WeWantMore invites you to shop with your senses at Timmermans, a Belgian family owned footwear store.
After 145 years in the footwear and leather business the next female generation of the Timmermans family is ready to take over. A new chapter for Timmermans marked by the opening of a 400 m2 venue on a new location designed by WeWantMore.
Because physical stores feel the heat from online shopping, Timmermans went above and beyond to create a tailored multi-sensorial shopping experience. Feeling the shoes and clothes, trying them on and even smelling them are all part of an intuitive shopping experience that exceeds expectations. A distinctive retail concept and an impeccable service with a smile bring to life that physical brick-and- mortar retail isn’t dead, it just needs to be reimagined.
This sensorial advantage to online shopping is translated in a unique store based on the four elements: earth, wind, air and fire. A concept that perfectly ties in with the Timmermans collections.
Earth, water, air and fire
WeWantMore divided the store into four district zones that each represent one of the four elements. A flexible curtain system aimlessly slaloms through the space to create delicately divided areas.
Right in the middle of the store you’ll find the fitting rooms and checkout zone. The flax that covers the fitting area is neutral and highly tactile. A texture that almost invites to be touched.
Every shopping zone includes an eye- catching interior object that refers
to one of the four elements. Both tailormade objects and furniture from the previous store found a place in this new Timmermans era.
A terracotta coloured clay-like volume forms the grounded earth themed corner displaying premium women’s footwear.
The element of fire is brought to life with a burnt metal wall panel that curves its way through a fire themed men and women’s section.
Earth and fire take form in display systems and volumes in red travertine, raw concrete bricks, blackened wood and tree logs while cathedral glass, semi-transparent curtains and the air-filled Oskar Ziet Plopp stool add a dash of the element air to the interior.
As the new Timmermans space is located outside the shopping district a traditional big shop window didn’t feel necessary but visibility was key. This resulted in a unique two-piece front of the building that lifts the whole facade higher. One robust part made of cork that has a grounded earthy quality to it with a round window connecting the inside with the outside. And another wall with a subtle wave-like texture symbolizing the element water, constructed from aluminum.
The visual identity plays on the evolution Timmermans has gone through. Both its rich, masculine past and the bright future - with the next female generation taking the lead - are an important aspect of the Timmermans DNA.
At the base of the brand lays a minimalistic wordmark that symbolizes the process of weathering. Natural forces such as water and wind transforming surfaces show a strong resemblance with their story. Softened and feminine on the left. Sharp and virile on the right.
The understated colour palette and the scrapbook style add to the idea of drawing from Timmermans’ longtime expertise to shape the future.
