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Study Hard, Design Harder

The up-and-coming generation of retail designers demonstrates think-outside-the-box attitudes

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As I’ve had the opportunity to review design students’ portfolios and scholarship applications lately, I’ve become more intrigued with their work, and quite frankly, excited by their creative thinking and bold, powerful presentations that have gone beyond paper and ink, jumping head-first into a new era of retail design. Fortunately for all of us, this next generation of designers doesn’t think within traditional guardrails.

I began wondering how much of this is a product of our current times: Is this a result of exposure at a much younger age to many more things than ever before? Is it more stimulation from all angles? Is it that privacy has all but been erased as a result of Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and myriad other channels? I think the answers are yes, yes and yes, and, hopefully, it’s also a result of us educating more, pushing the younger generation harder and inspiring greater creative thinking.

Fashion itself continues to become more approachable, bigger, bolder, splashier, and so, too, must the spaces within which it lives. Consider the recent Givenchy show staged on a vacant pier along the West Side Highway in New York. What might have been a simple white runway five years ago was instead a fully realized production, requiring more than a week to build, and included performance artists and a set constructed entirely of recycled materials. Most interestingly, Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci specifically set aside tickets for students to attend the show. Apparently, he also understands the importance of educating the next generation of designers.

As much as students can learn from what they see and experience outside the traditional classroom, I believe it’s equally important for professionals in the field to open our eyes to that same influence. We must realize that we can also learn from these influences around us, and keep in mind that our students can teach us a thing or two along the way.

I’m often asked which retailers I visit for inspiration, and my answer has historically been the same: I make it a habit of visiting restaurants and hotels as frequently as possible – they always think of experience first. I have to say, however, that I’ll be editing that answer a bit in the future and adding “student work,” because it’s certainly made me think differently.    

Harry Cunningham is the head of store development for Vera Bradley and has nearly 25 years of experience in store design and visual merchandising. Prior to joining Vera Bradley, Harry held the post of senior vp of store planning, design and visual merchandising at Saks Fifth Avenue. Cunningham has won numerous industry awards and is very involved in the industry, serving as president of the board of directors of PAVE (Planning and Visual Education Partnership) and is a member of several educational advisory boards.

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