store wrapped: Too Much Choice

Recently the retail world has been talking about the fact that the online shoe company- “Shoes of Prey” has stopped taking orders and are now assessing the future direction for their company. Since commencing business Shoes of Prey has won numerous retailing awards and many accolades.

Many articles have been published since their “pause” asking why this has happened to such an innovative company. There are many reasons being discussed all reasonable and interesting and seem valid, but I am not necessarily focusing on Shoes of Prey and of course I have no insight as to the real reasons, I’m just using them as an example.

Choice in Retail- such a First World issue. From my side of the fence when I am designing shops and retail outlets, my job is to create an interior that becomes part of that choice process and that customers want to choose as a shopping destination. But when I strip the design process back to the bare beginning of the concept, I know that what I am going to present to my client, in response to their brief, will be a carefully narrowed down selection of choices. Everything that I present to my clients is an option that I feel will be most beneficial to the sales and presentation of their range of products. The same philosophy applies when I’m designing for residential clients. After taking their brief and asking many questions about how they live, I present them with a narrowed down range of options that I think will best suit their lifestyle.

I have learnt from my many years of design that too much choice just becomes overwhelming for most people. I will often joke that I don’t take clients into the “candy store”. By this I mean that instead of taking them to my fabric wholesalers or other wholesale showrooms, I bring a narrowed down selection back to my clients. I know from personal experience that the minute you walk into the fully racked and stacked showrooms, you just want it all. You literally feel like a kid in a candy store and so many things catch your eye.

When I go to a showroom I remind myself to stay focused for the jobs that I am working on. I will often go with a list or lug in my finishes selection and concept images (like they say- never shop on a empty stomach). By remaining attentive I can pull together a look that I’m happy with and won’t have become side-tracked in that process.

But the thing is; I’m a professional with 25 years experience. I know how to stay on track, but I also know how to sort through all the delicious array of choices at the candy store and create a great looking outcome.

Which brings me back to my original example of Shoes of Prey. I have never designed a pair of shoes in my life. I know what I like when I go into the shoe shop and try them on and look at myself in the full length mirror. I’ve also learnt that sometimes shoes I see online look very different when I’ve actually got them on my feet.

As fun as it might be to design some shoes I think I’d rather leave that to the shoe industry experts and let them shift through their candy store to come up with the final creation as I would be too scared that my choices will not look that great once I have the final shoes on my feet.

With the fashion industry I’m happy to sit outside the candy store and wait to see what wonderful creations come out to me. I think if I had to choose I would go silly and pick everything in sight and then end up feeling regret after. I’ll leave that to those experts, just as I know people would say the same about my industry.