The Future of Fashion Retail: Emotional Journeys, Transparent Value, and the Gamified Storefront

At a time when foot traffic is no longer a given, and loyalty is as fleeting as a TikTok scroll, the most successful retailers aren’t just selling clothes. They’re staging emotion. Experience. Values. And connection. In one of the most revealing sessions at SXSW London, leaders from H&M, JOSEPH, DREST, and Battersea Power Station took the stage to explore how UK fashion retail is transforming itself to stay relevant and magnetic.

“We’re no longer curating stores. We’re curating feeling,” said Harriet Renny of Battersea Power Station, who spoke about how physical destinations must offer reasons beyond shopping to draw people in. From yoga in the turbine hall with Lululemon to high-low brand pairings that create cultural resonance, the focus is now on staging memorable, emotional journeys.

Barbara Campos, CEO of JOSEPH, emphasized the power of human connection: “If you can turn someone’s bad day into a good one with kindness, you’re winning.” For brands like JOSEPH, trust-building starts with empathy and ends in brand equity.

H&M’s Marcus Hartmann was blunt: “If we don’t disclose it, someone else will.” As one of the few fashion brands to publish all their suppliers and sustainability metrics, H&M isn’t just responding to consumer pressure it’s reshaping what mass-market transparency can look like.

But Campos added a luxury lens to that conversation: “Timeless design is conscious consumption.” For JOSEPH, trust isn’t just about ethics it’s about consistency in craftsmanship, fit, and the kind of understated quality that earns a permanent place in someone’s wardrobe.

Lucy Yeomans, founder of DREST and former editor at Harper’s Bazaar, is betting big on a different kind of luxury entry point: gaming. “We don’t call them gamers. They’re style enthusiasts,” she said. “They’ll spend hours styling a $12,000 coat from Alaïa not to play, but to express creativity.”

DREST, with 150k active users, recently ran a Manolo Blahnik campaign that saw 4 million shoes styled in just two weeks. But it’s not just engagement it’s data. Some brand partners are now using DREST to test colorways and regional preferences before investing in production.

While there was agreement that AI has a place in the future of fashion, the panel was united in caution. Campos summed it up best: “Let AI be the backstage assistant. Not the face of your brand.” AI might manage stock, analyze trends, and help forecast, but it won’t replace the moment of magic between a great associate and a discerning customer.

If the industry is to rise to this more emotionally and ethically demanding future, it needs more than vision it needs talent. Campos advocated for elevating frontline retail workers as true brand ambassadors, with the tools and empowerment to connect deeply with customers. “People don’t join fashion retail just for the paycheck. They love people. They love product. We need to harness that.”

The future of UK fashion retail isn’t about discounting or digital alone. It’s about creating a feedback loop where emotional in-store experiences, transparent values, and playful, gamified digital discovery all reinforce each other.

And in that loop, trust isn’t a nice-to-have it’s the entire storefront.

Independently Created. Not affiliated with SXSW.

Unofficially SXSW is a ClickZ Media publication in the Events division