Designing Retail That Feels Alive — Meet Broadwick Studio’s Gemma Bidaudville.
- Shop Drop Daily
- Jun 20
- 6 min read
As Head of Retail at Broadwick Studio, Gemma Bidaudville plays a key role in shaping some of the most immersive, emotionally charged brand experiences in the retail world today. With Broadwick’s roots in live music events and culture-led creativity, the agency has earned a reputation for crafting spaces that go far beyond selling — they spark connection, invite exploration, and bring brand worlds to life in unforgettable ways. In this interview, Gemma gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how the studio’s signature “beautiful creativity” comes to life in retail, how she and her team navigate the tension between vision and practicality, and why the future of retail belongs to spaces that are adaptive, intentional, and deeply human.
SDD: Broadwick Studio’s origins are in live music events, how has that vibrant, immersive world influenced the way you now design retail experiences? Do you still think of stores as stages or places for storytelling?
GB: Broadwick Studio’s foundation in live music & fashion events has had a profound impact on how we approach Retail design. These environments are inherently immersive — multisensory, emotionally charged, and rooted in storytelling.
To us, retail is a natural brand stage as every detail contributes to a narrative. It's a space that should represent the ambition, aesthetic, values, commitment, and innovation that every brand has to offer. Consumers have come to expect this, particularly from a flagship.
The continual challenge in permanent retail is ‘How do you hand over precious real estate to experience and still sell a tonne of product?’
For live music events – selling tickets is often a KPI so offering an experience that justifies the investment to your consumer is of paramount importance. It’s the same principle when trying to bring consumers through a retail door. Our goal is to create experiences that feel alive!
In contrast, thinking about the role for retail at a brand event is key too. It’s so often an afterthought rather than engrained in the journey.
We recently worked with Kith to bring to life their latest collaboration with BMW at Art Basel. Retail played a key role in the overall ‘launch event’ as a seeding suite, product showcase and selling space, taking the essence of a Kith store to a car park in Miami!
KITH x BMW
SDD: Your mantra of “beautiful creativity” feels like more than just a tagline, how do you bring that to life in retail spaces? What does a beautifully creative brand experience look and feel like for the people who walk through the door?
GB: You are right, “Beautiful creativity” isn’t just a tagline. It’s a mindset that we use to guide every touchpoint.
When someone walks into a retail space, they should be greeted with more than just product. They should step into a curated world that tells a story and that doesn’t always have to be a super obvious one. From the textures of the materials to the lighting, sound, and flow, every element should be intentional to help it work cohesively.
I think a beautifully creative brand experience is one that surprises and delights. It invites exploration, sparks emotion, and fosters connection. I love the work we did with adidas to launch the Anthony Edwards 1 shoe 23/24. Seeking to connect audiences with who Edwards is as an athlete, but also to his vibrant personality and all the little nuances of the man behind the Basketball. Creating beautifully designed, considered spaces that owned the colour peach, we combined this with playful elements tapping into the love of his hometown, Atlanta Georgia. Curating a series of lockers that encouraged discovery, from his favourite rap music (his brother!), to the hottest food spots in ‘ANT-LANTA’.
Whether it’s through artful displays, interactive moments, or thoughtful service, we aim to leave a lasting impression so the consumer walks away knowing why they were there, what they were looking at and what the brand can / does mean to them.
Adidas x Anthony Edwards
SDD: You talk about creativity being a mix of inspiration and structure. Can you take us through your process, from the first spark of an idea to the moment a retail activation goes live? How do you balance creative freedom with practical delivery?
GB: Our team look for a spark together: a cultural insight, a brand truth, or an unexpected idea that excites us. Something we feel is relevant to the brief – either to answer it or to challenge it!
We explore strategy, through to mood boards and early models and work with our clients to land the direction
Once the creative direction is established, we seek to map out the customer journey, defining key touchpoints and the ultimate pay off for consumers, covering everything from activation ideas to GWP.
We will prototype elements, always testing ideas for both impact and feasibility. At this stage, we are focused through the lens of practical delivery: timelines, budgets, and real-world logistics of course, come into play.
Our production team work hand in hand with our creative and client teams to ensure that the final execution is as bold and beautiful as the original idea — without compromising on what’s realistic.
It's a constant dance between vision and feasibility, but one our team have learned to do with some serious flair.
The goal is always to create the best activations that feel effortless to the customer, even though they're the result of a tonne of hard work behind the scenes.
We worked with Boss on the launch of their first underwear campaign with David Beckham. It quickly became apparent to us, with the tagline ‘THE ONE’, that his image was the brief and we needed to find an intriguing, bold way to use this in the windows of London, Paris & NYC. Inspired by kinetic movement, we created rotating tiles that spun to reveal the incredible campaign imagery Boss created.
The window lights enabled us to create a ‘paparazzi’ effect that really captured the attention of passers-by. Practically, this wasn’t an easy production, 3 global cities in 2 nights, we tackled a short timeline, complex mechanics & choreography, and even some cross border delays in the U.S. But, with a team of titans, we landed this campaign in retail and raised a few eyebrows, and smiles, I’m sure!
Boss x David Beckham
SDD: With your global clients, how do you ensure that these experiences still feel deeply local and culturally relevant? How do you help brands create spaces that connect with their audience on a genuine, emotional level?
GB: The challenge here is always balancing global brand identity with local relevance, how do you embrace the richness of culture?
We try to immerse ourselves, researching local trends and working with regional contacts to understand nuances in behaviour, values and aesthetic and comms preference. Sometimes, the best information comes from the brands doorstep. The team working right in the heart of their stores can be a valuable bridge.
For many of our clients we are responsible for setting a global template, and the challenge in this is to set an intention that provides enough space for local markets to reflect what matters most in each location, adding guardrails not fences!
Using materials sourced locally, incorporating regional design cues, or even rethinking the spatial layout to match how people shop, socialise, or gather in a particular city are all proven tactics, but I think the best way to achieve the balance is through people & product. Suggesting local talent that can trigger human emotions, nostalgia, pride, curiosity etc can connect the brand to the audience on a human level. The result is a space that feels both globally aligned and personally meaningful.
Adidas x Anthony Edwards
SDD: Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of retail experiences? Are there any emerging trends, technologies, or cultural shifts you think will redefine how we shop and connect with brands in the years to come?
GB: I genuinely feel excited about what is happening in the retail channel every day. This is thanks to the brands we are so fortunate to be working with.
There are so many examples of new technology being used as an incredible tool in stores, augmented reality, AI personalisation etc are opening doors to experiences that feel intuitive, intelligent and super convenient. I love that the environment is really starting to adapt to the individual.
Beyond the tech, I appreciate the lean towards authenticity, and the removal of wasteful ‘stuff’ that serves no purpose and ends up on the scrap heap. Do it once and do it well!
I would LOVE to see retail spaces becoming less static, rather than a ‘store design concept’ rolling out across the estate and sitting 2 years behind the creative direction/ future of the brand. Retail has the opportunity to be a responsive place to the big conversations, if we can break out of the 4 walled design.
Omnichannel is more than a creative red thread, flagships are contents studios, and even smaller stores can carry big impact with the right intentionality – locally they are the most relevant. Markets measuring sales performance as an omni channel approach is key to the value in retail shifting away from a targeted numbers game. I often browse in a store & buy online – so where does the sale sit? Committing to brand visibility over channel targets is an exciting space for retail to thrive.
Gemma is the Head of Retail at Broadwick Studio.
Connect with her on LinkedIn
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