Hollister, Hyperreality and Some Key Themes

In my meeting with Gareth this week he suggested I wrote about Hollister in terms of Hyperreality and a number of key themes: Desire, Gender, Consumption, Lifestyle/Habitus, Product Placement, Simulated Spaces and I added 'Body Image'. Some of the areas have strong links to another and therefore I may find myself repeating elements.

Simulated Spaces

Hollister has a shop front designed to look like a Californian beach house. On the outside stereotypically good-looking men dressed in lifeguard shorts and flip-flops welcome the consumers inside. Although it does not have a conventional shop front, from the outside, Hollister is obviously a shop due to its placement alongside other shops. However, beyond the entrance porch, the consumers inside are unable to see the outside world and so the beach house becomes more much more convincing.

Hollister has the feeling of ‘home’; this is created by a number of signs that we associate with home;

·      The shop does not follow an open plan structure like most shops; furniture columns and walls give the shop a feeling of having different rooms like in a traditional home.

·      The shop is dimly lit with warm lighting in the form of table lamps and decorative chandeliers.  There is a cosy atmosphere.

·      Furniture, decorations and furnishings (sofas, cushions, rugs, pictures, plants) simulate a living room.

·      Purchasable products are placed like decorative items on shelves and tables. They are disguised within the environment and so represent this lifestyle when removed from the space (purchased).

‘Home’ is usually a place where people feel the most comfortable and relaxed. By creating an environment that simulates this feeling, consumers are likely to feel at ease, creating both a mental attachment to the brand and a desire to obtain a part of the lifestyle through purchasing items.

Furthermore, the interior space also supports the brands intentions to create a feeling of authenticity. The space connotes a time period prior to when the brand was actually established. This is done through signs such as the decorative wallpaper, dark wood, classical furniture, a deep colour pallet, panelled walls etc.

The space is hyperreal because the signs are so familiar and comfortable that we forget that the space is simulated in order to persuade you to buy into the brand.  

Product Placement

Hollister places its products within its home-like interior on tables and on shelves as though part of the decor.  Perfume boxes are the ornaments in the ‘lounge’ area and clothes are placed on tables and benches that you can imagine eating your dinner at (see image above). Although there are some traditional clothing rails, they are more sparse and are positioned within the environment like pieces of furniture. By implementing the products into the environment, they are disguised, they are displayed as a part of the lifestyle as opposed to a commodity.  They gain meaning from their surroundings.

Lifestle

Hollister markets itself as an authentic surf brand, referring to surfing litterally and through connotative signs such as use of language ie. ‘sunwashed denim’ (website), the design of the beach hut shopping environment and the beach location advertising. However, it is evident that Hollister is not referring the technical elements of surfing, but instead taking meaning from the sports lifestyle. By associatiating Hollister with surfing, we associate the brand with the positive qualities of surfing. 
Hollister is even direct with this link, see the item description below...

And another example; as an active sport we may associate surfing with physical attractiveness, Hollister’s ads show toned tanned models on a beach location often in the company of friends and a surf board. We associate the brand and therefore the items with being popular, attractive, cool and laidback.