14th September 2012
Readers name FITCH creative leader a beacon for the retail design industry
We are pleased to announce that Executive Creative Director Christian Davies has been recognized as a Retail Design Luminary by top design magazine Display and Design Ideas (DDI). Unveiled in the September ‘Portfolio Awards’ issue, honorees are chosen by the magazine’s readers, who are asked to vote for the people, projects and retailers who inspire them and deserve industry-wide recognition. This recognition is made even more meaningful because the Portfolio Awards are the ‘people’s choice,’ selected by design peers, retailers, and industry leaders.
Davies is the Executive Creative Director, Americas, and responsible for the creative output of FITCH’s North American studios. He started his career at FITCH in his native UK, but has been practicing in the United States formore than 15 years. A highly accomplished and well-respected designer, he has won more than 65 national and international awards, including an Industrial Designers’ Society of America’s/Business Week’s Design of the Decade for his 1999 Mall of America Chrysler showroom. Davies is a regular commentator, speaker, design juror, and author, and a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers.
“FITCH’s approach has always been to attract, grow and retain the absolute best talent,” said North American Managing Director Vicky Leavitt. “Christian has played a critical role in our efforts, and this well deserved recognition confirms what we already knew—that he sits at the very pinnacle of our industry.”
In addition to Davies being named a Retail Luminary, FITCH was named as the top Design Firm of the Year in the same DDI issue. The past year has been one of tremendous growth and accolades, with FITCH taking home 25 (17 from NA) awards. Recent work includes a contemporary art exhibit for Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants that opened in Moscow and traveled to Geneva, a highly experiential showroom for California-based Fixtures Living, a new small-format neighborhood store for major UK-grocery retailer Morrisons, and a tech-heavy Asian Paints flagship in India, that embraces interactive technology to teach consumers about color.