Martin Riley, Michelle Douglas and Hugh Connelly Launch Shophouse

Responding to evolving client needs and a rapidly shifting creative industry, Shophouse is launching as a modern, globally distributed design house focused on brand transformation, digital ecosystem development and marketing, and retail-experience innovation. Shophouse was founded by former Huge executives Martin Riley, Michelle Douglas and Hugh Connelly. Martin is now founding partner and CEO, Michelle is founding partner, strategy, and Hugh is founding partner, creative.

Shophouse’s model is built around curated teams of experienced creatives, specialists and strategists who collaborate remotely across time zones, allowing Shophouse to assemble bespoke best-in-class teams for each project. This operational flexibility allows Shophouse to deliver impactful work without traditional agency overhead and legacy structures.

"We started Shophouse because we saw firsthand the limitations of traditional agency models," said CEO Martin Riley. "Clients today need agile, high-caliber creativity delivered at pace. Our model enables faster delivery of work that truly helps brands grow. We’re excited to officially introduce Shophouse as that agency, designed from day one to deliver big, breakthrough ideas and fix broken experiences.”

Shophouse has already demonstrated success by piloting the model with clients including Tapestry brands Coach and Kate Spade, as well as Procter & Gamble’s premium skincare brand SK-II. For Coach, Shophouse created immersive brand and digital product experiences, including digital marketing and site design that contributed to Coach seeing 15% FY Q3 2025 sales growth.

Founder partner, creative Hugh Connelly said, "Creativity is bigger than a campaign idea with a beautiful aesthetic; it’s about crafting experiences that profoundly connect brands with their customers. We embrace what we call ‘21st century storytelling,’ prioritising meaningful, human-centric brand narratives across every consumer touchpoint, seamlessly integrating digital and physical experiences to elevate brands and drive further consumer engagement.”

Shophouse’s model leads a broader shift in the creative workforce, leveraging global freelance talent and remote-first collaboration. "Shophouse’s flexible model allows for the highest creative quality while focusing on delivering tangible business results at speed -- all delivered in close collaboration with our clients," said founding partner Michelle Douglas. "We’re deliberate about curating teams with the skills – and mindset – needed to thrive in an AI-native world. These are optimistic, intuitive experts who choose to work with us because we offer the freedom and trust that consistently unlocks their best, most innovative work. We believe our people aren’t ‘ours’; they’re theirs—independent talent empowered to do the boldest work of their careers."

The Shophouse name was inspired by the original meeting place of the three founders: a shophouse on Ann Siang Road in Singapore. Shophouses are building designs found throughout Southeast Asia in which families run retail shops on the ground floor and live on the floors above. The concept inspired Shophouse's approach to work-life balance for its teams, as well as the idea of cultivating a familial environment focused on creating the best possible work for clients. There’s also a touch of irony in the name in that Shophouse has no physical location.

Martin was global president of Huge, opening and building their offices in Singapore, Tokyo, as well as their development hub in Vietnam. He also cultivated a large multi-year relationship with Credit Suisse to digitise banking for their high-net-worth individuals, as well as pitching and winning Procter and Gamble’s luxury brand SK-ll, which remained a client through his tenure. A dynamic brand marketer with 20+ years of experience building market presence, he’s helped revitalise reputations and grown revenues for clients including Emirates Airlines, Ritz-Carlton, J.M. Smucker and Cadbury. Martin is based in Singapore.

Prior to co-founding Shophouse, Michelle was group VP, client partner at Huge. During her time there, she led innovation, as well as activation, content, product and digital marketing for clients including Meta, fintech brand Zelle and SK-II. She also provided strategic growth for Huge’s APAC region while in Singapore. Michelle has also consulted for brands and agencies including The Community, iHeart Media and Complex Networks. Earlier in her career, she worked at AKQA, Verizon and retail giant Westfield. Michelle is now based in New York.

Hugh has spent his career partnering with brands around the world, including GE, IBM, P&G, Google IHG hotels, Tapestry and Under Armour. As executive creative director leading the experience design and creative teams in Asia at Huge, Hugh led a cross functional team of 50+ to deliver transformative ecommerce innovation, campaigns, brand development, brand immersive retail experiences for SK-II, Meta, Google, Rakuten, and McDonalds. The Effies, Communication Arts, Adweek and American Graphic Design have recognised and awarded his work globally. Hugh is based in Spain.