New Era has a newly located store in Westfield, Stratford with a concept by Checkland Kindleysides, which presents New Era’s latest collections, reflecting the brand’s passion for headwear and its authentic sports heritage.

New Era is an international lifestyle brand with a history dating back over 90 years. Best known for being the official on-field cap for Major League Baseball and the National Football League, New Era is the brand of choice not only for its headwear collection, but also for its accessories and apparel lines. Brand and product stories are brought to life in-store through premium fixture design and a choice of materials that resonate with the brand values. Graphic displays communicate New Era’s individuality, sporting heritage and urban characteristics, allowing the New Era story to be told to both brand aficionados and a new, wider audience.

The dark colour palette of the interior wood provides stand out for New Era’s product range, whilst 6m long back-lit screens stretch along either side of the store, punctuating the space and drawing the eye towards dramatic large-scale imagery, which enlightens consumers about the world of New Era with images of stadia, sporting heroes and graphics. The latest collections and seasonal campaigns are presented on the perimeter and hanging displays, featuring a black metal mesh backdrop to subtly reference baseball’s batting cages and the pattern of ‘Diamond Era Technology’ fabric used in the brand’s latest collection of caps. Light woods and pale concrete are used in the mid-floor fixtures, adding a lighter touch to the colour palette. The wood is reminiscent of the sports halls and baseball stadium bleachers, whilst the concrete, embossed with the New Era ‘flag’ logo, reflects the urban characteristics of the brand.

Celebrating the brand’s heritage and historic products, an inspiration wall has been created at the back of the store which showcases key story telling pieces. The space also presents collaborative projects between the brand and artists, designers and sports celebrities, telling their stories and inspiring shoppers to customise their own cap. The back wall also features the ‘art wall’ installation with over 300 baseballs making up the New York Yankees logo, reaffirming New Era’s sporting links.

As a brand who pride themselves on authenticity and self-expression, the new store also includes a customisation area; allowing consumers to personalise their newly purchased headwear from a selection of letters, fonts and colour thread. Another service, ‘New Era By You,’ allows consumers to create truly unique pieces from scratch via a digital application for consumers to choose their own materials and follow on line instructions to design a cap for production, which is later delivered to their home on a 6-8 week time scale.

At the cash desk to the rear of the store consumers can be educated on the ten silhouettes (styles) of New Era caps with graphic call-outs explaining the function and fit of each cap. Elements of the store take inspiration from the New Era logo, using its square format for the design of the wall bay displays, graphics and the hanging frames. For Fall 15, New Era will be presenting their latest Street Art collection, inspired by some of the most iconic artists in history; the bold print of this assortment has been compiled from bright graffiti designs, paint splats and interlocking shapes, which together create a look that stands out amongst the crowd. The new concept will be the blueprint for New Era stores, shop-in-shop, concessions and pop-up stores, providing a clear identity for the brand and increasing brand awareness with a consistent look and feel.

“We are proud to unveil our new retail concept at Westfield in Stratford City this July. This will be the first New Era retail store to adopt the concept that prides itself on giving the consumer a seamless shopping experience while interacting with the brand at various touch points in-store,” said Laurence Joslin, New Era Brand Director EMEA. “We wanted to create an inspirational and innovative environment that excites and encourages consumers while also providing a deeper understanding of the brand’s rich heritage. We will introduce this concept to additional retail stores and selected wholesale partners in 2015 and beyond.”

Design: Checkland Kindleysides