It's time to re-think retail (Also, we won a Digiday Award)

As young people crave more reasons to gather IRL, the role of the store is shifting from a place to transact to a place to participate which co-exists with youth's desire to touch grass. Our Digiday-winning H&M project offers one way forward.

“I want to see more investment in community and infrastructure: there seems to be no third spaces left for young people to enjoy themselves on a budget.”

—Gen Z Respondent, Parafaith 2026

Burnout from content overload is real. According to our recent Parafaith research, young people now spend more on experiences (44%) than on things they can own (33%). We’re not the only ones noticing a shift. Google searches for “how to digital detox” have risen 110% since the beginning of this year, while “how to touch grass” became a breakout search this summer. “Run club” has hit an all-time high, “walking club” a 10-year high, and searches for everything from mahjong lessons to floral arranging classes are climbing too.

“I started playing chess again because I wanted something that gave me a reason to be somewhere. And it worked. I’ve met more people over a chessboard than in a bar.” 

— Gen Z Respondent, Parafaith 2026

It seems the internet is increasingly being used to figure out how to spend less time on the internet.

“I’d kill for a concert where phones are banned.”

— Gen Z Respondent, Parafaith 2026

Brands have unsurprisingly noticed. Global experiential marketing spend reached $138.9 billion in 2025, up 8.3% year on year, and is forecast to grow another 10.3% in 2026. From fashion pop-ups and branded run clubs to dinners, listening sessions and increasingly elaborate festival takeovers, the brand experience has become a much bigger part of the marketing mix.

More events don’t necessarily mean better experiences. As more brands move into physical space, the interesting question becomes what actually makes something worth leaving the house for. For retail in particular the opportunity isn’t simply to add an activation to a store. It’s to think differently about what the store is there to do in the first place.

(Youth) respondents spend more on experiences (44%) than items they can own (33%). 

 – Dazed's Parafaith Report, 2026

That was part of the thinking behind Notes on Being, our global project with H&M, which turned stores across London, New York, Stockholm and Berlin into very different kinds of cultural spaces.

Shygirl brought the world of CLUBSHY to H&M’s Regent Street flagship with a live DJ set. In New York, artist and filmmaker Martine Syms created a more intimate exchange through a limited-edition zine at Times Square. Gabbriette became the muse for a life-drawing session in Stockholm, while in Berlin, COUCOU CHLOE transformed the store into the perhaps inevitable combination of a fashion drop and mini-bakery.

There was no copy-and-paste experiential formula, each activation responded to the artist, the city and the community around it, giving people a different reason to come through the doors and spend time there.

Did you know that Dazed initially started as an underground party?

Experiential might be having a moment but events aren’t exactly new territory for us at Dazed.

Dazed Studio has a dedicated events team and has been bringing people together IRL for decades, alongside our editorial platforms and creative studio. From intimate brand dinners, talks and artist-led gatherings to exhibitions, parties and multi-day programmes such as Dazed Live, creating physical spaces for culture and community has long been part of what we do.

That experience comes from the same instinct that has shaped Dazed editorially: understanding which people, scenes and ideas are worth paying attention to, knowing the communities forming around them, and finding the right format to bring those worlds together.

Stay up to date with Dazed Studio here and check out the project with H&M here.