BURST
We independently select everything we recommend. Buying through us may earn us a commission, which supports our work.
The internet is a alive with Aritzia customers bemoaning the lack of mirrors in the fitting rooms at the Vancouver-headquartered fashion brand’s stores.
Instead of a mirror in each individual changing room, the retailer has long offered a large common-use mirror inside the fitting room zone, which requires shoppers to step out into the open in order to see how they look in the clothes as other customers look on.
A TikTok video by user @ gracefairest attempting to answer the question ‘Why Aritzia doesn’t have mirrors’ has been viewed more than 1.4 million views and garnered more than 70,000 likes. In another clip about the topic on Instagram that attracted more than 18,000 likes, @ suburbanstylefiles showed her hack for avoiding the community mirror situation: Pack your own foldable mirror into the store.
In a recent interview for the podcast Social Currency, Aritzia CEO Jennifer Wong explained why they use this design approach.
“Everything we do in the stores, every decision we make, is highly considered,” Wong said in response to the question by podcast host Sammi Cohen.
“Our ateliers, which is the (common-use) fitting room area, have gorgeous mirrors, elevated lighting, light that really makes our customers look their best. They’re in the best light. And these are all really important aspects of the customer experience.”
If using the common mirror isn’t your thing, Wong points out, every Aritzia store does have at least one fitting room that has its own mirror. You just have to ask for it.
“Our more recent ones, have several fitting rooms with mirrors,” Wong said. “So, depending on what the customer wants, we can offer that to them.”
The mirror-in-the-common-area approach, she adds, allows the Aritzia employees — or “stylists” — to connect directly with the customers while they’re trying garments on. It allows the employees, she says, to guide the shopper through their “product journey” at the stores.
“And help them pair, and truly style, in those atelier environments,” she said. The store employees, Wong says, are the “connector” between the company’s products and its customers.
“They’re the ones that our customers trust,” she said of the store staff.
From its first boutique at the old Oakridge mall, which opened in 1984, Aritzia now operates more than 140 stores throughout North America. The physical stores, she notes in the interview, are an essential element of the continued growth of the business.
“We’re currently opening anywhere from 12-14 stores a year,” said Wong, who started at the company as a part-time sales associate nearly four decades ago and took over as CEO from founder Brian Hill in May 2022. “And our e-commerce is growing at over 30 per cent, year over year.”