Recently I had the pleasure of working with Gloss Creative on a stunning installation for Sportsgirl’s Flagship store in Bourke St, Melbourne.
Sportsgirl prides itself as the leader of creativity and innovation amongst Australian retailers. Sportsgirl’s passion for offering an interactive brand experience for their customers has lead to a fabulous collaboration with Gloss Creative. A innovative agency that specialises in 3D installations and set design for the retail market. Gloss Creative comprises of a small but incredibly talented team of individuals, merging together the skills of Visual Merchandisers, Graphic Artists and Interior Architects to produce a power force of creative brilliance.
Amanda Henderson creative genius and owner of Gloss Creative makes it her business “To design and create original ideas from within, regardless of constraint…like we don’t have to pay for or install it.” She gives herself and her team “the freedom and the permission to dream.” I believe this motto is one of the main keys to Gloss’s creative success as a business. Too many retailers have played it too safe for too long, it’s time to branch out beyond the familiar and deliver the unexpected.
Fortunately Sportsgirl is not a retailer that plays by the rules, far from it. “We do it our own way” claims Janine Walles, Sportsgirl’s National Store Development Manager. The retailer’s decision to stray from the ‘usual norm’ and create an interactive store window, otherwise known as ‘the stage’ in each of Sportsgirl’s flagships stores, has set the brand apart from other retailers. The stage is a “theatrical space of creative expression and innovation” that draws shoppers into the Sportsgirl world. This space has been created purely as a ‘communication platform’ to inspire and engage individuals with the creative culture of the Sportsgirl brand.
Sportsgirl has established an ongoing partnership with Gloss Creative in order to bring ‘the stage’ to life with an inspiring 3‐dimensional experience for customers, every quarter. ‘I rebel therefore I am’ the latest installation in the Bourke st stores’ interactive stage, is a punk rock wonderland full of colour, patterned feathers and some seriously punk’d up eggs. All drawn together with some delicately draped chains and encapsulated by an exquisite wall paper designed by Gloss’s very talented Graphic Designer, Ross. It’s bold, it’s bright, it’s quirky and it’s fun.
Not only does it look amazing but we also had a ball creating it. The eggs where vacuum formed and spray painted, before being embellished by hand with all things punk, which of course involved a lot of hot glue and double sided tape! The patterned feathers where designed by Gloss and then made in perspex form. The white stands where also custom made to hold both feather and egg together. Wallpaper was installed before feathers were matched up with corresponding eggs. Positioning and layout was contemplated, deliberated and decided. Finally the chains where hung and a dazzling masterpiece was created for the Sportsgirl shopper!
This installation is a beautiful example of what happens when one dares to dream, beyond the prevalent guise of common sense and familiarity. Too see more of Gloss Creatives fabulous work check out their very own blog at www.thepleasureisallmine.com.au
