Nanso

Nanso, one of the most well-known women´s fashion brand in Finland with 16 stores across Finland, believes that brick-and-mortar stores are still important, as they help strengthening the brand and support the seamless omnichannel service concept linked to the growing online sales.

Established in 1921, and thus one of Finland’s oldest women’s clothing brands, Nanso has had a strong influence throughout the years on how Finnish women dress themselves. Although having loyal customers for decades, Nanso had struggled with attracting new younger clientele. With the hiring of new Head of Design, Noora Niinikoski, who formerly worked with Marimekko, Nanso started to renew the brand, yet keeping a strong focus on its original roots and heritage.

“Nanso is a family owned company with a very special history which covers the whole era of industrial garment making in Finland. The values on which Nanso -brand was founded 1921, sustainability, quality, contemporary style and comfort, are still - and now even more - relevant than ever. The heritage of being a pioneer of casual style gives us a reference point that is unique.

Nanso products are appreciated by their long-lasting quality, comfort and style. We believe that by designing clothes that you want to wear everyday is also one of the most sustainable way to make fashion. We stand for slow making which results carefully considered design and aims to stand the test of time.”, commented Noora Niinikoski, Head of Design at Nanso.

After successfully renewing the brand image, collections, visual identity and online store, it was time for the final missing piece – to rethink how the physical world of Nanso would look like. To redesign the stores.

These days opening new brick-and-mortar stores can be daunting, but Nanso believed in the seamless omnichannel service created between the online and the physical store. They hired Studio Joanna Laajisto, a Helsinki based design studio which has previous created retail concepts for brands such as Vitra, Cecil and Minna Parikka to create the new concept for the stores.

Designing a retail store is not to be taken light heartedly and Joanna Laajisto, the lead designer of the project, with her team started the process by analyzing the current situation.

Why are the younger generations not finding their way to the current stores? The design team also interviewed the target audience (old and new) and invited focus groups for co design sessions and really tried to listen what they had to say. Key discoveries were that online shopping easily generates purchases with wrong size and fit which leads to people feeling guilt and regret about their purchases. A safe and calm store environment would ensure the conscious customers will make right decisions.

It was also revealed that a typical customer would appreciate the help of a sales person but does not want to be bothered in vain. An open and non cluttered environment where different segments are clearly separated was also thought to be a good attribute for a store. Seeing the entire store from outside would make the decision to step in easier.

Laajisto combined the focus group findings with the key attributes she picked when digging into the Nanso brand.

“Ideas such as ´roots in the Finnish countryside´, ´quiet personality´ and ´beautiful everyday life´ fit actually perfectly with what the focus groups were telling us. The design process of materializing the new Nanso store concept moved quite naturally there after” Laajisto states.

The overall look was kept as simple and uncluttered as possible still providing flexibility for merchandizing. Special attention (and square footage) was given to the dressing rooms, making them spacious, calm and safe, where the final decision for the purchase is mostly being made. Laajisto also suggested a call button in the dressing room to ease the discreet communication between customer and sales person.

The new store concept is build on simple and honest elements that are custom to Finnish everyday life. Locally sourced pine wood planks, linen and red granite from a small Finnish town called Mäntsälä were natural choices. The interior was designed to stand the test of time, a testament to the values of both Laajisto and Nanso brand.

All the pieces, including the wooden lounge chairs manufactured by Finnish brand Made by Choice, were custom designed by Laajisto and made in Finland to ensure the perfect fit for the brand.

After 1.5 years from the initial brief, the first renewed Nanso store opened it´s doors March 6th 2020. Many more are planned to open in the near future.

Studio Joanna Laajisto