The beloved British brand Hunter has recently brought rural living to the city with the opening of a 5,000 sq ft, three floor store full of urban inspired country clothing and apparel. This quintessential English manufacturer that dates back to 1856 and favoured by Her Majesty has certainly kept abreast of change. Its use of new materials, bold colours and sleek design portray an innovative, quality brand, clearly illustrating to city dwellers that despite the mud, the countryside is cool!
Hunter’s new flagship store, situated on London’s prestigious Regent Street, takes iconic references from our countryside and re-appropriates them for an urban setting. The new store design is so complex it’s difficult to know where to begin... A barn with pitched roof, enclosed English garden with benches, boot room with seats, are all executed in true Hunter fashion – contemporary with a hint of eccentricity. This store is a really exciting addition to any shopping expedition (particularly if you love wellies).
From outside, the windows are adorned with colour and glimpses of the barn and garden within. Passing through the signature ‘Hunter red’ barn doors you are transported into the surreal brand experience and so your adventure begins. Immediately in front of you is the industrial style staircase complete with rubber treads to give a relevant, underfoot brand experience. Behind, a striking 5m high LED screen showcases brand footage from London Fashion Week and is testament of Hunter’s commitment to longevity and technology. Plus, in true British style weather reports are broadcast from around the country. To the left the barn opens up and houses the main clothing and apparel range. Light filters through the life-size, grey Douglas fir rafters and casts shadows around the store, adding to the dreamlike quality and onto the displays below. A unique series of oval, glass topped tables have been designed to give the appearance of puddles left after a storm, reflecting light off their mirrored surfaces. At the end of the barn a dry stone wall has been fashioned and covered with mesh for displaying the range of Original Hunter Wellington boots. A modern, minimal boot room is also situated on the ground floor.
Upstairs provides an altogether different environment. An enclosed English garden has been created using a basic metal framework that has been covered with a printed graphic to create topiary hedging. Green, hand cut, ceramic floor tiles add the look and feel of a perfectly manicured lawn. Hunter green walls and floor combine with the Hunter red clothes rails and shelving to form a bold and quirky take on a formal English garden. More puddle tables complete the look.
Downstairs is yet another world designed wholeheartedly for kids. As you descend the agriculturally inspired staircase a sea of red assaults your senses and you come face to face with a display stage set into the wall. When I visited the store cartoon styled husky dogs pulling a sledge through trees in a snowy vista were on display. Otherwise this floor is Hunter red throughout. Individual red shelves, one for each tiny boot, protrude from the red wall. Red textured flooring, red freestanding display units and red seating add to the impact. Finally, red cupboards for storing stock have a feature wall above customised from Hunter shoe boxes for easy service. The area is perfect for its tiny (sized) clientele.
As with every store that leading retail designers, Checkland Kindleysides undertake, this new Hunter venture is supremely executed, no stone is left unturned. I admire their ability to get into the psyche of a brand and express it with the greatest of detail in every element. The London flagship has the perfect balance of fun and adventure and is outlandish and modern - an excellent example of their work, as well as a great brand experience.
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