Retail Design is entering it's 'Showgirl Era'
We’re entering a new creative era in retail design — one where experiences are no longer passive, but full blown performances.
Words by: Mike Tristram
Head of Strategy & Marketing
Pop culture has always been retail’s best crystal ball. It reflects the times, shapes sentiment, and sets the stage for what’s next. And right now, the spotlight is shifting towards main stage energy and a darkly seductive swagger.
Retail design is entering it's 'Showgirl Era' — a moment where stores don’t just sell, they perform. Read on to explore the back story of this new avant-garde movement and the new retail design vocabulary it will inspire...
"When culture moves, retail follows — and today, pop’s influence is rewriting the creative playbook."
Act I: Pop’s Cultural Warm-Up
2024 was defined by two cultural power plays that went far beyond music.
Charli XCX’s BRAT wasn’t just an album — it was an attitude. Its viral green aesthetic bled across fashion, beauty and design, sparking what Refinery29 dubbed Brat Girl Summer. According to Teen Vogue, searches for “bright green” rose 332% year-on-year, while sales of lime-green apparel spiked 171%. BRAT captured a new consumer mood: confident, chaotic and entirely self-authored.
Then came Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, reframing Americana through an inclusive, high-fashion lens. Denim, country music and rodeo-core stormed back into the mainstream. Searches for cowboy jackets jumped 600%, cowboy boots 224%, and flared denim 372% — while Levi’s reported store footfall up 20% and sales up 45% during the album’s launch week.
Together, these moments marked a cultural shift — and set the tone for a much bigger design movement still to come.
Act II: Enter the Showgirls
As 2025 unfolds, the energy has turned theatrical. Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift’s 'Life of a Showgirl' have ushered in a new era of high-glamour performance and avant-garde femininity. The showgirl is back — but she’s no caricature of old Hollywood. She’s bold, self-aware and utterly in control of her own spotlight.
From Céline Dion becoming the new face of Charlotte Tilbury to Sydney Sweeney channelling Madonna in a Paco Rabanne-inspired Wall Street Journal fashion shoot — the showgirl aesthetic is shaping everything from art direction to runway trends. Even Alexander McQueen’s Fall 2025 “Gothic Provocateurs” campaign embraces this performative tension between power, beauty and myth.
Pop culture's fascination with design and drama is spilling outward — and retail is next to take the stage.
Act III: Retail’s Visual Album
We’re entering a new creative phase for retail — one where design is no longer passive, it performs. Think concept album, not greatest hits.
Experimentation over formula. Creativity over commerce. This is a new visual movement: unapologetically dramatic, emotionally charged and daringly seductive. The mood borrows from the stage — main-character energy, cinematic storytelling and immersive atmospheres that entertain as much as they engage. The quiet restraint of minimalism is giving way to visual theatre.
In short, retail’s “quiet luxury” era is taking its final bow. Industrial interior design is getting an overdue glow-up. The next act is immersive, expressive and emotionally tuned to the cultural moment.
"A new visual movement in retail design: think concept album, not greatest hits."
Act IV: Curtain Call
When high design meets high drama, every visual moment has to entertain. Because in retail’s Showgirl Era, the most captivating spaces aren’t just selling — they’re becoming creative spectacles. The question isn’t just what do we want people to buy, it’s how do immerse consumers in a narrative that stirs the emotions?
Are you ready to put on a show? Let's Talk. Email us to access the full report:
📩 Email: mike@checklandkindleysides.com
