CLUSTER

Designer Clustering ​ Living in London you begin to learn where's best to go when you're looking for specific beauty items, high end fashion brands or high street brands - they all just seem to 'cluster' together! I'm sure if you've ever visited Selfridges or maybe even Harrods you noticed how brands sit amongst their competitors - if they haven't got the lipstick shade you want in Mac, it's not a far walk to the Nars counter! Which is great for us shoppers, and also allows competing brands to create a destination for their similar target consumers. In a recent project of mine at uni I looked at how Covent Garden has developed into one of London's largest luxury beauty destinations in the space of two years, with the likes of Chanel, Dior and Burberry all opening boutique stores. Previous to this Covent Garden was famously known as a fruit and veg market. ​ Chanel was the first luxury brand to adventure into Covent Garden when they created a pop-up beauty boutique in 2012. The space had it's own nail bar for the public and provided make-up master classes from Chanel's best artists on how to re-create their catwalk looks using their products. The opening of a beauty boutique in Covent Garden allowed for a younger consumer to shop luxury brands, at entry point prices, without the intimidating vibes you sometimes get when entering a luxury main line store. It wasn't long after Chanel's Covent Garden success that competitors rushed to fill the market square. By 2013 Burberry was only a few doors down and so was Dior, establishing a true destination for Luxury cosmetics in London. It was then here that Clinique, Bobbi Brown and Urban Decay all chose to open their first stand-alone stores - the hard work had already been done for them - it was Capco's (the company that owns majority of the piazza) conscious decision to create a department store feel to Covent Garden, however each beauty bar has it's own front door. This was a breath of fresh air for Covent Garden and high street culture.

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