Flannels opens first London flagship, designed like a prismatic puzzle
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.
‘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
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Los Angeles’ best fine-dining restaurants
LA boasts a creative food scene driven by some of the world’s most innovative chefs. Browse the Wallpaper* guide to the city’s best fine-dining restaurants
By Kevin EG Perry Published
-
First look at Maison 3, an eclectic new Parisian bar for sleepless nights
Maison 3 is an enigmatic space with a sensual atmosphere brought to life by the French studio Les Beaux Jours Architectures
By Fabienne Dupuis Published
-
Chanel heads to Hangzhou, China for a poetic Métiers d’Art 2025 show
This evening in China (3 December 2024), Chanel travelled to Hangzhou’s much-mythologised West Lake, a Unesco World Heritage site, for a show that highlighted the extraordinary craft of the house’s artisans
By Jack Moss Published
-
APOC’s secret London pop-up is a curiosity shop of weird and wonderful fashion
Offbeat 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
By Mary Cleary Published
-
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
By Jack Moss Published
-
Tour Jacquemus’ new store, a serene Mediterranean escape in central London
Simon 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
By Jack Moss Published
-
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
By Jack Moss Published
-
The Wallpaper* guide to London facial treatments, from rejuvenating lasers to skin brightening injectables
The Wallpaper* guide to London-based facial treatments spans from lasers to injectables, each tried, tested and approved by our beauty editor Hannah Tindle
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Frieze London 2024: all the fashion moments to look out for
The best fashion happenings to add to your Frieze London 2024 schedule, from Dunhill’s curation of talks at Frieze Masters to a collaboration between Loewe and Studio Voltaire to celebrate 30 years of the gallery
By Jack Moss Published
-
How Leigh Bowery and the Blitz Kids defined 1980s subculture with make-up
As Leigh Bowery and the Blitz Kids of 1980s London are celebrated in a new exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, Isobel Van Dyke explores the hair and make-up looks that defined them
By Isobel Van Dyke Published
-
London Fashion Week S/S 2025 highlights: JW Anderson to Burberry
Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss selects the best of London Fashion Week S/S 2025, from JW Anderson’s ‘reduced library of materials’ to Burberry’s easy elegance
By Jack Moss Last updated