UNIVERSAL STANDARD - 1:1 RETAIL Chicago

Grayscale  -  2019
US | Chicago, IL
Concept, Design Development, Hardware Development, Fabrication, Installation

Universal Standard in an all-inclusive ecommerce brand that is setting the bar for fashion freedom. With sizes 00-40 for all of their clothing, they are THE company leading the charge in creating simple and elegant fashion for women of all sizes. Beginning as a startup ecommerce brand with no traditional brick and mortar locations, they had the opportunity to think outside of the box for creating their own retail environment.

Universal Standard approached Grayscale with the beginnings of a unique retail concept; to create a retail environment for individual and group stylist appointments within the comfortable setting of a “home” that can also be used as a event space to host and foster local social groups.

AWAY | AT HOME

The overall inspiration for this design uses our brand philosophy of practical aspiration; by taking design elements that could often be associated with a high end luxury apartment and juxtaposing them in an environment that feels lived-in. The goal of the concept is to have guests feel a sense of welcome-wanderlust in these environments, and become completely comfortable in the ‘away’, that they feel at home.

CONCEPT

WE THINK SHOPPING SHOULD BE MORE THAN JUST SHOPPING.

"We created a space where shopping could be special - something intimate and personal.We designed an environment to drive connection - between friends, family, and your community. So that shopping could extend beyond the screen - to be an experience, not just a transaction.” UNIVERSAL STANDARD

dispersed

With over three thousand square feet within the environment, a question of how should the brand be integrated within the 1:1 experience while still maintaining the feeling of a lived-in home. The solution was to create the layout for a home throughout the entire apartment and dispersing brand elements such as fixtures, artistic gestures, and brand photography and branding throughout the space.

In order to create a cohesive brand Identity throughout the 1:1 space, Grayscale designed branding to be represented as more of an artful expression that blended comfortably with the home decor as well as custom clothing fixtures using COPPER as a thread that connects all rooms as a singular identity.

Copper Fixtures

As part of the brands past experiences, copper became that material for the brands physical identity. To develop this material into a flexible material, Grayscale designed and fabricated a series of fixtures to be used in differing ways. For each fitting room the copper material was combined with a red oak wood stained with natural oils to create a series of wardrobe fixtures that could be used to display varying sizes of hanging product, folded product, and decor elements to create a welcoming environment. In the Showroom where more clothing needed to be displayed, a series of folded and hanging fixtures were designed to allow browsing of featured product. And lastly, throughout the home, a series of display fixtures were used to showcase the brand in a more artistic style, hanging from above or leaning against the wall to minimally divide the space up.

Fabrication

All elements fabricated in upstate New York and later transported by truck to chicago for install. Copper was polished, brushed, and coated with a protective coating to maintain a raw copper (rose gold) color. All solid red oak was sourced locally and prepped and treated with oil to darken to a rich orange/pink color creating a natural medium toned wood grain and base color that complimented the raw copper color for a completed look.

For ease of transport, all copper fixtures were test fitted then flat packed to minimize crate size and assembled on site during install.

design

With 3000 sf to work with, Grayscale provided Universal Standard a series of floorplan explorations with accompanying sourced and render visuals to hone in on a layout that worked best for the multipurpose space. This design were then used as a reference to source decor throughout the apartment that was the appropriate dimension and size and weight constraints to make sure all customers felt welcome and comfortable.