Redefining mixed-use destinations, this quarter sees exciting hybridised sports-lifestyle concepts becoming powerhouses within retail-led urban regeneration, via both sports-native labels (Nike, Palace Skateboards) and those annexing the agenda (Italian fashion brand, Golden Goose). Here, ambitiously designed arenas blend fashion, sport and youth culture to foster grassroots community or cultivate bonds with affluent consumers.

Other brands are creating metropolitan interventions designed to reinvigorate inner city public spaces such as schools (no transactional retail components involved), with a view to strengthening social connections and combating urban isolation.

Building on strategies explored in Monetising Marathon Culture, smart sports brands are framing recovery as one of the central tenets of performance, transforming the wellness-boosting rituals of post-workout care into a core part of their retail strategy. It’s applicable to both ephemeral (pop-ups) or permanent flagship designs.

Counteracting an endless onslaught of digital noise, the ‘listening room’ or sonic salon is emerging as a new form of brand sanctuary. Dovetailing with Reimagining the Record Store: High-Concept Music Culture Commerce in Global Store Openings Design Trends Round-Up Vol. 3 (September) 2025, a wave of luxury fashion retailers are carving out intimate, sound-focused spaces that invite audiences to slow down, tune in, and reconnect with self and culture.

A new generation of wellness-centring brand spaces also emerged this quarter – shifting focus from solo consumption to connection (via industry experts), cognition and care via theatricalised diagnosis zones and therapeutically calming store design.

Several brands this quarter embraced dramatic scale and intensity in their store designs, moving beyond feelgood theatrics toward monumental installations conceived to impress via imagination and artistic provocation. See also Grotesque Entertainment in our Pop Culture & Media Look Ahead 2026, and Engineering Intensity in the Look Ahead 2026 Trend Overview.

Some brands are tapping into the long-discussed liminal appeal of airports, in this instance offering a sense of nostalgia via their ‘en route to elsewhere’ retail spaces. Travel-inspired VM here takes an ultra-literal turn via check-in counters, luggage belt displays and classic airport-style seating.

With second-hand shopping now far from a novelty comes new breeds of ultra-curated store design seeking to up the covetability factor as they help consumers more easily navigate the pre-loved mass.