This Week in Retail: NikeSKIMS Launches Shop-In-Shop Experience, Salomon Opens Beijing Flagship With JISOO, PUFF Brings Drinkware To Nikki Beach, Guerlain Launches Ocean Rebirth Retreat

This week's retail news, physical space is doing double duty as brand strategy. NikeSKIMS' shop-in-shop rollout across physical stores, Salomon's three-level, 728-square-metre Beijing flagship launch with JISOO, and Sephora's back-to-back Glasgow and Edinburgh store openings all point to the same conviction: the store is no longer just a point of sale, it's the pitch itself. Meanwhile, Max Mara's two-floor, 2,000-square-foot Hong Kong flagship at K11 MUSEA and Brioni's travertine-lit Rome campaign for its Fall/Winter 2026/27 collection show how heritage houses are using place and craft to sharpen relevance market by market

Zoom out and a pattern emerges: Guerlain is proving experience can carry a brand as far as product, turning a 14-day ocean retreat into a wellness narrative rather than a fragrance launch. Balenciaga's atelier mentorship program and HOKA's Becs Gentry taking on a 101-kilometre trail debut sit at opposite ends of the brand spectrum but chase the same instinct, building equity around craft and endurance rather than product alone. Hillberg & Berk's 19th-store milestone and PUFF's Nikki Beach takeover add a scrappier thread: pop-ups and anniversaries are brand equity too, not just goodwill. Here's what's trending in retail this week.

PUFF partnered with Barry’s for a seaside pop-up at Nikki Beach Marbella, running from July 29 to August 23 with daily high-intensity classes from 9am to 2pm alongside exclusive giveaways. The activation brings the Middle East drinkware brand’s colourful bottles into a European fitness and lifestyle crossover moment, tapping into Barry’s cult wellness following. It’s a sharp example of how challenger lifestyle brands are using fitness partnerships to build cross-border visibility fast.

Missoni launched its first Resort Club on the African continent at Villa Coconut Hotel on Egypt’s North Coast, pairing a seasonal boutique with a full hospitality takeover of sunbeds, umbrellas and beach accessories in the brand’s signature zigzag palette. Operated locally by Nile Projects, the concept lets Missoni sell its lifestyle rather than just its clothing. It’s a clear signal that fashion houses see resort hospitality as the next frontier for brand immersion in emerging luxury markets.

Mulberry named Sara Dickinson and Kenny Wilson as independent non-executive directors, effective after its September 9 AGM, following the planned departures of Steven Grapstein and Christophe Cornu. Wilson brings direct relevance as the former CEO of Dr. Martens and Cath Kidston, while Dickinson adds three decades of finance and transformation expertise. The boardroom refresh signals Mulberry is prioritising operational and consumer-brand discipline as it steadies its turnaround.

Guerlain and Orient Express Sailing Yachts are launching Ocean Rebirth, a 14-day wellness retreat sailing from Lisbon to Bridgetown, Barbados between October 12 and 26, 2026. The programme blends tailored nutrition, movement, mindfulness and sleep protocols inside a four-suite Guerlain Spa onboard, with a two-day Azores stop built into the itinerary. It’s a clear signal that luxury beauty houses are moving further into experiential travel to deepen brand loyalty beyond product.

Salomon opened a three-level, 728.37-square-metre flagship at China World Mall on August 10, its most comprehensive China retail destination yet, spanning outdoor gear, trail footwear, Sportstyle, S/LAB and apparel. Global ambassador JISOO appeared at the launch alongside the Blue Perspective photography exhibition, pulling major cultural attention to the opening. The store’s layout, from a basement built around technical mountain sport to a ground floor mixing running with lifestyle collabs, shows Salomon shifting from niche trail credibility into mainstream fashion relevance in China.

YSL Beauty brought its global Block Party format to Vietnam for the first time, transforming a space beneath Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line into a music-and-makeup takeover in the Thảo Điền district. The August 10 event paired product discovery with DJs and local creators, planting luxury beauty directly in the city’s youth culture. It reflects how prestige beauty brands are ditching malls for unconventional urban spaces to court Gen Z audiences in high-growth Southeast Asian markets.

Max Mara opened a new flagship at K11 MUSEA in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui, spanning more than 2,000 square feet across the ground and first floors of the waterfront luxury complex. The larger format gives the house room to present ready-to-wear, outerwear, bags and footwear together, reinforcing its identity beyond the coats and knitwear it’s best known for. The expansion places Max Mara alongside a curated luxury mix at one of Hong Kong’s premier retail destinations.

Sephora opened its first Glasgow location at Silverburn Shopping Centre on August 13, taking over a former Waterstones unit and marking its second Scotland store after Edinburgh’s July debut. The 5,048-square-foot “Temple of Beauty” format brings rhode, Haus Labs, Merit Beauty and Tower 28 to Scottish shelves for the first time, alongside a Skincare Hub powered by Beauty Scan consultation technology. The rapid two-city Scotland rollout underscores how aggressively Sephora is chasing UK regional expansion beyond London.

Kate Spade New York took over city windows with a Fall 2026 campaign built around beet, a punchy red-purple hue, complete with beet-colored pigeons and the versatile Duo bag as the seasonal star. The visual pun-driven concept swaps traditional autumn neutrals for a joyful, colourful street takeover. It’s a playful bet that whimsy, not moody seasonal palettes, is what will cut through cluttered fall retail marketing.

FRAME opened its first Benelux boutique on Amsterdam’s P.C. Hooftstraat, a three-level space designed with longtime collaborator Flora Byk around a sculptural staircase, vintage furniture and European modernist touches. The store gives the California-rooted denim brand a dedicated physical home for its full range in continental Europe. The opening signals FRAME’s continued push to convert wholesale relationships into direct, experience-led retail across the region.

HOKA global ambassador Becs Gentry is trading road racing for high alpine trail running, preparing to tackle the 101-kilometre CCC race at HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc on August 28, 2026. The course crosses Italy, Switzerland and France with over 6,050 metres of elevation gain, a dramatic pivot for a runner known for road and Peloton instructing. Gentry’s crossover positions HOKA squarely in the trail-running credibility conversation as the category’s cultural momentum keeps building.

NikeSKIMS is taking its buzzy activewear collaboration off-screen and into physical retail with a dedicated shop-in-shop experience, with Acierta Retail spearheading technical production and creative direction. The build reportedly landed at Selfridges, pairing Nike’s performance credibility with SKIMS’ shapewear-driven design language in a single cohesive retail environment. The move signals that even digitally-native collaborations now need a physical anchor to convert hype into sustained retail presence.

Hillberg & Berk marked its 19th anniversary with the grand opening of its 19th store at Scarborough Town Centre, giving Ontario shoppers a dedicated space to browse the brand’s sterling silver jewellery. The Canadian, women-owned label has been on an aggressive expansion tear, adding stores across Ontario, BC and Alberta as it pushes toward 30 locations by 2027. The milestone-store strategy shows how independent jewellery brands are using anniversary moments to fuel physical growth narratives.

Valentino Beauty debuted VENDETTA Donna and VENDETTA Uomo through its first Traveler Première, an airport-led rollout spanning Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. It marks the brand’s first prestige fragrance franchise launch in six years, using immersive digital tools to let travellers explore the scents before boarding. The launch underscores how travel retail has become a strategic proving ground for major fragrance relaunches, not just a distribution afterthought.

Balenciaga and 0-93. Lab ran the second edition of their Avenir Program, giving six emerging designers aged 18 to 25 hands-on access to pattern-making, draping, prototyping and sewing sessions led by Balenciaga Atelier volunteers in Aulnay-sous-Bois. The initiative goes beyond mentorship, embedding participants directly in the technical culture of one of fashion’s most influential ateliers. It’s a strategic talent play, positioning Balenciaga as an incubator for the next generation of technical design talent.

Brioni’s “The Light of Rome” campaign stages its Fall/Winter 2026/27 collection against the city’s travertine architecture, pairing tailored silhouettes and leather outerwear with monumental stone backdrops. Key pieces include a new cashmere Travel Jacket and the Soffio jacket, both built around mobility rather than rigid formality. The campaign reinforces Brioni’s positioning strategy: luxury menswear rooted in heritage but engineered for how modern clients actually move through their day.

Which story caught your attention most this week? Drop your take in the comments: is it NikeSKIMS or Salomon x JISOO? This or that, we want to hear where you stand.