Oslo

The luxury retail market has not had the easiest time of it recently, with a number of the major brands facing challenges after decades of incredible growth.

But one city has been quietly gathering the major labels and building out its luxury quarter, capitalising on the growing appeal of the wider capital on its new cultural venues and the transformation of a famous department store at its centre.

Oslo was not always on the map for the likes of 香奈儿 , 酩悦·轩尼诗-路易·威登集团 , MaxMara and the global luxury watchmakers but thanks to a meticulous floor-by-floor transformation of the landmark Steen & Str?m department store in the city’s central retail district, plus the expansion of the stores available to luxury brands in the surrounding streets, this is rapidly changing.

The creation of a luxury district has been made possible, as these things often are, by the ownership of a significant swathe of real estate by a single owner. In this case it is Promenaden, itself owned by retail and urban investor and developer Mark, which not only owns many of the stores but also the department store itself in what is called the Promenaden Fashion District.

Steen & Strom began its transformation a few years ago with a revamped ground floor beauty hall and lower ground food area, overseen by UK department store veteran David Wilkinson, which had recently been completed the first time I visited. On my late August trip just over two years later, much of the third and fourth floor fashion offer has been revamped, with further brands being added as refurbishment continues. The fifth floor has become host to a new and impressive technology zone, while the second floor is being readied for a major refurbishment in the next phase of redevlopment.

At ground level, some of the shop-in-shops have been created with both interior and exterior frontages to allow the department store and the luxury streets to blend with each other.

The most recent addition is what is probably best described as a watches shopping centre opening on the main retail drag, curated by Norwegian watch retailer Bjerke. Making its debut in mid-August, it has consolidated its long established presence in the city into the completely remodelled Eger Shopping Gallery, creating a series of boutiques off internal streets in what is arguably the largest watches emporium in Europe. I certainly haven’t seen anything like it elsewhere.

For Promenaden, under the auspices of Annette Lund, it also helps frame its district and provide anew gateway as it looks to continue expanding the luxury zone from its traditional location, while also creating and refreshing upper level office space to bring workers into the heart of the city.

My visit also coincided with the ninth Olso Runway event, which brings together the growing fashion community within Norway to celebrate and promote the industry and Norwegian design through a week of events in and around the city.