UK design firm, Dalziel & Pow has worked with retailer, Allen Solly, to design a new retail identity for the brand.

Part of Madura Fashion and Lifestyle in India, Allen Solly was launched in India in 1993 and has developed into one of India’s most popular apparel brands. With the tagline ‘Friday Dressing’ it has set the benchmark for India’s young professionals.

The Allen Solly brand became synonymous with India’s development by catering for the needs of the emerging professional middle class.

Dalziel & Pow’s brief was to refine the brand’s position within the Indian market, with casual style at its core, and excite the customer with a contemporary Indian environment while adding a ‘quintessentially British’ twist.

The result is a refreshed logo and new store environment and communications. The first store, on 100ft Rd, Indiranagar, in Bangalore, spans 220sqm.

Initially, Dalziel & Pow defined Allen Solly’s target customer – their influences, references and aspirations – to create a full perspective of their target audience.

From this platform the company created an environment and communications to deliver the essence of the brand’s personality, capturing a mix of heritage styling within a contemporary space and creating a strong identity for the store.

The brand’s core values of freedom and effortless style were put at the forefront of the design. The concept comprises a backdrop of painted brickwork, utilitarian loft style merchandising and traditional herringbone flooring which brings an element of domesticity to the architecture.

The graphic approach is eclectic, and the store has an equally diverse collection of finishes and treatments.

Objects such as coloured decorative lamps and Allen Solly’s heritage bespoke tartan fabric are layered into the scheme, adding a splash of colour.

The blend of these elements has revitalised the brand and store environment making it relevant to today’s Allen Solly customer.

In line with the tonality of the the new store concept, Dalziel & Pow also art directed Allen Solly’s Spring/Summer ’12 ‘Friday Dressing’ campaign, which can also be seen instore.

This feature first appeared in the August/September 2012 edition of Inside Retail Magazine. For more stories like this, subscribe to Inside Retail Magazine’s bi-monthly print edition here.