informal manifesto: conclusion
The informal manifesto traces back the origins of the decline of retail spaces and proposes a new way forward by reintroducing informality to shopping. It drafts the intellectual framework underpinning Informal Retail, a startup which installs retail embedded within existing local businesses and stocks them with a rotating selection of brands.
With Informal, we are introducing not just a new way to reach customers, but an entire new form of retail. Our colors — a gradient from light pink to light blue — is evocative of a sunrise or sunset, a transition. They embody our mission to empower and connect thousands of brands and businesses with new possibilities, assisting a transition from online to offline, unbound by the limitations of costly real estate, and soulless online ads.
From their size — a tray, a shelf, a free standing display — one may not give them much importance at first. At first. But put together we think of them as a large, single, deconstructed and cybernetically interconnected department store for the future. Flowing products and data across its locations, it is constantly reshaping itself holistically to adapt to its findings, to iterate, to provoke, to stimulate, to bring new life. Each shelf is a confetti to the new party which is upon us, that of informality, surprise, and delight.
A direct response to the Parisian Arcades which started it all — to the chance encounter between the umbrella and sewing machine in its window displays which sparked surrealism, Informal applies digital tools and analytics to bring humanity back to shopping. As the large malls and super-flagship stores have tested the limits of scale, and revealed its short-comings, we believe that a return to the intimate experience, the unexpected encounter will bring a new life to offline retail. As they are embedded within the authentic experience of the city, these informal installations are experiential by definition. No longer concerned by questions of formality, they are designed for experimentation.
— Savinien Caracostea
