Marketing
Fashion retailer Oh Polly taps LED displays to drive shopper engagement
Oh Polly, a U.K. fashion brand deploys transparent StandardVision's Clear Canvas LED displays across store windows as an immersive digital layer to drive customer engagement.
October 17, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
Opening a flagship retail store is no small endeavor and a brand gets one chance to make a lasting first impression with a launch in what is typically a competitive retail corridor.
Not only does a retailer want to make an initial 'splash,' it needs to have a strategy in place, well beforehand, on attracting the passerby shopper — without impeding the storefront's presence.
For one U.K. fashion brand facing the scenario that meant tapping digital signage and LED technology.
The mission to engage
When Oh Polly decided to open a Los Angeles flagship location, in West Hollywood this past summer, the project strategy included a 'first' for the brand — digital signage — specifically integrating LED display technology across the storefront's expansive street-facing windows.
"The Oh Polly Melrose store is our flagship store and so we have never experimented with display technology before outside of out-of-home advertising," Oh Polly Founder Mike Branney said in an email interview.
Oh Polly enlisted StandardVision, a multi-disciplinary design studio and digital media company, for the experiential retail installation featuring a full facade of Clear Canvas technology.
"We wanted a technology which would make the store stand out from the competition, giving a real 'wow' moment, which is why we have a 24-foot x 13-foot screen lining one wall of the store. Our brand is very video focused and so we wanted to be able to do our content justice by displaying it on top of the line technology."
Oh Polly was referred to Branney by a friend who works in the Hollywood film industry during a conversation about screen and film technologies that might support augmented reality.
"We chose StandardVision due to its proximity to the project and the fact it had the Clear Canvas technology demonstration screens available to view with similar use cases to ours in the LA area," said Branney.
The goal was to create an immersive digital layer that would engage passerby while at the same time not interrupting sightlines into the store. The display project began in the fourth quarter of 2024 and was completed at the end of the second quarter in 2025.
"Traditional retail stores are moving more toward being permanent branding and story-telling opportunities rather than pure retail spaces and we believe we can achieve this using digital technology," said Branney.
Every element was tailored to meet the brand's goals, budget and timeline.
"Clear Canvas was the ideal solution for Oh Polly because it allows the brand to showcase digital content and promotional assets in an immersive, visually striking way while preserving transparency into the store," StandardVision CTO Alberto Garcia said in an email interview. "The displays create a seamless connection between digital storytelling and the physical retail environment, ensuring the storefront remains open, inviting and engaging to passersby."
The technology in play
StandardVision's Clear Canvas is a turn-key solution that is easy to install, offers custom capabilities and architectural integration. The customization and architectural integration ensure displays are optimized for both the physical space and a brand's creative vision, according to Garcia.
"We wanted to put video into our windows but without taking away from the beautiful dresses we would have on display," said Branney, adding the vision "was to arrive at screens which would show the product in action, then become transparent and have the product lit up with mannequins in the windows - alternating between the two."
The Clear Canvas technology allows Oh Polly to play with the transparency, project the brand to passersby but without the glare of traditional wall mounted or window mounted full LED displays.
"We've definitely brought customers into the store who otherwise may have passed by as it's a very visceral way to tell them what Oh Polly stands for," said Branney.
Oh Polly is providing and managing its own content for the display.
"This [in-house content management] highlights one of the major advantages of Clear Canvas. It gives brands full control over their messaging in real time, without interfering with visibility or the aesthetic of the physical space," said Garcia. "Clear Canvas is flexible enough to showcase branded content while keeping the store interior and products fully visible to customers."
StandardVision can partner with a brand at any stage of a project, he added, from early concept and design to near-final build and permitting.
"While Clear Canvas is turn-key and easy to install, our custom capabilities and architectural integration are most impactful when our team is brought in early. This ensures the displays are optimized for both the physical space and the brand's creative vision, resulting in a cohesive, visually compelling installation."
Tips, advice, best practices
When planning a digital display project Garcia recommends that a brand view the display as an extension of the brand's environment, rather than a separate screen.
"Consider how digital content can interact with the physical space, highlight key features, and enhance the customer experience," he said. "Engaging a team with expertise in both digital display technology and architectural integration — like StandardVision — ensures that the installation is not only visually striking but also fully tailored to the brand's goals and the surrounding environment."
Branney advises brands to plan to integrate digital signage technology from the outset — not as an afterthought.
"We planned our project from concept to open over a period of around 18 months and this is fairly typical for a permanent retail space," he said. "Think about how technology can complement rather than replace your physical retail offering and without relying on heavy advertisement to do so."
Photo courtesy of StandardVision.
About Judy Mottl
