Charlie Smith Talks Nothing’s India Flagship, Partnership Pipeline

LONDON — Smartphone-maker Nothing on Saturday unveiled its 5,032-square-foot flagship in India‘s tech hub Bengaluru.

Inspired by ’70s assembly lines and workshops, the duo-floor space offers personalized service to the brand’s range of smartphones and audio products, and comes with studio space for social media content creators.

It also features a community hangout zone with vending machines, claw games and conveyor belt displays, and a coffee shop in collaboration with Practically SoBar.

The brand said the store will also host meetups and collaborations with local creators in the future, and offer Nothing brand merch.

Bengaluru is Nothing’s second brick-and-mortar location worldwide, with its first one in the Soho area of London, sitting right next to cult streetwear brand Supreme. Following the India opening, the brand said it will open in New York and Japan later this year.

In an interview, Nothing’s new chief brand officer, Charlie Smith, previously chief marketing and communications officer at Loewe, said he is bringing a luxury‑fashion mindset into consumer tech, and he sees Nothing as an industry disruptor, redefining how technology participates in culture, especially for the next generation.

During his seven-year tenure at Loewe, Smith oversaw its collaborations with Studio Ghibli, On Running and Japanese ceramic duo Suna Fujita, developed its TikTok strategy, and orchestrated partnerships with high-profile celebrities.

He said the brand chose India for its first stop in global expansion becasue Nothing’s cofounder and chief executive officer, Carl Pei, has had quite a following there from his previous venture, OnePlus, which he exited in 2020 to launch Nothing. The brand recently completed a series C funding round of $200 million, valuing the company at $1.3 billion.

As for the Bengaluru store, Smith hopes it would feel “trailblazing” in its local context, as it aims to challenge the status quo in the category, extending Nothing’s retro futuristic design aesthetic to entice those who are “rebellious, creative, and go against the grain.”

The primary focus going forward, according to Smith, is to broaden Nothing’s appeal from tech lovers and early adopters to a larger community that sits at the intersection of tech, music and fashion.

For example, Nothing last month partnered with the self-described “fashion agitator” Lyas’ La Watchparty for Jonathan Anderson’s debut haute couture collection at Dior.

“We gave all the students who were watching t-shirts that said: ‘I went to Lyas watch party and left with Nothing,’ and some of them had headphones hidden under their seats like surprise and delight moments. We’re planning more collaborations like this going forward,” said Smith.

The brand also plans to partner with fashion schools and work with musicians with cult followings who speak directly to younger audiences. Collaborations with emerging fashion designers to co-create Nothing products and limited clothing lines are on the agenda as well.

Smith touted the idea of Nothing acting like a publisher, curating digital content around tech, music, fashion and culture, and launching a physical magazine at some point.

Regarding its core tech offering, Smith believes Nothing’s hardware design should go beyond utility and become expressive. “Things like phones and headphones say something about who you are as a person. It’s an extension of your body in the way that clothes are,” he added.

In the long run, Smith said Nothing’s goal is to remain a consumer tech company, but with a full ecosystem across audio, phones, wearables and the supporting software layer, all empowered by AI.

To make the fashion world understand Nothing’s positioning, Smith compared Apple to the Hermès or Chanel of tech — luxurious, prestigious, but not necessarily cool.

“I think that Nothing can play in this space where it’s more like Margiela and Balenciaga with personality and a point of view,” he added.