Fanatics

Fanatics opened its first flagship outside the US on Regent Street, London, looking for a destination rather than a conventional shop. The brief paired a strong retail offer with a working event space, able to move from trading-card browsing to live breaking sessions, signings, meet-ups and content creation without losing its premium, authentic character.

The design team at we.are.sdi started from the rituals of collecting, from anticipation to the shared celebration of a good pull, which shaped the sightlines, lighting and ergonomics of the breaking tables. The layout gives distinct areas to trading, browsing, breaking and events, a premium stage for rare and high-value collectibles, plus streaming zones and social-first moments designed to be shared, so fans can broadcast from the store to a global audience.

Warm, rich finishes and illuminated displays set the tone, while hard-wearing materials stand up to busy, continuous use. A bespoke, modular fixture suite was engineered and prototyped in-house, and prefabrication allowed a quick fit-out with KDM to a tight launch schedule, so the store could host live events from its first day.