A newish look for New Look

By Friday, shoppers were becoming accustomed to the new Westfield centre at Stratford and those visiting the mall were actually shopping. And for anyone who paused to look at New Look, bang opposite Forever 21 in a head-to-head that is interesting, things were a little different.

The word “little” is operative in this context. Many of the retailers who have chosen to take space at Stratford have done a little - opting to update and tweak the best of what they already have. For New Look, which does seem to have become stymied of late, as far as store design is concerned, a little means a lot. The details are simply put. Large elements of the Oxford Street flagship (the one just east of Oxford Circus) have been exported to Stratford, but things have been polished and refined. Practically, this means that the catwalk graphic with the flashing photographers’ cameras that was such a feature of Oxford Street has been replaced by simpler but rather more to the point graphics. In the shoe department, on the first floor, for example, they take the form of high-level signs that state “Courts”, “Party” and so forth. Easy stuff, but each is given a font that is appropriate to the range denoted and the effect is, eye-catching. And next to each sign, the product is displayed on silver legs that project from the wall.

Then there is the accessories space, also on the first floor, entered through an arch with a light-studded sign stating “ACCESSORIES”. Again, nothing too involved about this, but you can’t miss it. There is a mild hiccup as New Look decides that New Look Man should be truncated to “NL Man”, understandable perhaps but it does make thoughts stray across the North Sea. At least it was being shopped, unlike the men’s shop on Oxford Street.

The ground floor is altogether than Oxford Street, but you do have to ask why New Look uses sub-spec flooring. This is a new store and in the seating area, in the heart of the shoe department, the floor was already scuffed, just three days after opening.

Good flooring is expensive, but this does rather look like spoiling the ship for a ha’porth of vinyl. Providing the gaze does not head down however, this is an improvement on what you’d expect of New Look currently and should give Forever 21 a run for its money…which it already beats it hands down when it comes to shoes.