Mint Velvet, Bluewater

Bringing the brand's distinctive personality to life at its first standalone mall location in the UK.

Working with the luxury womenswear brand since its inception in 2009, we have collaborated with the founders to develop the full offer from branding to concessions and boutique design. Liz Houghton, co-founder of Mint Velvet, describes the new Bluewater store in Kent as “a key moment for the brand, not least because it marks a development of our expansion strategy in the UK.”

We evolved the Mint Velvet store concept, retaining its understated glamour while adapting the design to work in a shopping centre environment. Most Mint Velvet boutiques are housed in characterful buildings in historic market towns, with the store design beautifully combining the old and the new. At Bluewater, the challenge was to communicate the brand's individual personality in a space without its own distinct architectural features.

The store features the brand’s signature grey as part of a lighter and fresher palette, with a new use of contrast, texture and tone. 

We built on Mint Velvet’s ethos of honest materials and handcrafted furniture while adapting our approach. Moving away from slightly more classic haberdashery units, we brought in more contemporary bespoke furniture to display jewellery and other lifestyle accessories. We also added new architectural features and filtering such as frosted glass screens with elegant blackened steel frames. A bespoke pendant light feature sits at the centre of the space, creating a focal point in-store that’s visible from outside.