A dynamic space that screams light, bright and airy sets the scene for the latest store offering from Melbourne-based brand Bared.
The footwear label, which celebrates its three-year anniversary next month, has dabbled in arty minimalism for its latest retail outlet on High Street, Armadale in Victoria. However, owner Anna Baird says she was also careful to infuse a natural touch to the décor.
“The design of the store was a group effort by the creative minds that work at Bared and it has a very natural feel about it,” she says. “We had many interesting discussions about which direction to head, but in the end we decided that we wanted an organic feel.”
The end result is a concept which merges elements of nature with a modernistic twist. This includes the store's stand-out feature – walls of pristine white “tree” shelves with product displayed on branches. This is complemented by a long flower arrangement in the centre of the store, patches of faux grass used as a product backdrop, and custom-made chairs placed throughout the store.
“Our tree shelves and our chairs are definitely our stand out features. The chairs in particular have a cavity in the back that we can fill with gorgeous pot plants, flowers or fruit depending on our mood and the season we are in,” Baird says.
“The tree shelves, flowers and the grass – it all contributes to a feel of being somewhere fresh and outdoors – very different from the fluorescent lighting, boxed in feel we were keen to avoid. And we loved the idea of having trees to merchandise our shoes. As we have such a huge variety of colour and texture in our range, it is great to be able to use the branches to separate the styles and colour.”
Of the 80 square metres of store in total, about 50 is also dedicated to shop floor and the addition of high ceilings, delicate down lights and a large floor to ceiling shop-front window add a final polish to the overall look.
According to Baird, the entire shop fit-out was transformed 10 days from takeover, but the manufacturing of store features took a few months. However, she says it was important to have everything customised to match the Bared product philosophy of comfortable design.
“Our whole brand philosophy is unique among shoe stores. Bared primarily stocks our own Australian-made range of shoes with a few imported Italian boots and all of our shoes have unique supportive features hidden in their design that make them great for your feet and your whole body,” she says.
But the blend of nature, comfort and a crisp feel isn't the only thing that Baird is counting on to draw customer attention to her store. She reveals she also hand-picked the location and had been eyeing the spot out for some time.
“We wanted the location of our store to be in a spot that we like to shop ourselves. We also didn't want to move too far from our original store (in Toorak Village) so our current customers could easily follow us.”
“High Street itself is a great strip for shopping – there is a real boutique and café culture about it, which we love. It doesn’t feel too mainstream and there is an unhurried, relaxed chic vibe about the neighbourhood. Also, being big fans of Scanlan and Theodore, ACNE and Arabella Ramsey we were very excited when this shop came up for rent a few doors away. ”
Baird is already planning activations to boost the store’s profile.
“We are going to be running a few in store promotions and our initial promotion is a `Shoe Amnesty’ where we offer women the opportunity to trade in a pair of `Bad ballet flats’ and receive a discount of $100 off any of our shoes,” she says.
“We will also be having a launch party. But we're still looking at dates.”