It’s unusual for an early 20th century artwork to inspire the concept behind a multimillion pound, multi-floor, multi-brand retail space. When Italian architects pconp and artist Riccardo Previdi began devising Flannels’ latest 18,000 sq ft flagship boutique on Central London’s Oxford Street, intriguingly, Odilon Redon's 1903 pastel drawing Ophelia was their first reference point. ‘It offers a dreamlike view,’ explains Filippo Della Lucia, project leader at pconp. ‘It subverts classic ideals, aligning with Romanticism and Symbolism. It’s about a new means of experience.’ Adds Previdi, ‘The artwork has been the source from which to draw everything we needed.'
New experience is integral to Flannels’ latest landmark opening. The retail behemoth – first opened in the North of England in 1976 – is in the midst of an astonishing expansion. It currently boasts 44 locations in the UK, and has opened 17 new stores in the last two years, including a May-opened 20,000 sq ft Newcastle store, designed by London and Miami-based Argent. Ambitiously, Flannels plans to open another 60 outposts by 2022.
A host of the Flannels' luxury competitor’s have recently opened flagships and multibrand spaces further West on Bond Street – the world’s third most expensive retail street – including Celine, Loewe, Givenchy, and Alexander McQueen, while Matchesfashion’s 2018-opened experiential townhouse is a stone’s throw away in Carlos Place. But Flannels has found its first London home on the East End of Central London's most famous buzzy high street, neighboured not by high end boutiques, but by Marks & Spencer and Muji. ‘We wanted to make a statement with the new location,’ says Michael Murray, head of elevation at Flannels. ‘Oxford Street is one of the best shopping destinations in the world, so it's the perfect spot for us. We want our shoppers to feel part of a community – everyone is welcome.’
The majestic four floor space is a playful melting pot of references, bringing together everything from the prismatic tones of Odilon’s Ophelia and its ethereal, gothic elements to Arts and Crafts emblems, Brutalism to Baroque, Batman to Bladerunner. Inside, it houses men's and women's ready-to-wear and accessories, from a roster of established and emerging labels, including Burberry, Off-White, Versace and Ganni.
The puzzle-like staircase at Flannels’ London flagship. Courtesy of Flannels
‘We call it Incompiuto’ says Lucia of the flagship's interior, which is conceived around the idea of a gutted home, comprised of different and mismatched layers of wallpaper and flooring, all peeled back to reveal slivers of different decorative strata. Modular fixtures include wall panels emblazoned with bold chevron stripes, inspired by Italian medieval architecture, or printed with William Morris thistle and acanthus patterns, blown up to hyperbolic size and imagined in bold pop colour. Zipping between decades, movements and genres, pconp has focused on the ‘everyday’, using materials like galvanised metals for fixtures – ‘a treatment used for trays in hotels’ – and splodgey colourful Silipol columns, ‘used in the Milan Metro system’. Geometric black and white marble flooring, antique Persian rugs and ecclesiastical bespoke chandeliers, inspired by 1970s furniture designer Paul Evans, complete the postmodern puzzle.
Employing everyday materials and drawing from a breath of influences, pconp – which has also designed spaces for Gucci, Tom Ford and Saint Laurent – aims to create a more inclusive and widely interpretable concept of luxury. On the second floor, a concept space will also host roving services and experiences and guest collaborators and concessions, including takeovers by The Shoe Surgeon, Watch Anish and Bang & Olufsen. Flannels will also debut a Style & Collect service, allowing shoppers to purchase styles online and pick them up in store.
‘We think luxury today culminates as a story to be told,’ Lucia explains. There are numerous narrative strands to be sought across Flannels’ four floors in London's Soho; another chapter in the retailer’s unfolding bricks-and-mortar tale.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Poland St, Soho
London
W1D 2JL
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 showsThe Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to knowDesigning the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spotHeritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Vans’ West End store turns skatepark, with a 200 sq m travertine rampPart store, part community hub, Vans West End in London ramps up its skateboarding credentials with a design by Andrea Caputo Studio
-
20 years of Dover Street Market’s transporting in-store installations, from giant elephants to soft toysAs Dover Street Market, Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe’s radical London concept store, celebrates its 20th anniversary, we look back at ten of its most colourful installations, crafted alongside Simone Rocha, Jonathan Anderson, Martin Parr and more
-
Alaïa’s secret new London café and bookstore is inspired by the art of hostingHoused on the third floor of Alaïa’s London flagship, the intimate space – inspired by Azzedine Alaïa’s famed hospitality – includes a Violet Cakes bakery and a bookstore by Claire de Rouen
-
‘Music is in the DNA of the brand’: AV Vattev on creating this year’s loudest accessoryRising London designer AV Vattev – who has recently outfitted Charli XCX and Troye Sivan for their viral ‘Sweat’ tour – talks about the influence of music on his ‘bold and unapologetic’ collections
-
APOC’s secret London pop-up is a curiosity shop of weird and wonderful fashionOffbeat fashion emporium APOC’s London pop-up opens in time for the holiday season, offering the work of more than 70 avant-garde designers – most of which you won’t find elsewhere – in a secret location
-
Paul Smith’s Claridge’s Christmas tree is a playful slice of ‘countryside in the centre of London’Sir Paul Smith is the latest in a long line of fashion designers to curate the iconic Claridge’s Christmas tree. Here, he talks to Wallpaper* about the inspiration behind the tree, which features bird boxes and wooden animals
-
Tour Jacquemus’ new store, a serene Mediterranean escape in central LondonSimon Porte Jacquemus has united with OMA on his latest store – a Meditteranean-inspired bolthole on London’s New Bond Street. Here, they talk Wallpaper* through the transporting space
-
The making of Loro Piana’s magical festive Harrods takeover, ‘The Workshop of Wonders’Celebrating 100 years of Loro Piana, the Italian house has taken over Harrods in time for the festive season, spanning 36 transporting windows, two pop-ups and a raft of one-of-a-kind products which embrace the spirit of giving
