Best in Show: Empire Jacquard, Galeries Lafayette Pop Up

2024 INTERNATIONAL VISUAL COMPETITION AWARDS

Temporary/Pop-Up Retail Space

VMSD’S 31ST ANNUAL International Visual Competition saw another influx of pop-ups, as it has for the past several years. This isn’t unusual, being a competition that highlights projects of limited shelf life. Yet, it seems now more than ever, companies are embracing the power of temporary retail to build customer loyalty, grow brand recognition and deliver memories.

Take, for instance, this year’s “Best in Show” winner, a lifestyle activation created by New York-based Michael Kors for Galeries Lafayette (Paris). A nod to hospitality and the “intimacy of air travel,” the temporary solution also celebrated the brand’s debut of its Empire Jacquard print.

“The design for this concept was conceived at a time where we had started to really fall in love [with] and pursue more environmental activations,” says Antonio Cordedda, Senior Director, Global Visual Merchandising, Michael Kors. “We had just launched a new monogram print in a denim jacquard fabrication and really wanted to stand firmly for this print.”

Airplane seats and lightboxes mimicking windows are just some of the attention-grabbing details in the immersive display, which featured an extruded Michael Kors-branded aircraft surrounded by various airport references, like arrival/departure screens and synchronized clocks.

Leaning into celebrating the new proprietary print, the team had “commissioned bespoke carpets, prints and upholstery in this pattern to help us tell the story, maintaining our brand codes of ‘repetition is reputation,’ something Michael Kors is passionate about,” says Cordedda.

Our 2024 judges were wowed by the visual immersion of the space, which, for brief moments, looked like a real plane interior or airport experience.

“This was a true collaboration, a transatlantic effort,” says Cordedda. “Working alongside our global team always gives us great pleasure as we continue to learn from each other with every project.”

PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)
📷 EDWARD PARK, LONDON