Jigsaw | King’s Road (New) | 2021
Redefining the Flagship
It’s no secret that consumer behaviours have changed in recent years, meaning the needs of retailers – and the size of their bricks and mortar spaces – has changed too. Having designed Jigsaw’s previous flagship space on the Kings Road in 2003, AMD was delighted to be invited to redefine their store experiences to suit today’s market.
Our founder, Andrew Martin, is at the forefront of arguing the case for smaller, more concentrated brand experiences to rejuvenate our highstreets, which he believes benefits the brand and the customer alike. “What brands and consumers want from a flagship store has changed considerably over the last 20 years, which is evidential from our two Jigsaw case studies, which are 13 years apart.” Andrew says.
In 2003, AMD were tasked with “making a real statement.” The store was housed within an impressive 6000 sq ft, Grade II star listed Chapel and was complete with bespoke fixtures and fittings throughout. Today, our direction was to be mindful as we downsized, paring back to reflect the maturity of the brand, as well as its simple and honest aesthetic.
Our design philosophy has always been ‘Mend and Make Beautiful’, which means wherever possible, we will use elements that already exist and/or up-cycle. This is both a sustainable and cost-effective way of working, which allows brands to be purposeful in their environments. Whilst the space needed to be completely unique, the site we occupied was an old Jaegar store, which had plenty of elements we could reuse. We also assessed and repurposed many fixtures from our original flagship, allowing us to work extremely efficiently to a tight CapEx budget.
The look and feel we came up with used neutral tones and earthy textures. We collaborated with artist Cas Pollen to create a gold leaf ceiling feature, and then installed complimentary elements throughout the entire store. We borrowed furniture from designer Anna Unwin, which is on sale in the space and will be replaced when needed. Jigsaw can change the furniture collaborator at any time, allowing them to update the look and feel of the space as desired.
“By simplifying the space and repurposing fixtures, we created a conscious space that is unique and interesting – the Jigsaw flagship 2.0. The store is modern, flexible and inhabitable in many different ways. Whatever the layout, the space is always able to showcase the Jigsaw story.”
– Andrew Martin, Founder, AMD