Fila China receives accolade at Retail Asia Awards

It was able to design its flagship store at an iconic pedestrian area in Shanghai within 30 days.

Athleisure brand Fila took home the Brand Store of the Year - China category win at the recently held Retail Asia Awards for its success in building and designing its largest flagship store in the world in Shanghai, China within 30 days.

Fila’s building in Shanghai is 2,500 sqm with extreme restrictions and unknown factors, being located on one of the most iconic and pedestrian streets in the city: Nanjing West Road. Opened in December 2021, it is also the first five-level store for the brand.

With such a huge flagship store, Fila usually takes at least four to six months to get the concept out and lets the design be handled by its in-house designers. Given the limited time it has, the company split the project into four designers and a lead designer to shorten the time needed to construct the store and to support the brand in a fast-paced environment.

Each of the four designers has been allocated one floor to design, whilst the lead designer will ensure that the overall design gels together as a whole. 

Fila was unable to achieve its initial conceptual ideas for the facade due to limited options. As such, it used a subtle curvature structure to mask the existing facade structure. Whilst it had restrictions on the opening of the facade entrance, it has created a unique portal to manipulate the size of the entrance by creating a slight slope above the portal, making it more inviting through moving graphics.

The first floor was targeted at younger consumers using a vibrant atmosphere and modernised Italian structure arches in the interior. The second floor, which was specifically for the men's section, was set at a darker tone. 

Meanwhile, the third floor was specific for the women’s section and incorporated a journey setting of a train travelling from Shanghai to Italy and iconic Shanghai buildings. For the fourth floor, which was meant for kids, Fila curated an indoor park that pairs with a resting area where kids explore colours and creativity colouring stations on Fila kid’s mascots.

The topmost floor saw the first-ever cafe space in Fila’s retail space – which has a golf simulator and areas for VIPs to relax and get further assistance.

“As [it] is located in an important location, to captivate and enhance shopping experiences, we have hidden gems in the store providing unexpected elements where consumers can enjoy [integration] into the selling area,” the company said.

Retail Asia Awards gathers the region's best retailers and recognises major breakthroughs, innovations, and key players in the Asia retail industry.