Kompanero Covent Garden

Inspired leather goods for famous retail street

We were recently appointed by Kompanero to develop their first stand-alone store outside of India. The brand takes its name from the Spanish word for ‘companion.’

We were recently appointed by Kompanero to develop their first stand-alone store outside of India. The brand takes its name from the Spanish word for ‘companion.’

Kompanero’s goal is to be sustainable in all aspects of their retail strategy, from their eco-friendly packaging, plastic-free stores and cotton-lined bags to their use of vegetable-tanned leather.

They are also strong advocates for conscious capitalism. They help develop communities by training unskilled workers in unique artisan techniques. A large percentage of the workforce are women from rural Indian communities including some with verbal or auditory challenges, and Kompanero’s scheme helps them to find work and gain useful skills.

Having grown the brand organically over the last few years into a well-recognised name across the Indian and Australia territories, our clients wanted to capture the magic of their unique brand in a new store concept in the heart of the shopping mecca of Neal Street, Covent Garden, London.

The Neal Street store we created had to encompass the three pillars of Kompanero, which are Sustainable, Craftmanship and Vintage.

Our design team worked closely with the Kompaneo team to create a store that infuses the brand and its core values across all of its customer touch-points.

We employed recycled materials for the retail furniture, utilised low voltage lighting where possible, sourced vintage Indian rugs and specified planting to soften the retail environment and filter the air to improve the quality.

We also sourced a vintage Indian bike to create a VM piece in the window to attract shoppers along with a digital display to showcase the product.

Our client is delighted with the overall result that will inform the roll-out of the brand globally and into more UK and European locations.

“We are extremely happy with our new retail concept developed by Barber Design. Everything is amazing and the design will really take our business forward. Thank you for everything.”

“Barber worked like a family with us, listening closely to what we were trying to achieve, working through iterations, taking our input seriously and at the same time standing firm on their strong aesthetic sense.

They also kept guiding us along the way by recommending us to fit-out companies, VM specialists, furniture providers, sourcing specialists and photographers as we are a new business to UK. We are very grateful for the support they gave over and above the design work.

We look forward to working with Barber Design again soon on other projects.”