Weekender: UK first ‘Black Box’ retail concept officially launched

A new retail concept, which offers a platform for artists and fashion students as well as household fashion retailers, has been officially unveiled at Trinity Leeds  

Black Box, branded as BLK BX, is the first of its kind in the UK and has been created by fashion industry expert Darren Rudland.

The first new arrivals include fashion retailer Trapstar London; with artwork from Leeds-born artist Daniel Syrett’s Runway Gallery; creations from Leeds Arts University graduate Mikkel Ullah; and the ’Keepers of Lost Clothes’ project by fashion students at Leeds Beckett University, who create garments using recycled clothing.

The permanent retail space launched at Trinity Leeds last week. BLK BX will have a rotating line-up of brands, designers, artists, and musicians, with a constantly-changing concept showcasing the independent and online fashion retailers.

BLK BX will curate the space during each changeover, tailoring each area to reflect the concept of the brands involved.

Rob Jewell, business development director at Landsec, which owns Trinity Leeds, said: “Trinity Leeds is the perfect location for such a pioneering project. The city has become synonymous with shopping and has steeply risen up the retail rankings since the launch of Trinity Leeds, and we hope this will help build on that reputation even further.

“We’ve seen a real desire from high-quality online and fledging brands to have access to a physical space, but we’ve also seen a reluctance to commit to a traditional, long lease at such an early stage in their business. Historically, taking a lease has required some serious red tape navigation, and an intricate knowledge of property law, insurance obligations, and marketing and branding.

“This model allows the brands to concentrate fully on their retail offer, while BLK BX manages the administrative aspect of the lease. BLK BX enables brands to easily access new customers, showcase their products and build a relationship with consumers outside of a screen. As landlords, we’re able to secure fantastic, crowd-pleasing retailers who offer a point of difference to more mainstream brands.”

Retail specialist Catherine Shuttleworth, CEO at Leeds-based Savvy, added: “This initiative from Landsec is a positive way of encouraging emerging retailers to test their market and engage with customers on a face-to-face basis.

“Consumers are looking for exciting and new products but the cost of entry into a shopping centre in a top 10 UK retail destination is usually out of most new businesses’ reach. It’s these kind of innovative schemes that the UK high street needs to be creating and it’s great to see that Leeds is a test bed for this scheme.”

Darren Rudland, founder of BLK BX, also said: “BLK BX enables Landsec to offer bricks-and-mortar retail spaces which work in a streamlined, frictionless way, making the transition from online to offline far easier for smaller labels.”

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