Wonderland opens pop-up in St James's

Fashion, culture and lifestyle magazine Wonderland has become the latest media brand to make a move into retail with a new pop-up shop on London's Piccadilly.

The 1,076 sq ft store stocks fashion, beauty, homewares and accessories from a range of brands that Wonderland had championed in its magazine pages including Sibling, Markus Lupfer, Stussy and Nicola Formichetti's Nicopanda.

In keeping with the dynamic nature of St James's (the location, which was formerly known as destination for heritage brands, is becoming increasingly popular with contemporary luxury brands), the space will transform from a trading space to an events space hosting, for example, music performances, industry talks and book signings.

Editorial and publishing director of Wonderland Huw Gwyther said he was "excited" to bring the brand to life in St James's which he described as his favourite part of London. "We hope that it will become a unique destination, where we can build an even closer relationship with our growing audience," Gwyther said.

The Wonderland pop-up counts stores from brands inducing Sunspel, Tiger of Sweden, John Smedley and Dover Street Market as near neighbours. Recent developments by The Crown Estate, which owns approximately half of St James's and almost all of the freehold to Regent Street, have reinvigorated the area attracting new brands.

Yesterday it was revealed that The Crown Estate, which is the royal family's commercial property arm, had given the green light to a further £100m development Duke's Court in St James's to create new office, retail and residential space.

Anthea Harries, Portfolio Manager for St James’s at The Crown Estate said Wonderland would draw a new audience to the area. "The arrival of contemporary brands [...] has been an exciting boost and our heritage brands are benefiting from a re-invigoration of the area and continue to flourish with customers across a wide demographic range visiting St James’s," she said.

A number of media brands have been making the move into retail or etail lately in a move to diversify their businesses as revenue shifts from traditional advertising methods. Women's magazine Marie Claire has opened a multi-brand beauty retail store and ecommerce site called Fabled while Condé Nast unveiled its long anticipated luxury fashion marketplace Style.com in September, driven by flagship brands including Vogue and GQ.