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Stück re-imagines the third space for intimacy and connection

Stück, London

UK – Stück, a new third-space venue in Dalston, London, is bringing intimacy, hospitality, co-working and community together under one roof.

Developed by Playbody Studio and Klub Verboten, one of London’s longest-running consent-led nightlife communities, the venue is described as ‘a third space between yoga and Berghain’.

Stück marks Klub Verboten’s first permanent home and extends Playbody’s research into body-centred architecture and social space.

Taking cues from Roman bathhouses, the interior includes a multi-level concrete conversation pit, rubber-cast seating, modular daybeds, leather and latex finishes, and a 12-metre stainless steel bench. Stück is currently crowdfunding for a sauna space to be added to the existing building.

In 2024, we reported on Luxury’s New Clubhouse Model where members’ spaces were emerging as places for exclusivity and experience. Stück advances this model by shifting the focus from access to behaviour, using architecture, phone-free rituals and shared wellbeing spaces to design more intentional forms of connection.

Strategic opportunity

As citizens seek deeper in-person connection, create spaces, services and experiences that use architecture, rituals and phone-free moments to encourage intimacy and meaningful participation

The China Playbook: Why young Chinese luxury buyers love Vivienne Westwood

The China Playbook is a monthly briefing from Hot Pot China equipping businesses with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of the Asian premium lifestyle market.

China – Luxury designer Vivienne Westwood is experiencing a surge in popularity among China’s Gen Z and young Millennial consumers.

The British heritage label has found a new audience through the global Y2K revival and its late-2025 collaboration with Japanese anime series Nana, introducing a generation of consumers to the brand’s archive and rebellious aesthetic. As Hot Pot China CEO Jonathan Travers-Smith explains on the Hot Pot Table Podcast, this is ‘an entirely new generation of twenty-somethings discovering the punk heritage brand for the first time as a personal expression asset’.

While quiet luxury remains popular in China, younger consumers are increasingly using fashion to communicate identity, supported by more flexible workplace cultures and the growth of creator-class professions. Notably, many consumers have re-interpreted the brand’s iconic orb logo as a Saturn-inspired good luck symbol, illustrating how global brands can acquire entirely new meanings as they move across cultures.

Hot Pot China, UK

‘Young buyers have no contextual knowledge of British punk history; they look at the logo and assume it is simply the planet Saturn,’ says Hot Pot China’s Fan Tu-Cerny. ‘They have constructed an entirely localised narrative around it, viewing the Saturn orb as an outer-space fortune talisman that brings personal good luck. It is a total re-interpretation of an anti-establishment symbol into a positive consumer anchor, and from a sales perspective, it works flawlessly.’

Strategic opportunity

As luxury consumers move from status to self-expression, brands should create distinctive codes, symbols and accessories that help people communicate identity across different social and professional contexts

Stat: Social media drives 1.7bn annual UK high street visits

UK – American Express’s latest Hype to the High Street study reveals that nearly two-thirds (63%) of UK adults have visited a shop or hospitality venue after being influenced by social media, rising to 88% among Gen Z. More than four-fifths (82%) return after a socially influenced visit, while 87% report spending money in-store. The data also highlights a viral pilgrimage effect, with younger consumers travelling to new locations to experience trends first seen online.

The survey demonstrates how social media platforms now function as a primary discovery engine for physical retail and hospitality, reshaping footfall patterns and travel behaviour. Converting digital visibility into designed in-person experiences is becoming critical, with shareability, localisation and post-visit loyalty now key drivers of growth across high streets.

In World Retail Congress 2026: The Art of Shopkeeping we analyse how retailers are reframing shopkeeping around participation and human connection, with expertise, atmosphere, participation and emotional connection becoming a competitive advantage in retail.

Strategic opportunity

Create spaces designed to be filmed and shared, turning every visit into a marketing asset. Integrate interactive or reactive elements alongside aesthetically curated environments, where store design functions as both experience and content engine