Ruth and Tom Chapman established the first location for their luxury retail store Matches (London) in 1989 and within just a few years it grew to a chain of 14 boutiques, carrying namesakes like Versace and Gianfranco Ferré.
Matches launched its online presence Matchesfashion.com in 2005, and it quickly took off, thanks to – as InSyle put it – its collection of “unique, quirky, trendy and totally standout items.”
The site offers a wider breadth of product from more than 400 designers, ships to 200 countries and receives 15 million page views monthly. Last year, with 70 percent of its sales coming from e-commerce, the Chapmans decided to rename their physical stores Matchesfashion.com, to reflect the retailer’s established online identity.
REBIRTH IN WIMBLEDON
The effort to align Matchesfashion.com’s physical identity with its electronic one included converging the company’s four small Wimbledon boutiques into “one big, dynamic, interactive space that showcased our online business and presented an edit of the many international … brands we work with,” says Ruth Chapman.
The task of creating a store as a physical touchpoint was awarded to MRA Architecture & Interior Design (London), where Anshu Srivastava is a director. “Tom and Ruth realized the disparity between the two efforts and wanted a new concept that would match the brick-and-mortar to the online business,” he says.
The Chapmans first asked architectural firms to submit mood boards early in the bidding process, but Anshu Srivastava turned the tables and asked the Chapmans for their sources of inspiration. “It was crucial to slow down, take several steps back and understand Tom and Ruth before any taste-making took place,” Srivastava says.
His business partner and wife, Stephanie Srivastava, director, MRA Architecture & Interior Design, says, “Ruth obviously [as Matches’ chief buyer] has a very clear eye for design, and Tom is interested in the way things connect, such as the furniture and lighting. Both are very clear in what they like.”
Most important was to translate the website’s ambience in-store. Anshu Srivastava says, “The way Matchesfashion.com brings their selection of fashion [to] their customers could be seen as a series of projections, through social and print media, from the Internet to in-store.” The idea of Matchesfashion.com “projecting” itself into the lives of its customers led to the idea of physical, sculptural projections in the design. These can be seen in the way the walls of the staircase jut in and out at irregular angles, in similarly-designed mid-floor pieces and in the folded, multidimensional perimeter walls.
A sense of luxury was also important, as evidenced by the fully carpeted second-floor lounge. Stephanie Srivastava recalls Ruth “liked the idea of customers padding about comfortably” without their shoes.
While one might expect Matchesfashion.com to feature plenty of electronic displays, only a few iPads throughout the store provide digital interactivity. “Tom and Ruth didn’t want to use screens in a gimmicky way,” Anshu Srivastava says. What was important was free and easy access to the online concept for customers’ mobile devices. Staff carry tablets to refer to items on the website and place special orders.
Anshu Srivastava says particular attention was given to materials. “In minimalist sculptural constructions, materiality becomes all-important: the craftsmanship, attention to detail and simple palette of materials,” he explains. These include terrazzo, vintage brass and toned timber veneers, which “blend to create a calm sensibility, providing a neutral yet inviting backdrop” for the merchandise.
PROJECT SUPPLIERS
Retailer
Matchesfashion.com, London
Architecture and Design
MRA Architecture & Interior Design, London: Anshu Srivastava; Stephanie Srivastava; Ciaran Andrews; William Newell; Candy Stanton
General Contractor
Esprit UK Ltd,
West Bromwich, U.K.
Fixtures and Furniture
Clements Retail, Leicester, U.K.
Flooring
Marmi Scala, Verona, Italy
Lighting Design
Paul Nulty Lighting Design, London
Lighting
Iguzzini, Recanati, Italy
Lucent, London
Atrium, London
Mannequins/Forms
Bonaveri, Renazzo di Cento, Italy
Photography: Ed Reeve, London