The client

Established in 2005, Footasylum has made a name for itself as one of the UK’s leading retailers of fashion streetwear and sportswear. Always on the lookout for new and upcoming brands, they’ve got their finger firmly on the pulse of the street and sports fashion scene, with a mission to ‘defy ordinary’.

This ethos translates into the company’s drive to alter the retail landscape by designing stores which combine digital and physical innovations to ensure a memorable and engaging shopping experience.

Now a well-established client of UX Global’s with several store fit-out projects completed across the UK in 2023 and more in the pipeline, Footasylum continuously challenges our digital display team to inspire its young, trend-conscious customers with immersive in-store technology which showcase the brands on offer.

Watch the project video here. 

The Challenge

After designing and installing the fashion retailer’s fully flexible digital display system throughout its most recent store openings  and using it to deliver ‘wow factor’ projects including a UK-first 3.5m x 3.75m Philips P3.1 high bright 7000 series LED screen for the re-opening of the refurbished Cabot Circus store in Bristol (read more on this here), Footasylum wanted to go even further for the opening of its new flagship store on the prestigious Oxford Street.

Our brief was to create a digital store and experience that would go beyond any other currently in the UK. This was to include ground-breaking ‘showpieces’ such as a UK-first LED cube which would require cutting a hole in the first floor of the building and undertaking a complex install to make it appear (from both outside and inside) that it was ‘floating’ in mid-air.

They also wanted innovative LED displays throughout the store to champion the trend-setting brands they stock, including full height LED displays, LED tickers and wardrobe screens, as well as large transparent LED displays either side of the entrance at 4m wide x 8m high.

Our Solution

As certified Philips Platinum Partners and LED experts, the UX Global team is highly experienced in utilising the latest digital display technology in creative ways, but this was on a new level of complexity!

For the ‘floating cube’, we worked closely with other sub-contractors to design a huge 5.5m x 3m steel frame which could be attached to the building’s main structural beam before Philips 7000 series LED display cabinets were attached around the perimeter, including the underside for a unique viewing experience.

In the store basement we installed a 5m x 2.75m P2.4 LED screen, plus a 5m x 0.25m LED ticker tape display behind the cashdesk. On the ground floor a 3.75m x 0.25m LED display was incorporated into the seating, whilst above the entrance, an external 5m x 1m digital fascia sign was installed to attract the crowds from Oxford Street into the impressive store. We also installed six of our bespoke ‘floating shoe’ podium displays with four sides of LED at the side of the door to create a further eye-catching feature designed to drive footfall.

Travelling up the escalators to the first floor, customers are met with a 7.5m x 2.5m LED screen perfectly slotted into the corner of the store, before having the chance to interact with smaller displays including 2.5m tickers, wardrobe screens and bespoke sized brands screens, throughout the shopping experience.

Success

Other than the displays throughout the now-iconic store bringing a new dimension to Footasylum’s ‘defy ordinary’ ethos at a national (if not international) level, the real success of the project from a retail point of view was the fact we were able to complete the installation within an extremely tight three-week deadline. This included the mammoth task of fitting 1,200 separate 250mm x 250mm LED panels on to the cube centrepiece!

Alistair Wright, Managing Director at UX Global, comments:

“The Oxford Street project is one of many that we have delivered for Footasylum this year and was our most challenging yet. We are incredibly proud of the results and our part in the brand’s ambitious expansion journey and continued success. The ‘floating cube’ is another UK-first innovation that has put Footasylum firmly on the retail map amongst both customers and key stakeholders.”

Barry Bown, CEO of Footasylum, commented on the store’s opening in Retail Gazette:

“Oxford Street is by far and away the UK’s most important and sought after physical retail location. As well as attracting hundreds of millions of shoppers every year, it is also a must-visit for any global brand seeking to understand the UK’s fashion landscape. Having such an impressive and prominent store on Oxford Street will be pivotal to showcasing our incredible proposition to the whole world and internationalising the Footasylum brand.”