle graphics.

A variety of textures and tactile encounters helps create a transition from one in-store experience to the next. The store offers a subtle interpretation of a journey through New York architecture, using form, mass and materials, says Christina Bouser, senior store design manager. Red glass is used as a brand statement at three anchor points of the store – the women’s and men’s jeans bars and the cashwraps – to draw attention to and define these areas. Three high-gloss black action mannequins wearing red feathered wigs entice shoppers up three steps to a registration of sunglasses and accessories. All the mannequins, supplied by Fusion Specialties (Broomfield, Colo.), were custom-designed for each merchandise classification.

In an effort to capture all perimeter wall opportunities, a shoe and handbag tease is offered along the front wall of the escalator well, with product visible from the street-level window. The point of entry to the escalator is graced by a 12-foot-high LED screen showing branded fashion shows and campaign videos.

Hand-applied Venetian plaster ambles along the back wall and up the escalator well, providing a textural counterpoint to highly polished metal and glass surfaces.

The majority of the second floor is devoted to men’s clothes, highlighted by the residential feel of a leather upholstered couch and club chair, and the men’s jeans bar. Two corner windows on each side of the floor project oversized Guess logos onto Fifth Avenue.

Surfboards emblazoned with the Guess logo, and oversized backlit graphics strategically positioned throughout the space, continue the dialog with the customer. They communicate seasonal offerings and the attributes of the brand with imagery that suggests a casual, youthful lifestyle consistent with the Guess point of view.

In composite, all of the details are meant to support a brand recognizable both for its cutting-edge marketing campaigns and its comfortable familiarity. “The store is built around the history of the brand, where we were and where we’re going,” says Brett Horton, Guess director of store design.