Browns Focus Swap Shop

In a twist on the guerilla store concept that has proved so successful for many brands, two kings of cool clothing retail; Browns Focus in London and Acne Jeans in Stockholm, have swapped shops for 10 days. The press release described the event as a change not only of clothes but of lives-

"The prestigious London
boutique will move its entire concept, sophistication and edginess
to the heart of Stockholm, and Acne Jeans in turn will re- locate
their Acne Studio Norrmalmstorg in all its glory to London’s
West End. Not only will the shops swap store fronts and stock,
staff members from each store will essentially also swap lives
throughout the duration of the event."

It sounded so exciting in theory that fashion.psfk just had to go and check it out. However our expectations of crazy store design, exciting new products and a peep into the Swedish world of cool were shattered when we got to South Molton Street only to find the same old Browns Focus with a simple sign stuck up outside and a limited selection of Acne clothes plonked on the same old rails. Had we not read about the event in advance I doubt we would have known it was even happening- at one point a sales assistant came up and asked if we knew what was actually going on. It can’t say much for an idea if it has to be explained to you once you’re there!

The one fun aspect installed by the Acne Jeans crew was a flat-screen monitor with a video link to their swapped store- this was probably for managerial practicality rather than customer interaction, but the sales assistants seemed to be finding it great entertainment!

An adventurous concept and one with a lot of potential, unfortunately the reality hasn’t lived up to the initial idea of ‘a shop swap like a foreign exchange’.