Piercing the Retail Norm: Designing the Studs Store Experience
We believe investments in brands should anticipate the need for expanded retail platforms.
How might we launch a brand and then develop a series of retail platforms for sustained growth?
For the STUDS piercing studios, which were recognized as one of Fast Company’s best retail designs of 2020, HUXHUX launched this brand with its initial single store and piercing studio. After that we altered their shop design for a smaller format suitable to shopping centers. After that we designed a mobile concept to evolve the brand into a traveling activation platform. After that we used their Austin store design project as the template for developing their national rollout brand design standards. Now the brand has over 50 locations in the United States. Good design ensures sustained, successful growth.
Our design concept for the store on Prince St, New York City, was to build a perfect clean white box that comes to life with colored lights and dynamic surfaces. Because the scale of Studs product is so tiny, we wanted to design a wall where you can take in all of the Studs in a gallery setting. The forms for the gallery wall are off yet familiar. They are organic yet derived from a clean geometry. They spark an anthropomorphic recognition and beg for self reflection as colored light bathes the walls at their edges and the mirrored surfaces reflect ones presence in the space.
Designing Visual Merchandising Tools That Celebrate STUDS
Given the small scale of Studs’ products, we aimed to create a display wall that transforms these tiny pieces into a striking visual experience—something akin to a curated gallery. The intention was to elevate each individual Stud by giving it space to be seen, appreciated, and contextualized within a larger artistic composition.
The design of the gallery wall draws from both the familiar and the unexpected. Its forms are deliberately sculptural—soft and organic, yet rooted in precise geometric principles. This duality creates a visual rhythm that feels both approachable and refined. The wall becomes more than just a display; it acts as a dynamic canvas, inviting discovery and interaction while honoring the unique character of each Stud.
Bringing the Brand to Life: Translating Digital Boldness into Tangible Design
A major part of our work with Studs involved bridging the gap between their bold, digital-first identity and the physical retail experience. To do this, we developed a thoughtful, highly curated material palette that brought the brand’s online world to life in a way that felt livable, elevated, and undeniably Studs.
Designing the Studs Journey: From First Impressions to Lasting Connections
At HUXHUX, designing the retail fleet for Studs was about more than creating beautiful spaces—it was about shaping an end-to-end experience that reflects the brand's bold, youthful identity.
Arrival: A welcoming entry sets the tone with clear sightlines and brand-forward design.
Brand Wall: Acts as a storytelling moment—bold, graphic, and instantly recognizable.
Ear Bar: Designed for discovery, with open displays and flexible layouts that invite browsing.
Consultation Lounge: A calming, semi-private space that fosters comfort and trust.
Selfie Moment: Strategically placed with great lighting and bold backdrops to encourage sharing.
Piercing Room: Clinical yet comforting, with soft finishes and thoughtful acoustics.
Aftercare Zone: A natural end point, providing care instructions and reinforcing the brand relationship.
Every zone flows intuitively, balancing high-impact design with a customer-first mindset—creating an experience that feels as thoughtful as it is memorable.
What if we conceive of our first project together as the first step of many?
The second retail location for Studs, designed by HUXHUX Design, is located inside the Hudson Yards shopping mall. This further develops the brand direction for Studs while exploring a small format, high impact piercing studio. The store offers a piercing room for one customer. The full collections of both fashion and piercing jewelry is offered at the reflective central counter.
Studs then hired HUXHUX Design as its lead interior designer for this mobile retail concept. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the client requested a solution for bringing their piercing studio to clients in a more agile and adaptive manner. This pop-up concept was born out of these efforts and hosts both a retail sales floor as well as a piercing suite, both in an ultra-compact format. HUXHUX worked with the client to develop the design concept and then also worked closely with a fabrication partner to execute the project through completion. These photos were taken in July of 2021 when the trailer made a visit to New York City.
HUXHUX Design then took upon Studs’ third retail location on South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. The piercing studio features the salesfloor ear bar and consultation area, along with a seating area and local feature wall. Two piercing rooms are located in the rear of the store along the color changing reflective hallway, a design feature we conceived of for the first Studs location in Nolita and translated here as well.
