Icebreaker TouchLab

Category Retail
Year 2013
Location Chicago, IL
Size 2,800 sf

Outdoor and performance apparel company Icebreaker uses ethically-sourced New Zealand merino wool. Its retail locations—including this flagship in Chicago—celebrate the brand story and heritage.

The store design relies on storytelling to give a sense of context. Walls lined with images of sheep stations in the Southern Alps and graphics share the history of the people who care for the sheep, while natural materials like poplar wood and raw steel echo the wild and pure geography.

The “Mountain” fixture, a metaphor for New Zealand’s Southern Alps, features stacking modular units that display how to layer Icebreaker apparel. Poplar wood wall fixtures serve as a backdrop for the multi-colored array of apparel. Two large display tables are anchors on the sales floor and help steer the customer flow. Adjacent to the fitting rooms is the community space for perusing books and magazines on a variety of subjects related to the Icebreaker brand and lifestyle, including outdoor adventure travel and sustainable design.

Photography by Angie McMonigal.

The new flagship store design gives customers a sense of context–specifically the people and places where the wool is sourced—and emphasizes the performance aspects of Icebreaker products. Natural materials—most notably poplar wood and natural finished steel—are used throughout the store as a reference to this wild and pure geography.