DDi - March 2010 - (Page 18)

18 | Design Snapshot Home reflections H&M debuts its Home line in a mirrored showroom exhibit By Danielle Cohen S | Photos: Dim Balsem wedish retailer H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) debuted an eye-popping, jaw-dropping, gallery-like installation in the retail showroom of its Stockholm headquarters to launch the H&M Home interior textile collection for the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. On display in a 365-sq.-ft. space for three weeks, the first of four thematic “Home Reflections” exhibitions featured a twofold abstracted house design, as if viewing it through a looking glass. “The concept for Home Reflections was to show how H&M products could transform the look and feel of any piece of furniture,” says George Gottl, creative director of Amsterdam-based design consultancy UXUS, which collaborated on the installation. “We wanted to show the same piece of furniture with two different looks.” This was cleverly achieved using images of furnishings—including a sofa, bed, bathtub, chest of drawers and chair—printed on MDF cut out, , reconstructed in 3-D and attached to identical inverted formations, as a mirror image. However, each side of the furniture replicas demonstrated a different décor style with products from the collection—bedding, towels, pillows, cushions and the like—to show how they could be implemented in the home. The faux furniture structures were black and white, allowing the juxtaposition of colors and patterns of the soft goods to pop. To amp up the wow factor, each arrangement was suspended in mid-air from cables secured to the ceiling, and physical mirrors were positioned above and below each display to allow customers to view the collection from additional angles. While H&M Home’s main channel of availability is via catalog and mail order in the Nordic countries, Germany, Austria and The Netherlands, visitors to the Stockholm showroom can shop from the collection on display. “The aim of the display, like most in-store visual displays, is to wow customers and bring them into the store,” Gottl says. “Visual environments play a key role in attracting customers and selling, so with this in mind and a new (product) range to launch, it seemed a natural conclusion to create a fantastical and unique retail celebration.” www.ddimagazine.com March 2010 Photos: Xxxxxxx http://www.ddimagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - March 2010

DDi - March 2010
Contents
From the Editor
Newsworthy
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot: H&M Home
Design Snapshot: The School of Life
American Eagle Outfitters
Juicy Couture
Channel Focus: Jewelry
Shopper Marketing Section
Selfridges 3rd Central
Schnucks Market
Right Light
Design Leaders 2010
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
GlobalShop Show Coverage
Classifieds
Advertisers
Calendar
Shopping with Paco

DDi - March 2010