LOOKFANTASTIC, the leading online pure-play prestige beauty retailer, has made a bold leap into the physical retail world with the opening of its first-ever concept store in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Known for its cutting-edge digital experiences, LOOKFANTASTIC is now transforming how beauty enthusiasts engage with the brand in real life. The new store aims to provide more than just a place to shop—it’s a vibrant, community-driven space designed to educate, inspire, and immerse visitors in the beauty world.

With an array of standout features—from interactive beauty boxes to the world’s first Color Wow salon—the store offers customers a seamless blend of online and offline experiences. To understand the design and vision behind this ambitious project, we spoke with Felicity Goodenough, Design Director at Household, the creative agency behind the store's design.

The Vision: Bringing Beauty to Life

LOOKFANTASTIC has built a reputation for its dynamic online presence, and the Altrincham concept store brings this digital energy to life with an interactive, fan-first retail space. Customers are invited to explore beauty in a whole new way, guided through vibrant color-coded zones that make the experience intuitive and joyful.

Here’s what Felicity shared about the creative process and the vision behind this innovative space.

What was the initial concept or vision that Household brought to the table for the LOOKFANTASTIC store?

"LOOKFANTASTIC LIVE - An IRL beauty experience for the fans, by the fans; co-created with their diverse community of experts, editors, partner brands, influencers, and customers – who all come together to inspire each other to look, and feel, FANTASTIC. The LOOKFANTASTIC LIVE experience is never static, always in motion through a program of IRL event activation, brand partnerships, evolving social collaborators, and digital content streaming."

How did the idea of translating an online beauty experience into a physical space shape your approach to the store design?

"LOOKFANTASTIC is a digital-first disruptor and e-commerce innovator with a hugely successful online proposition. We knew fans would expect more than a like-for-like replication of the website, so it was key we defined what makes the LOOKFANTASTIC URL offer unique and how this IRL experience was going to both support and create a new layer of depth and personality for the brand, building both deeper connection with beauty fans and strengthening brand partner relationships."

Can you elaborate on the inspiration behind the vibrant colour-coded zoning system and how it enhances the shopping experience?

"LOOKFANTASTIC isn’t a single colour; they’re much more expressive than that. We kept a fresh, bright architectural skin with texture to create warmth and used uninhibited, vibrant, engaging colour pops to joyfully disrupt the space and create intuitive navigation with clear sight lines. This really breaks up the abundance of small product and iconises categories as destinations."

The concept store aims to bring digital experiences into the physical space—how did Household bridge the gap between online and in-store experiences?

"We worked closely with LOOKFANTASTIC to define the most loved aspects of the online offer and inject the warmth and tactility needed for them to evolve for an IRL experience. From the start, LOOKFANTASTIC knew their iconic and beloved Beauty Box offer needed to be at the heart of the experience. We worked together to re-imagine it as an iconic architectural spectacle in-store where fans are able to step inside and curate their own personalised product selection—added hype delivered through exclusive in-store products and packaging."

How did you ensure the store was both educational and engaging for customers of varying levels of beauty knowledge?

"Firstly, LOOKFANTASTIC has done an incredible job at curating a range of brands that both beauty newcomers and beauty obsessives will love. The brightly coloured and welcoming coral bar acts as a beacon for assisted service, while disrupting the abundance with at-shelf edits that feature democratised LOOKFANTASTIC expertise. Beauty enthusiasts can vote for their favourite products, access the latest pop-up brands, and RSVP to in-store beauty deep-dive events."

Creating a Community-Focused Space

Inclusivity and community play a major role in the store’s design. LOOKFANTASTIC aims to foster a sense of belonging, welcoming everyone from beauty novices to seasoned pros.

The store’s layout supports easy movement and accessibility, ensuring it’s a welcoming space for all visitors, including those with limited mobility and families with strollers.

What challenges did you face when integrating different features such as the Color Wow salon, The Beauty Bar, and the Spotlight Stage into a cohesive retail experience?

"One challenge was balancing customer experience with high street impact. Initially, we considered placing standout features like the Color Wow salon and skincare treatment areas at the front to showcase our high-energy partnerships, but privacy and noise considerations led us to reposition them at the back. Meanwhile, the Spotlight Stage replaced traditional window displays, allowing us to still have an open and active façade that reveals the exciting brands we’re hosting within."

How important was community and inclusivity in the store's design, and how did you ensure these values were reflected in the physical layout?

"Community and inclusivity were central to the store's design. The layout was designed for easy movement, including accessibility for less able-bodied customers and those with strollers."

The store is designed to feel unpretentious and welcoming. What were some of the specific design elements used to create this atmosphere?

"Materiality and approach to colour—we used a relaxed mix of warm off-white plaster tones and natural textures paired with tactile domestic cues, such as the timber floor, which creates depth, tactility, and authenticity. Bold pops of colour and soft, playful forms add vibrancy and optimism."

The Spotlight Stage: A Space for Creativity

The Spotlight Stage is one of the most exciting elements of the store, providing a space for immersive pop-ups and experiential brand takeovers. Rather than a traditional window display, the stage is an ever-evolving area where brands can bring their products to life in creative and unexpected ways.

Could you tell us more about the Spotlight Stage? How did you envision this space being used to create experiential pop-ups?

"This area has been so great to collaborate on with a client as disruptive and up for the challenge as LOOKFANTASTIC. The Spotlight Stage is envisaged as an entire shop-in-shop area that can be completely re-dressed with supporting experiences for brand takeovers and marketing activations—such as ‘brand of the month’. The ambition is for this to be more than just another ‘products on plinths plus poster’ window display but a space where brands immerse beauty enthusiasts in thematic installations and offer unexpected services."

Designing for Sustainability

LOOKFANTASTIC has also ensured that sustainability is a key feature of the store. A recycling station is just one of the eco-friendly additions, with plans to introduce refill services in the near future.

What role did sustainability play in the store design, especially with features like the recycling station?

"We brought existing sustainable initiatives online into store and created space for them to grow and evolve at the Live Bar. For example, there are plans for the recycling station to support refill in the future."

Collaboration with Beauty Brands

From Color Wow to Dermalogica, LOOKFANTASTIC worked closely with the brands featured in-store to create tailored experiences for customers.

Each brand’s identity is carefully integrated into the overall store design, providing a cohesive but varied experience.

How did Household collaborate with the brands that feature in-store to create unique experiences for customers?

"We worked closely with LOOKFANTASTIC to understand specific requirements to fulfil the services in the treatment spaces in-store and collaborated with Color Wow on the design of The Spotlight Stage."

What aspects of the LOOKFANTASTIC online identity were crucial to retain in the physical space, and how did you bring them to life?

"The ‘LF’ logo is the most recognisable asset of the brand—IRL we blew this up to be a 3D sculpture that showcases our expressive, playful personality by inviting the brands we’re hosting to re-imagine it in their look and feel."

How does the layout facilitate both individual exploration and community-driven experiences?

"Clear navigation and democratised expertise communications make it easy for individual exploration, while the central Live Beauty Bar hosts community-driven experiences. This social hub offers beauty services, consumable wellness trials, and personalisation experiences and serves as the heart of all in-store events and a leisure destination for gatherings, from casual meetups to hosted in-and-out-of-hour events."

The Future of Beauty Retail

LOOKFANTASTIC’s concept store is more than just a retail space—it represents the future of beauty retail, where community, experience, and personalisation take center stage. The store’s innovative approach sets it apart from traditional beauty halls, offering a space where beauty enthusiasts can not only shop but also learn, engage, and connect.

What were some of the most rewarding parts of working on this project for Household, particularly in terms of creativity or innovation?

"We absolutely loved collaborating with LOOKFANTASTIC on this unique URL to IRL retail proposition. They’re such a bold, disruptive team, which meant we could actually see progressive experience ideas through to fruition. Ben Hardcastle of LOOKFANTASTIC was an amazing partner to have—he was as obsessed with the details as we were and pushed hard to have the production spec as per the original vision."

As retail spaces evolve, where do you see the future of beauty retail heading, and how does this store align with those trends?

"For beauty enthusiasts, beauty is literally life—it’s how they self-express and reflect their evolving values in life, style, and wellbeing. The overarching experience ambition of the LOOKFANTASTIC LIVE concept has been to create a truly fan-first beauty experience. Not a Branded House, or a House of Brands, but a ‘House’ for Fans—democratising expertise, encouraging fan-first curation, and delivering exclusive services and collaborations."

The LOOKFANTASTIC concept store is a perfect representation of where the future of beauty retail is heading—an immersive, fan-first experience that blends community, sustainability, and personalisation.

With its bold design, inclusive layout, and innovative features, the store is sure to become a go-to destination for beauty enthusiasts in Greater Manchester and beyond.