Description:

FAO Schwarz enjoys a history of over one hundred and fifty years as the world’s preeminent toy store. Following its acquisition by ThreeSixty Group in 2016, the company has been on a mission to Return to Wonder, harking back to its roots of creating a magical experience for its visitors, especially children.

The challenged faced by FAO Schwarz is how to take a legacy, historical brand known for its brick-and-mortar locations and bring it into the digital age. FAO engaged us to help them completely reinvent their online presence.

We tried everything from the most traditional children’s toy-chest, to 80s-inspired digital, to replicating the famous window displays — but one early insight from the client stood out to us. When kids step inside a store, they’re taken to a different world. That sense of total fantasy had even inspired the world of cinema. ‘Home Alone 2’ [1992], and ‘Big’ [1998] both took inspiration from FAO Schwarz.

Our final concept recreated this moment of transformation — weaving a spatial experience with a digital one. Visitors entered a 3D world of wonder, playfully navigating a carousel to enter sections of the website.

Far from the traditional e-commerce experience, we transported kids young and old through their screen to a totally different world.