SWITZERLAND. Highsnobiety and Zürich Airport today launched GATEZERO, a first of its kind luxury retail and multi-channel hub which the partners said is designed to “bring back the excitement of travel retail”. The experiential concept store opened today (15 November) and runs for six months until 15 May 2022.
The 120sq m store features a curated, highly differentiated assortment of over 15 international brands ranging from ready-to-wear and shoes to watches and jewellery to eyewear and beauty.
The bold, eclectic line-up includes Acne Studios, Advisory Board Crystals, Ambush, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Burgunder, Byredo, Comme des Garçons, Gucci, Hatton Labs, IWC, Jil Sander, Loewe, MediCom Toy, On Running, Salomon, Sigg, Saint Laurent, and more – some of which are new to travel retail. In addition, limited edition releases and Highsnobiety’s Private Label Collection are available at GATEZERO.
The partners called this “the first user-centric travel retail experience created for a new generation of luxury consumers”, adding that it is “a progressive and experimental, luxury concept store that reforms travel retail from the ground up”.
David Fischer, CEO and Founder of digital media and cultural consultancy Highsnobiety, said: “We always like to show up in unexpected ways and in unexpected places to push boundaries and drive innovation. With GATEZERO, we are focusing on the new generation of luxury consumers. Contemporary luxury is inspiring and inclusive – both in terms of product selection but also target groups. Together with Zürich Airport, we want to create an innovative shopping experience that reflects precisely these values.”
The project was developed and accelerated to time with the resumption of global travel. Zürich Airport Head Commercial Centers Heidi Köpple said: “We are delighted about the partnership with Highsnobiety and the launch of the GATEZERO project. Zürich Airport is setting new standards for a young target group of travellers and underlining its claim to innovative and unique concepts in travel retail. GATEZERO will arouse curiosity and surprise our passengers. It will enhance the guest experience at Zurich Airport.”
GATEZERO’s launch is accompanied by an extensive digital campaign on highsnobiety.com as well as on Highsnobiety’s social media channels that reach a community of over 50 million fans worldwide.
Fischer added: “We firmly believe that digital touchpoints outside the airport are key to speak to a new generation of luxury travellers. For them, the shopping journey starts with digital content, not after the security check. Our goal is to make consumers show up at the airport half an hour earlier, because they know there is an exciting retail experience waiting for them that they can’t find anywhere else.”
GATEZERO was designed in collaboration with renowned design agency Brinkworth, which is known for its collaborations with Supreme, Selfridges, Rapha and End Clothing. The store’s “open and raw” aesthetic presents prominent, highly visible opportunities for display of products.
Hot Swiss athleisure brand On Running takes centre stage in a promotional space inside the store for two months, to be followed by Loewe and IWC for further two-month periods, to keep this space fresh.
The partners said that the carefully selected range and differentiated design mean that GATEZERO “is no ordinary concept store. Instead, it invites visitors to experience an evolving platform”.
Brinkworth Director Sonny Cant said: “We have so much respect for Highsnobiety as a unique barometer of style at the intersection of luxury, fashion and streetwear, and we were super excited to work with them on the GATEZERO pop-up concept. Taking in a wide range of shared inspirations — from Jacques Tati to Donald Judd to airport infrastructure — we created a series of zoned rooms, each with their own character, around a central experiential area.”
Explaining the background to the partnership at the launch event on Monday– at which The Moodie Davitt Report was the sole travel retail media – Heidi Köpple said: “Zürich Airport is and has always been one of the most innovative airports. We are proud of our huge variety of Swiss brands, our tailor-made restaurants and our promotional activities.
“We came to the point where we asked ourselves, ‘how can we stay relevant for the next generation of luxury consumers and how can we bring back the excitement of travel retail to this new generation? Having followed closely the excitement that Highsnobiety creates around their followers, we reached out to them in December 2018 to discuss the opportunity of partnering. Today you can see the result.
“GATEZERO is a first of its kind concept in travel retail, and will enhance the experience of travellers now that travel is finally coming back. We are setting new standards for a new generation of travellers and we underline our claim to be a leader in bringing unique concepts to travel retail.”
Max Berger added: “I’m extremely happy where we ended up, in the centre stage at Zürich Airport. If someone said to me four years ago when I began at Highsnobiety that we would have ended up at an airport, I would not have believed it. We are a story teller, a digital-first publisher at heart, and it feels like quite a stretch to open and manage a travel retail space.
“But if you take a closer look at our mission, it makes a lot of sense. We market, make and curate great content and products for the cultural pioneer. And we want to do this not only digitally, but across all touchpoints. So why not bring our 16 years of curation experience to an airport, where we find a lot of culture pioneers, taste makers and a new luxury audience?
“That audience appreciates great product and great curation that is inspiring, and love digital story-telling. The journey today does not start after security, it starts on the mobile.
“We have worked very hard to bring GATEZERO to life, opening with a new luxury concept in the mecca of old luxury, Switzerland. It focuses on omnichannel activation with a curated assortment across categories and experiences, all built on the new luxury principles of knowledge, inspiration and access.
“When I look around the space I feel like I am on the Highsnobiety Instagram feed but with the opportunity to smell, feel and touch the products we admire, we learn and we write about.
“With GATEZERO we really feel we are taking our mission to the next level, and we thank everyone who helped to bring this vision to life.”
*More on this story, including additional images and further comments, will appear in The Moodie Davitt eZine this week.
Click on the video above to view a key Knowledge Hub session at the recent Virtual Travel Retail Expo, at which Zürich Airport Head Commercial Centers Heidi Köpple and Highsnobiety CCO Max Berger discuss the GATEZERO concept.
