Halti is a "light-luxury" positioned Scandinavian sportive and lifestyle brand which has become the leading designer of outdoor sportswear in Finland and is particularly known for its branded skiwear and sponsorship of the Finnish national ski team. Their clothing collections include accessories, footwear and selected outdoor equipment for all seasons.
For its expansion into China, the brand not only needed a design for their flagship store but also a design concept for their store identity. The brief required a premium outdoor lifestyle store design concept that was modern, clean, simple and dynamic. The space also had to subtly show the brand's Scandinavian origins and long history. Being new to China, the retail design needed to ensure the brand stood out while still accurately representing the brand's identity.
Creating a dynamic feel while also maintaining the overall simple and clean "Scandinavian" design of the store was a key consideration during the design process. While the overall store design is kept natural and neat with a basic white and wooden design scheme, key features are backlit with white LED island displays to reference the high tech features of the products and create a more dynamic experience. While some of these displays have a full backlit surface onto which products are placed, others have a diagonal backlit strip for a funky touch.
To create depth and impact, inside the flagship store a suspended ceiling with backlit topographic lines was placed at its; this topographic imagery is an essential part of Halti's brand identity. Looking into the front of the shop, a backlit poster and LCD screen have been placed in the storefront windows to promote the Halti story and create momentum to draw passers-by into the store.
In addition to the natural color palette and materials, Halti's Scandinavian heritage is incorporated into the design of the store through hand-picked elements such as a moose head, picture frames and small decorations. A central brand wall was created to tell the story of Halti origins.
In keeping with the brand's Scandinavian theme, all natural colors were used in the design, particularly shades of grey and white. Light colored wooden textures were also used for part of the furniture to add a stronger sensorial Scandinavian touch. Other display units were designed to be clean and effectively highlight the products with inbuilt lighting, while some were designed to be flexible so they could be rearranged to keep the store fresh and appealing.
Overall, the design team at 5 Star Plus Retail Design has managed to capture the essence of the Halti brand by designing a clean, modern and premium sportive lifestyle store, which is able to make an impact to Chinese consumers.
Halti's first flagship store opened at Beijing's JinYuan Yansha shopping mall on September 26, 2015.