Design Agency of the Year 2025 | StudioXAG

We’ve been named Design Agency of the Year at the 2025 Creative Retail Awards.

To be considered for such a prestigious award, we were required to submit a portfolio that showcased the very best of our work and the ethos that drives us, telling the full story of who we are and how we work. It highlighted our approach to sustainability, our commitment to innovation, the voices of our clients and the projects that defined our year.

Our submission showcased how these principles came to life through our work over the past year.

Sustainability as Standard

Sustainability is not something we add on, it is the foundation of how we work. As a Certified B Corp we believe our industry has a vital role to play in the mission of decarbonisation, and we are committed to reaching Net Zero by 2035.

Our approach spans every part of the business – from the energy efficiency of our London and Amsterdam studios to the material choices we make with clients, every decision is shaped by its environmental impact.

To accelerate change we also created XAGzero, a carbon insights tool developed with experts at Inhabit. It gives brands personalised carbon intelligence so they can act faster, reduce the impact of projects and make informed decisions about materials and production.

We also believe in leading by example and in sharing knowledge. Our insights report Radical Circularity explored the principles of circular design and how brands can apply them to retail experiences. When we launched Coachtopia at Selfridges, it became a living example of those ideas in practice and was hailed by the store as the most efficiently managed and sustainably delivered project they had ever hosted in their Wonder Room.

Innovation in Practice

We continue to challenge ourselves and our industry with new ways of working. Our Futureproof reports explore what lies ahead for retail, from New Cultural Horizons to Hyperphysical Experiences and the soon-to-launch Permanence Reimagined.

These insights feed directly into our projects, ensuring the work we deliver is always future-facing. Innovation also happens behind the scenes, where we invest in new technologies such as 3D printing and explore fresh production methods that enable us to achieve more imaginative outcomes with precision and efficiency.

Work That Defined the Year

IKEA – Hus of FRAKTA

We reimagined IKEA’s iconic blue FRAKTA bag through an immersive pop-up in London. Visitors queued to customise their bags, stepped into an infinity tunnel filled with the sounds of rustling plastic and sampled playful refreshments that turned their tongues IKEA blue. The project was celebrated by Highsnobiety, who declared “The IKEA blue bag is now luxury.”

Fenty Hair, ‘Welcome to Mane Street’

For Rihanna’s new haircare brand, Fenty Hair, we built a pastel-hued American high street inside Selfridges. Salon culture was brought to life with shopfronts, social-first vignettes and sensory storytelling moments that celebrated the product range and fuelled social buzz.

As Sukiana Chancy, VP of Brand & Marketing at Fenty Hair, said: “Rih loved the Corner Shop! She had so much fun interacting with all of the vignettes and it looked amazing. I couldn’t be happier.”

Charlotte Tilbury, Future of Fragrance

For Charlotte Tilbury’s new fragrance launch, we created a surreal journey through scent and emotion. Each room evoked a specific mood, from empowerment to romance, blending design, sound and fragrance into a truly immersive experience. A star-studded launch party and daily masterclasses amplified the story beyond the pop-up.

Georgios Koumnas, Global Director of VM at Charlotte Tilbury, shared: “Working with StudioXAG has been an incredibly seamless experience from start to finish… the most amazing results!”

This award reflects the story we have told through our work this year, of sustainability as standard, of innovation in practice, of projects that turn spaces into stories. It is a proud moment for StudioXAG, and one that drives us to imagine what the next chapter will hold.

Read more on Creative Retail Awards here.