British premium luggage brand Antler has taken a major step forward in its global renaissance with the opening of its previously flagged residency on Spring Street in New York’s SoHo. 

Taking the label into the heart of New York City in what it says is a “unique and immersive experience” is an important move for it following the appointment of a new MD two years ago and 2023’s kick-off of its rebrand.

It’s the brand’s first standalone retail space, “operating as a pilot for future international iterations” as Antler targets physical growth in the UK, Europe, and Australia by next year.

It carries the full collection of travel goods as well as featuring modular platforms that can be moved to create an activation space for events and a VIP area for appointments and collection previews. 

There are digital walls showcasing content such as campaign videos, travel diaries from brand collaborators, and demonstration videos. In front of the digital walls sits a bespoke commission from US design practice Jumbo NYC, “located as a dwell space for customers”. It’s a “squished foam bench” in Antler’s signature Bond Street Coral colour.

The store also showcases “the brand’s approach to meaningful product innovation, with a central discovery table that features pioneering designs including the bespoke comfort grip handle, whisper quiet 360 spinner wheels, and fully recycled interior linings”.

As well aa the Jumbo collab, exclusively for the store Antler has partnered with a number of British brands “to create a world of travel from books to skincare, coffee and candles to enrich the customer’s in-store experience and talk to travel beyond luggage”.

That’s a particularly interesting development and includes collabs with Gomi for travel tech, Soho Skin for skincare, Grind for coffee and Hoxton mini press for all books.

But the Icon Collection “is the hero of the store”, with the introduction of the new larger carry-on for the US customer in Antler Green, Moorland Pink, Heather Purple, Indigo, Mist Blue, Black and Taupe.

US prices start at $15 for a simple luggage tag, rising to $760 for the Icon Stripe Set.

The label soft-launched via D2C last year and said it has “gained significant market traction, with profitable back-to-back double-digit growth”. The has made it one of the fastest-growing brands in the UK. 

Antler said it sees the US as “a huge opportunity for brand and business growth”.

MD Kirsty Glenne explained that she joined the firm “with a clear mandate to scale globally, with a strategic plan forecast to drive triple-digit growth in the US as our priority market where we see significant opportunity for growth. We see bricks and mortar as the purest representation of our brand as we reposition, investing in the store is our biggest single brand investment to-date”.