Desigual Cartagena

Spain's 'atypical' fashion group - Desigual - has stolen a lead on its Spanish rivals, Zara and MNG by landing its second store in Colombia in a prime Cartagena retail spot by the Clock Tower and the city's latest upper-end hotel, the Cartagena Urban Royal.

The addition of a store in Cartagena's historic old town extends Desigual's Latin American Empire beyond Colombia's traditional textile heartland, Medellin, where it opened stores last year.

The hip Spanish chain opened its account in Cartagena with a hippy chic collection of floral prints from its 2011 line.

As well as a wide range of summer options for women, men and kids, the store also carries a selection from its winter collections for anyone needing to make an urgent dash to Bogotá.

Reluctant to be upstaged by the clothes on show, Desigual's in-house interior design team have combined a colourful mosaic of republican-style floor tiles with denim clad doors and a precariously stacked chest of drawers that creates a contemporary look that marks a return home (of sorts) to the upcycling approach made famous by Brazilian design duo, the Campana Brothers in the 1990s.