NIKE: SOHO MEN'S FLOOR I
STORYTELLING + ENGAGEMENT IN A NEW YORK FRAME OF MIND
RETAIL DESIGN | CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT | BRAND STORYTELLING
In one of the top shopping districts in the world, Nike’s SoHo New York flagship attracts hundreds of customers per day. Nike’s Retail Brand Team hired us to conceive of a new retail concept + design for a total refresh of the men’s floor, encompassing Running, Training and Sportswear.
The new footwear wall featured pop-out lighting designs used as shelving and spotlights as well as neon lettering details that illuminated the space in a nod to the city.
The grey and black wall cladding pattern gave visual interest without distracting from the product, while painted OSB panels added additional interest.
THE STORE RECEIVES HUNDREDS OF CUSTOMERS A DAY, MANY FROM OUT OF TOWN. HENCE, THE DESIGN NEEDED TO FEEL ‘UNAPOLOGETICALLY NEW YORK.’
Among other updates, our scope included a new design for the footwear wall, product storytelling elements across the space, and a special activation zone introducing Nike’s Breaking2 initiative—aimed at beating the two hour marathon mark for the first time.
Our process began by designing a visual center and materials palette that was intended to feel ‘unapologetically New York’ while incorporating nods to sport.
For the footwear wall, we opted for a black painted stripe design over dark grey regrind which gave the feeling of asphalt. Raised, angled lighting inserts in varying orientations became shelving, downlights, and side lights for foot wear, breaking up the previously repetitive grid display. Large-scale neon lettering, campaign photography, and grey painted OSB ply with tonal graphics gave the display further depth and interest.
A view into the Breaking2 initiative zone with the storytelling table in the foreground, footwear vault at right, and consumer trial area in the distance.
Storytelling panels and racing props on display, each designed to represent one of the three athletes training for the Breaking2 race.
Across the space, we continued the use of painted ply with handwritten ‘graffiti’—a reference to construction sites lining the streets across the city—combined with neon and large-scale footwear imagery.
The Breaking2 activation space took other New York references, including an entire wall of wheat pasted posters designed for the Breaking2 campaign, with a large 1:59:59 tube light installation in front. At the center of the space was an underlit table featuring storytelling, prototypes and props from the initiative, drawing on comparisons to automobile racing driving because of the marathon’s location on the famed Italian Grand Prix’s Monza race track. A separate area was designated for consumer engagement through a trial run on a treadmill with the campaign footwear.
The floor was well received at opening, and we were contracted for subsequent projects with the team, including a further update to the SoHo flagship several months later.
THE SOHO FLAGSHIP IS TIGHTER THAN ONE MIGHT EXPECT. OUR CHALLENGE WAS TO DELIVER A WORLD-CLASS EXPERIENCE IN A NEW YORK FOOTPRINT.
A detail shot of a Lunar product display with neon, painted OSB, and matching chrome mannequin and dipped footwear.
Hand-painted ‘graffiti’ lettering with oversized Zoom footwear imagery produced on an OSB panel.
A close-up detail of the Breaking2 area’s wheat pasted posters and tube lighting installation.
AT-A-GLANCE
CLIENT: Nike
TYPE: Retail Design
LOCATION: SoHo, New York City
ACTUALIZATION: Seasonal update to flagship retail space.
OUR ROLE:
Graphic Design
Space Design + Concepts
Brand Moments + Art Installations
Materials Palettes + Design Direction
Floor Plans + Elevations
Custom FF+E Design
Production Management
Installation Oversight
PROJECT GALLERY
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