How we bring the New Balance flagship to life in London
See how Design4Retail transforms New Balance’s Oxford Street flagship through immersive seasonal activations, product launches and culturally driven brand experiences.
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Designed to keep retail feeling new.
At Design4Retail, we pride ourselves on bringing world-class brand experiences to life. Our ongoing partnership with New Balance has seen us transform their Oxford Street flagship into an immersive retail destination time and time again.
Combining creative thinking with technical production and seamless installation, we’ve helped evolve the London store through a series of impactful activations that connect with customers and celebrate the brand in new ways.
Here’s a look back at four of the most recent flagship activations we collaborated on with New Balance.
Holiday
Our journey through these recent activations began with New Balance’s Oxford Street Christmas campaign; a festive refresh created to stand out in one of London’s busiest retail destinations during the peak shopping season. Working closely with the New Balance team, we brought the concept to life through premium production and bespoke fabrication, delivering a refined in-store experience that combined understated festive touches with the brand’s clean, contemporary aesthetic.
Abzorb
Following the festive period, we pivoted to a more technical execution with the ABZORB activation, a campaign centred on New Balance’s innovative cushioning technology and the product’s visible design language. Featuring full-length ABZORB cushioning and distinctive ABZORB SBS pods, the activation celebrated performance through bold yet refined physical storytelling.
Our team delivered the full production and installation across the Oxford Street flagship, bringing together bespoke fabrication, illuminated display elements, layered materials and precision detailing to create a premium in-store experience. Sculptural feature tables, illuminated shadow boxes and layered textured finishes brought a strong sense of depth and movement into the space, while bespoke display details helped translate the innovation behind the ABZORB technology into an engaging physical experience throughout the flagship.
London Marathon 2026
Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of New Balance as the official London Marathon kit sponsor, the Oxford Street flagship was transformed into an immersive space celebrating a decade of partnership with the world’s most iconic marathon. For this activation, our team led the creative direction, developing a concept inspired by the movement, intensity and community spirit that defines marathon weekend, while staying true to New Balance’s elevated retail aesthetic.
Bold race-inspired graphics, oversized marathon messaging and layered storytelling installations brought the space to life. Product displays and impactful window moments captured the pace and emotion of race weekend. The creative direction drew inspiration from the visual language of marathon culture, we incorporating route-inspired detailing, performance-focused styling and community-led messaging to create an immersive environment that felt authentic to both the event and the runners at the heart of it.
Alongside the creative concept, we managed the full production and installation, delivering a seamless flagship transformation that reflected both the energy of the event and the significance of the 10-year milestone.
Grey Days
Grey Days is a month-long celebration in May that honours New Balance’s most iconic heritage. We brought the grey days philosophy to life by highlighting a signature colour that has stood for authenticity and timeless quality since the 1980s, bypassing fleeting trends in favour of a mindset that is both premium and versatile.
Our implementation focused on creating a sophisticated backdrop for the special-edition footwear and apparel, ensuring the store felt like a curated gallery that resonated with the brand’s core values of balance, independence, and understated excellence.
At Design4Retail, we understand that flagship stores should never stand still. Through carefully considered activations, seasonal campaigns and product-led storytelling, we help brands continually evolve their retail environments to keep customers engaged and in store experiences feeling fresh.
Our ongoing partnership with New Balance is a reflection of that approach; delivering top-tier flagship moments that align seamlessly with key launches, cultural events and brand milestones. From creative direction through to production and installation, we create retail experiences that not only capture attention, but keep customers coming back.
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