Regent Street launches initiative focused on calmness and wellness

One of the country's most hectic shopping streets, Regent Street at the heart of London's West End, has embarked on an initiative to inject a sense of calm and wellness among shoppers using the power of colour.

Land owner The Crown Estate recruited leading fashion and lifestyle agency The Communications Store to create the initiative as it wanted to position Regent Street as "a destination for tranquillity, wellbeing and zen, with moments designed to create a sense of calm and relaxation for consumers".

Regent Street has applied colour psychology to its owned digital channels, such as its website, to inspire a sense of calm and serenity and a number of retailers on the street have been taking part in the initiative. Liberty is staging a number of mindfulness events throughout its store, Kiehl's will be offering health skin and hydration tests, while Anthropologie will be championing mindfulness and contemplation throughout the month of January.

Anthropologie: promoting mindfulness and contemplation

Having studied 10 wellbeing and mental health apps, Regent Street and The Communications Store found they all had colour in common, so decided to carry out a "colour lift" on Regent Street Online, which uses lilac, pale pink and blue to "ensure that a visit to Regent Street, whether it’s to the digital channels or the street, provides mindful moments for consumers". The digital experience is designed to complement experiences created by retailers.

According to the team behind the initiative, studies have shown that blue is a cool, calming colour that shows creativity and intelligence. It is said to be a colour of loyalty, strength, wisdom and trust and has a reassuring effect on the psyche. While lilac combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Pantone recently announced a deeper purple shade, Ultra Violet, as its colour of the year for 2018 stating that it denotes “originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us towards the future”.