Fortnum & Mason named Trailblazer of the Year as the Creative Retail Awards 2026 winners are revealed

The winners of the 2026 Creative Retail Awards were announced on Thursday 15 October at The Clapham Grand, the new home of the Awards, where retailers, brands, designers, agencies and suppliers came together for the creative retail industry’s biggest night.

Twenty-five awards were presented across 21 categories and four special awards, with winning projects in the UK, France, Denmark, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and South Africa.

Fortnum & Mason: Trailblazer of the Year

Trailblazer of the Year has no entry process and no shortlist. It is reserved for a retailer whose work, influence and approach to physical retail has made an exceptional impression on the Awards. The judges pointed to the way Fortnum & Mason keeps evolving and experimenting without losing what makes it distinctive: its Piccadilly windows remain a fixture of London’s visual retail landscape, and the same thinking carries through its interiors, hospitality and new formats beyond Piccadilly.

It was a big night all round for the store. Fortnum & Mason also won Window Display for A Perfect Spring Day and Sustainable Display for Resourceful Nature, and was Highly Commended in Festive Display for Enchanted Christmas.

Dr. Martens: Store Design of the Year, and the public’s choice

Dr. Martens’ Soho Beacon Store on Brewer Street, created with Hotel Creative, won Store Design of the Year. The brand’s first Beacon store, spread across two floors, it topped a shortlist that included Holland & Barrett’s Experience Store in Cardiff, Neal’s Yard’s Covent Garden flagship with Etch and Portugal Jewels’ Rua Áurea 157 store in Lisbon, with Nespresso’s Covent Garden flagship Highly Commended.

Its second award came from the public. The SDD Spotlight Award, run with Shop Drop Daily and curated by Tim Nash, is the one award decided entirely by public vote, and a record number of votes were cast. The public chose Dr. Martens’ The Art of Comfort Experience at The Outernet, London, from a shortlist of ten UK projects, nine of them temporary: a clear sign of how much brands now invest in spaces built to last weeks rather than years.

B_RD: Design Agency of the Year

SDEA member B_RD was named Design Agency of the Year for its integrated approach: with strategy, design, production, logistics and installation all in-house, the agency keeps the creative idea intact from first concept to final install. Its work ranged across windows, in-store activations, pop-ups, experiential campaigns and events with no fixed house style, and showed responsible working built into its projects, including repurposed materials in finished installations.

B_RD also won Leisure, Visitor or Exhibition Attraction for Pandora at The Garden Museum for London Fashion Week, and was Highly Commended in Window Display for Hackett’s Regent Street scheme. Etch was Highly Commended in Design Agency of the Year.

Coach had a strong night too, winning Hospitality for The Coach Restaurant at Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore, and Retail Experience for Coach Play Osaka, alongside four Highly Commended awards. Holland & Barrett’s Experience Store in Cardiff, created with SYN, received the Judges’ Choice Award; St. Pancras International won Creative Collaboration; Brunello Cucinelli x Harrods took Festive Display with Pardgroup; and IKEA Oxford Street’s LED window façade and Immersive Live Studio, with d&b solutions, won Retail Technology Innovation.

SDEA members among the winners

SDEA member companies won six Winners Awards and nine Highly Commended Awards between them.

• B_RDWinner: Design Agency of the YearWinner: Leisure, Visitor or Exhibition Attraction, for PandoraHighly commended: Window Display, for Hackett
• PardgroupWinner: Festive Display, for Brunello Cucinelli x HarrodsHighly commended: In-Store VM Scheme, for Armani x Kith
• Mega CreativeWinner: Surfaces, Materials & Finishes, for Diesel DenimHighly commended: Retail Experience, for Davines
• Northbanks DesignWinner: Graphics, for White Stuff
• Nathan WardWinner: Independent Store (UK), for MétierHighly commended: Independent Store (UK), for Mount Street Printers
• Design4RetailHighly commended: Omni-Channel Experience, for Under ArmourHighly commended: Retail Technology Innovation, for Adidas x Sports Direct
• Impact RetailHighly commended: POP/POS, for ByomaHighly commended: Shop-in-Shop or Concession, for White Fox
• Proportion LondonHighly commended: Leisure, Visitor or Exhibition Attraction, for Design Museum

A new home at The Clapham Grand

First opened in 1900 as the New Grand Theatre of Varieties, The Clapham Grand is one of London’s surviving Victorian music halls, with its balconies, royal boxes and ornate plasterwork still intact. Aidan Sadler hosted the ceremony, and once the last trophy had been handed out the band took over and the dancefloor filled, complete with a balloon drop over the crowd.

“What stands out about this year’s winners is the range. A retailer with more than 300 years behind it, a boot brand’s flagship in Soho, an agency that builds what it designs, and winning work from Seoul to Singapore. The common thread is a clear idea that someone has seen through properly.”

Antony BehielsCo-organiser of the Creative Retail Awards and Director of the SDEA

“Fortnum & Mason is exactly what the Trailblazer award is for,” he added. “They could live off their history, instead they keep changing, and they keep doing it well. Congratulations to every winner and everyone Highly Commended, and thank you to our judges, our partners and everyone who joined us.”

The 2026 winners in full

1. Creative CollaborationSt. Pancras International

   London St. Pancras Highspeed – Powered by Dreams

   Highly commended: Coach – Coach Selfridges Oxford Street x It’s Bagels

2. Creative LightingRH Paris

   The Gallery on the Champs-Élysées, with Foundry

   Highly commended: Coach – Coach Ginza

3. Festive DisplayBrunello Cucinelli x Harrods

   Christmas 2025 Take Over, with PardgroupSDEA member

   Highly commended: Fortnum & Mason – Enchanted Christmas

4. GraphicsWhite Stuff

   40th Birthday Summer Tour, with Northbanks DesignSDEA member

   Highly commended: New Era Cap – MLB Subway Series, with Whiteroom

5. HospitalityCoach

   The Coach Restaurant, Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore

   Highly commended: Nespresso – Covent Garden Flagship

6. Independent Store (UK)Métier

   London Flagship, with Nathan WardSDEA member

   Highly commended: Mount Street Printers – A Wave of Colour, with Nathan Ward

7. In-Store VM SchemeWoolworths South Africa

   Tiger Lily in Tygervalley

   Highly commended: Armani x Kith – Topping Rose House, NYC, with Pardgroup

8. Leisure, Visitor or Exhibition AttractionPandora

   The Garden Museum for London Fashion Week, with B_RDSDEA member

   Highly commended: Design Museum – Wes Anderson Exhibit, with Proportion London

9. Multi-Site RolloutGiant Bicycles

   with Whiteroom

   Highly commended: JD Gyms, with Briggs Hillier

10. Omni-Channel ExperienceFanatics

    Flagship Store, London, with we.are.sdi

    Highly commended: Under Armour – Total Footwork Experiential Zone, with Design4Retail

11. POP/POSWaitrose

    Dalstons Soda, with Print & Display Ltd

    Highly commended: Byoma – Bauble for Boots, with Impact Retail

12. Pop-Up or TemporaryThe Ordinary

    Unlocked Shoreditch, with StudioXAG

    Highly commended: Coach – The Coach Tabby Shop, Sydney

13. Retail ExperienceCoach

    Coach Play Osaka

    Highly commended: Davines – Colour World UK, with Mega Creative

14. Retail Technology InnovationIKEA, Oxford Street

    LED Window Façade and Immersive Live Studio, with d&b solutions

    Highly commended: Adidas x Sports Direct – Experiential Takeover, with Design4Retail

15. ShopfittingIQOS

    i House Korea, with PMI Global Studio

    Highly commended: Neal’s Yard – Covent Garden, with Etch

16. Shop-in-Shop or ConcessionM&S

    Cribbs Causeway, with we.are.sdi

    Highly commended: White Fox – Boots Event Site, with Impact Retail

17. Supermarket or GroceryShinsegae

    Twelve at House of Shinsegae Cheongdam, with Design Theory Collective

    Highly commended: Whole Foods Market – King’s Road, London

18. Surfaces, Materials & FinishesDiesel Denim

    Salling and ILLUM Stores, with Mega CreativeSDEA member

    Highly commended: Coach – The Coach Restaurant, Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore

19. Sustainable DisplayFortnum & Mason

    Resourceful Nature

    Highly commended: Woolworths South Africa – The World’s Most Sustainable Christmas Tree

20. Window DisplayFortnum & Mason

    A Perfect Spring Day

    Highly commended: Hackett – Regent Street SS25, with B_RD

21. Store Design of the YearDr. Martens

    Soho Beacon Store, with Hotel Creative

    Highly commended: Nespresso – Covent Garden Flagship

22. SDD Spotlight Award (public vote)Dr. Martens

    The Art of Comfort Experience

23. Judges’ ChoiceHolland & Barrett

    Experience Store, Cardiff, with SYN

24. Design Agency of the YearB_RDSDEA member

    Highly commended: Etch

25. Trailblazer of the YearFortnum & Mason

Judged face to face

Every result was decided by an independent panel of industry judges, who met face to face in London to assess the entries. The 2026 panel was Ian Scott, David Dalziel, Andrew Busby, Judith Kelly (Hammerson PLC), Matthew Brown (Echochamber), Barbara Chapman, Jack Stratten (Insider Trends), Tim Nash (Shop Drop Daily) and Isabella Fish (The Times & The Sunday Times).

The 2026 Creative Retail Awards were supported by headline partner Kesslers London; premier partners Northbanks Design and Pardgroup; and category partners Arken POP, Antalis, B_RD, Candee.bio, Genesis Mannequins, Graphica Display, Hammerson, H.O.L Group, ISI Global, Mega Creative, Morplan, Proportion London, roomly and VAST.

Every Winning, Highly Commended and Shortlisted entry is in the 2026 Winners Guide, below.