The opening chapter of Harvey Nichols’ Knightsbridge flagship transformation introduces a bold new vision for one of Britain’s most iconic luxury destinations. Since first opening in 1831, Harvey Nichols has defined the cutting edge of fashion, beauty, and dining—an internationally renowned hub where established labels meet emerging voices, and everyday essentials blend with the extraordinary.
Today, that spirit of innovation takes architectural form through a complete reimagining by Sybarite, the London-based design studio known for its emotive, future-facing approach to retail.
Working in close dialogue with Creative Director Kate Phelan and artist Gary Card, Sybarite has conceived a “Living Magazine”—a fluid, editorially inspired environment that captures the pulse of 1990s London while propelling the brand into a new era. At its center, the studio’s sculptural Runway Tables act as kinetic stages for storytelling, evolving with the seasons and curations. Card’s vivid installation, Harvey, Nick, Joe, and Tom, anchors the space with playful cultural energy.
The result is a flagship that feels open, tactile, and alive—a reflection of Sybarite’s vision for experiential luxury, and Harvey Nichols’ enduring role as a destination where fashion, art, and culture seamlessly converge. Whitewall had the thrilling opportunity to speak to Phelan, Card, and Simon Mitchell — the masterful Co-Founder of Sybarite.
Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Transformation, Courtesy of Sybarite.
WHITEWALL: What prompted Harvey Nichols to see this as the right moment for a flagship transformation? What was the biggest drive behind this shift?
KATE PHELAN: The time is right for Harvey Nichols to re-establish its position as a London landmark, given there is a gap in the market for a curated mix of established luxury and the discovery of new talent. We are uniquely placed given our heritage, authoritative fashion credentials, but also our distinct personality. We’re fortunate to have loyal customers and we want to harness this affection by giving them a store with the best edit of brands and customer service, somewhere to meet, shop and enjoy.
“The time is right for Harvey Nichols to re-establish its position as a London landmark,”
Kate Phelan
WW: What made you believe that taking a more artistic and multidisciplinary approach was essential to reimagining Harvey Nichols for this new era?
KP: Key to our strategy for transforming Harvey Nichols is elevating the customer experience, with a tightly edited curation of brands in a more intimate boutique-like store. Todays’ customers are looking for an inspiring, experience-led physical shopping environment, with engaging interaction and discovery. 125, in the centre of the ground floor of our Knightsbridge flagship, has been designed with this in mind. From the moment customers are greeted by ‘Harvey, Nick, Joe and Tom’, a ceiling-height totem sculpture by British artist Gary Card, to the flexible spaces we have created to showcase innovative design.
Curating Discovery and Reinterpreting Luxury
WW: Now that the first phase of the transformation is open and the Runway Tables are live, what is your strategy for product curation and display, and how have customers responded so far?
KP: We’re delighted with how our customers have responded to the first phase in the re-development. Whether it’s discovering jewellery brands that are exclusive to us in the UK, such as Hoorsenbuhs and Marisa Klass, or the curated books from Claire de Rouen, 125 has created an environment with a genuine sense of discovery and the edit of products is key to that. ‘Take a Seat’, an installation of remarkable chairs curated by designer Brigitta Spinocchia Freund, is the first design collaboration in the space and the response has exceeded all our expectations. We’re excited for what’s to come.
WW: Can you tell us more about what other aspects are involved in this transformation?
KP: We are looking to reinterpret luxury through the transformation of our Knightsbridge flagship and 125 is the first element of that. Over the coming months each floor of the store will be given a clear direction, reflective of our strategy and brand DNA. The first floor continues to be the destination for international designers, while the second and third floors focus on a new styling concept and edit, plus denim, lingerie and accessories. The fourth floor will be a new lifestyle proposition; anchored by key brands like Skims, there will also athleisurewear, footwear and a dedicated wellness space, together with a Pilates studio.
Designing the “Living Magazine”
Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Transformation, Courtesy of Sybarite.
WW: What did you identify as the key challenge in Harvey Nichols’ brief, and how did you translate that into your design approach?
SIMON MITCHELL: The key challenge lay in reasserting Harvey Nichols’ cultural position within the international fashion landscape while introducing a new generation to the brand. The brief demanded both respect for legacy and an embrace of evolution — a balancing act between heritage and forward-thinking energy.
Working closely with Kate Phelan and the Harvey Nichols team, our approach was to create what we called a “Living Magazine” — a dynamic, editorially inspired environment that captures the pace, style, and spontaneity of London itself. The ground floor is curated like an edit in motion, bringing together fashion, beauty, and culture in a constantly evolving showcase. It’s about transforming the store’s narrative power into an immersive experience — youthful, eclectic, and future-facing.
“The brief demanded both respect for legacy and an embrace of evolution,”
Simon Mitchell
WW: Your design is a nod to the editorial heights of 1990s London. Can you elaborate on how you define the ethos of that period, and how it informed your approach to the project?
SM: The 1990s in London was an incredibly visceral decade — a time when fashion, art, and design were bold, experimental, and unapologetically expressive. Editorial design, too, was fearless: it was layered, eclectic, and confident in its contradictions.
We channelled this energy through what we describe as “Contemporary Nostalgia”. The aesthetic pays homage to the carefree curatorial spirit of 90s fashion editorials — when youth culture and creativity collided — but it’s filtered through a modern, refined lens. Collaborating with Kate and Gary Card, we built in that spirit of play and editorial freedom.
The vivid primary color palette, bold forms, and unexpected juxtapositions are all echoes of that decade’s visual confidence, while remaining rooted in today’s culture of craft and curation.
Runway Tables: The Heart of the Redesign
Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Transformation, Courtesy of Sybarite.
WW: The Runway Tables are at the heart of the redesign. What was their strategic purpose and placement?
SM: The Runway Tables are both the physical and conceptual anchors of the ground floor — modular platforms designed to adapt, evolve, and tell stories. Strategically placed through the centre of the space, they form a curatorial runway for the brand, inviting constant reinvention.
Their purpose is flexibility: they can shift from a retail edit to a tablescape, an exhibition plinth, or an event space. This versatility allows Harvey Nichols to host everything from product launches to cultural activations. The opening configuration was developed in dialogue with Gary’s installation, creating a rhythm between art and retail that reinforces the brand’s editorial spirit.
We’re particularly excited for phase two, when visitors will experience the full spatial narrative — the way the Runway Tables intuitively guide the journey from entry to the KURO Coffee Café and the Service Point. It’s in that next chapter that the sense of flow and storytelling will be fully realized.
Opening the Store to the City and Beyond
Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Transformation, Sloane St Exterior, Courtesy of Sybarite.
WW: The design prioritizes clear sightlines and openness. Can you elaborate on how removing visual barriers reframes the Harvey Nichols experience for both customers and brands?
SM: The removal of visual barriers was always a defining aspect of this first phase. It fundamentally changes how people perceive and move through the store. By opening up windows and extending sight lines — achieved through the reduction of more than 50% of the column ‘bulk’ from the previous fit-out — we allowed Harvey Nichols to breathe onto the streetscape. The flagship now acts as a transparent, living interface between brand and city.
This openness encourages curiosity and connection: passers-by are invited to “look in, step in, and stay awhile.” For brands, it creates a new kind of stage — one that highlights product storytelling with light, transparency, and movement rather than partition. The result is a space that feels inclusive, fluid, and contemporary — reflecting the shift from exclusivity to experience in modern luxury retail.
“The result is a space that feels inclusive, fluid, and contemporary,”
Simon Mitchell
WW: From an interior architect’s perspective, what do you see as the wider implications of this project for the future of luxury retail?
SM: This project signals a step change in the language of luxury. The future is less about static opulence and more about cultural currency and authenticity — how a brand engages with creativity, community, and change.
The Harvey Nichols redesign embodies this transition: it merges retail, culture, and hospitality into one seamless ecosystem. Flexibility, openness, and sensory tactility become the new hallmarks of luxury, inviting customers not only to shop but to linger, connect, and participate — blueprint for a new era of experiential, editorially driven retail architecture.
As we move toward phase two, this dialogue will only deepen — expanding the narrative of the Living Magazine and reaffirming Harvey Nichols’ position at the intersection of fashion, art, culture, and experience.
Pop Culture, Play, and The Art of Real Experience
Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Transformation, Art Work “Harvey. Nick. Joe. Tom.” Courtesy of Sybarite.
Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Transformation, Runway Tables, Courtesy of Sybarite.
WW: How do you approach creating an artwork that integrates with a retail environment while maintaining cultural resonance?
GARY CARD: There’s always a push and pull when creating an installation for a retail space. My immediate impulse is to make something wild and startling, then it’s a process of pulling it back, grounding it and making it less intense or something that might intimidate a customer. Then there’s aligning my idea with the ethos of the brand I’m creating the piece for, it’s one thing making my own style apparent, but another thing entirely making sure the brand is visible within the piece. So that again can be a long journey, though the final idea may look simple, there are hundreds of designs and then iterations of the chosen concept that the public will never see.
WW: Harvey Nichols has always been at the intersection of fashion, art, and culture. How do you see your installation contributing to that dialogue?
GC: For me the Harvey Nichols brand is about pop culture, so it was important for me to reflect that in the installation, it’s immediate and fun, that’s how I feel about the brand.
WW: Tell us the story behind your artwork ‘Harvey. Nick. Joe. Tom.‘
GC: When Kate Phelan approached me about the project she mentioned she wanted something catchy and colourful that would greet the customer as they entered the new store interior. There were a couple of installations I’d previously made that Kate liked (one was a 5 metre garden gnome) so I knew we needed to create something poppy that would engage an audience, something with insta appeal and would reflect the bold new direction that Kate was taking the store in. The stack of cartoon heads was one of many experiments I submitted, after a few rounds of designs the head totem seemed to be the one that the HN team resonated with the most.
The name is a nod to the way most of us in the UK refer to Harvey Nichols as just ‘Harvey Nicks’, so personifying the brand seemed like a fun idea. As there are 4 heads in the installation, I added 2 additional short names into the mix, so it wasn’t too much of a mouthful. Harvey, Nick, Joe and Tom had a fun rhythm to it. I should add at this stage that I have a secret —Joe and Tom are my nephews so it’s a cute little tribute to them and I knew my sister would love it.
WW: From your perspective as an artist, what excites you about the growing convergence of art and retail design as a way to engage audiences in unexpected ways?
GC: First and foremost, this kind of project was why and how I discovered my career. When I started out, my MO was to bring art ideas into fashion stories, from catwalks to advertising, editorial to shop windows. It was always about bringing something unexpected to the audience. We’re in a confusing time for retail and culture in general, with the rise of AI in art, figuring out what is real and not real online is more confusing than it’s ever been and that’s only going to increase. So it’s more important than ever to experience real things in real spaces in real time, I think there will be a resurgence of people wanted to interact with tangible things, to illicit wonder and ignite conversation, I want to be part of that.
