In a world where everything from groceries to Gucci is available at the click of a button, Belma Gaudio is making a bold bet: the future of fashion is physical.
At Koibird’s flagship in London’s Marylebone, you’ll find a space that’s part gallery, part concept store, part wellness café, and entirely unlike anything else on the high street.
With its newly unveiled KOI 11 nutrition bar, a lava-stone floor painted by hand, and a glittering silver-tiled room filled with covetable homeware, Koibird is a place that invites you to linger, to explore, and above all, to shop.
But don’t bother looking it up online - Koibird has officially logged off. “We just think the new way forward for small brands like us is to really hone in on what we do well and have that in real life experience,” says Gaudio, founder and creative director of Koibird.
© Félix Dol Maillot“Honestly, given what's happening with the landscape and what e-com has become-a very highly transactional experience... we just felt that for Koibird, that just didn't make sense anymore.”
Gaudio, a former bond trader with the eye of an art collector, launched Koibird in 2018 as a one-stop shop for the style-conscious traveler. “For me, it was always the most exciting time to shop and to browse and to kind of curate my travel wardrobe,” she explains. “At the time, it was a lot of work finding things that were unique and different... wouldn't it be great to have like a one-stop shop for all your travel needs?”
© Félix Dol MaillotThat idea blossomed into a retail concept; a themed edit of emerging designers and cult brands, all steeped in Koibird’s unmistakable joy-drenched maximalism. “I love colour,” Gaudio says. “I collect contemporary art, so I think colour is a part of what I love… As we get through each season, I think the
colour
and the maximalism thing becomes even more pronounced.”
This commitment to bold curation earned Koibird a reputation as a fashion-forward tastemaker. “We were really early to carry a lot of those brands,” Gaudio says, rattling off names like Christopher Esber, Coperni, and Tombolo. “I remember that brand Mach & Mach-we were the first ones to stock their shoes.”
“Sometimes we’re too early,” she admits, “Customers aren’t ready for it until they see it in five other retailers.”
© Félix Dol MaillotAnd yet, despite its digital success-especially during COVID when 80% of sales came through the website - Koibird made the radical decision to shut down its e-commerce platform. “Online is a very different market,” Gaudio says. “It’s a very different customer… someone who's just kind of seeing what we have versus what another online platform has, basically, where can they get the best deal?”
That didn’t align with Koibird’s DNA. “It just became this kind of commercial rat race,” she says. “We were going further and further away from who we want to be as a brand.”
© Félix Dol MaillotNow, Koibird is doubling down on IRL: expanding its in-store experience, launching new lifestyle categories, and hosting panels and book launches, including a wellness talk this May. “We do find that people want to go back to stores,” Gaudio says. “I do think the days of just endlessly scrolling and buying more and more and more white t-shirts are gone.”
To bring her offline vision to life, Gaudio enlisted Parisian designer Julien Sebban of Uchronia to reimagine Koibird's Marylebone space - transforming it into a whimsical, sensory playground. The resulting interior is a riot of tactile fantasy: hand-painted enamelled lava stone floors, gradient purple-to-green walls, and a hidden silver-tiled room brimming with curiosities.
© Félix Dol MaillotCentral to this pivot is KOI 11, a chic nutrition bar tucked inside the store. “With KOI 11, we aim to engage all the senses, address customer needs, and inspire the distinctive Koibird lifestyle at every touchpoint,” Gaudio explained. The menu features adaptogen-laced drinks and sugar-free bites-wellness as sensory delight.
But crafting it wasn’t easy. “I had a really hard time finding somebody to execute the menu for me,” Gaudio admits. “I remember I was on holiday in Greece and I got on a Zoom with this mixologist from East London… I said, ‘Look, I’m really desperate. I don’t want to just make matcha drinks with a bunch of milk.’” The result? A series of elixirs that are as Instagrammable as they are functional “alien iced matcha” with a swirl of purple included.
© Félix Dol MaillotMore than just a retail space, Koibird is evolving into what Gaudio calls “a 360 experience.” It’s fashion, food, art, and community. “We’re looking at how someone can have that interaction with the brand in the store without having to commit a lot of money to that experience,” she says. Come for the clothes, stay for the vibe.
And in a digital era increasingly mediated by algorithms and AI, Gaudio believes the analog experience is more valuable than ever. “AI takes away randomness,” her 11-year-old son recently pointed out over dinner. “Only humans can give you random outcomes.”
That sense of spontaneity-of discovery-is exactly what Koibird delivers. “I told my good friend, ‘You know what? Don't just sit in your living room on the phone. Get with a friend and come to Koibird in real life, and you'll have a great experience.’ And people do. They’re like, ‘Oh my God, that was so fun.’”
So is this the future of retail? Gaudio thinks so. “We're betting on people wanting real experiences,” she says. “And honestly, it’s more fun.”
