WAYL.A. Creative

The day has finally come! 6 months in the making. 25,000sf. The biggest, baddest, live streaming activation The National 🇺🇸 for Whatnot in Chicago for 5 exciting days of trading, grading, slabbing and selling. Pro photos coming soon. In the meantime go see our great friends at the show and tell them WAYL.A. Creative sent you!

Last year at The National 🇺🇸 with Whatnot was epic. See photos! But this year will be bigger badder and louder. We’re taking it over with 20,000sf of the best live streaming experiences imaginable. Design is hush hush 🤫 but let the countdown begin. Theme: ‘Whatnot Drives Community’. T minus 5 days until we break ground. Stay tuned!

Hey ma! We do satellite & solar companies too 🛰️ While we’re known for retail, we consider ourselves as multidisciplinary designers much like our favorites The Rockwell Group, Big, and XD Agency. As we grow into new industries we’re alway thankful for where we cut our teeth, and excited for what lies ahead. Shoals, a very cool solar distributor with clean modern branding paired well with our concepts for their next big show. Pulling inspiration from satellite command centers and a futuristic mothership, we landed on some pretty banger ideas. Excited to see this one come to life 👽

When building displays, it's easy to overlook the real stars - the clothes. Ralph Lauren's mantra resonates: the clothes wear the person, not the other way around. Authenticity is key. For us, a retail space begins with the apparel. They're the real MVPs. The North Face is among the best, and our NYC showroom showcases that. Huge shoutout to Omar Reader, the greatest retail stylist out there, and Matt Rybczynski, our trusted retail photographer 👊🏼

As the Phoenix Suns battle for playoffs, we're thrilled to revisit the incredible makeover of the Player15 corporate office and Phoenix Mercury practice facility. Being part of this project was an honor for a team that's cheered them on since childhood. We've witnessed their branding transform over decades into the bold, modern identity it is today. The Phoenix sunset and desert hues bring their dynamic space to life, reflecting the spirit of sport and determination. We're proud to have collaborated with Gensler | Phoenix and Okland Construction for this one of kind epic project. ☄️☄️☄️

People often ask about our name, WAYLA. And while we work through some exciting brand updates (which we plan to share in the coming months), the recently topic came up. Without spoiling the fun, here’s the story. First, we needed a name. Second, we started in Los Angeles. Third, Bansky was popping off. Fourth, we had just watched Exit Through The Gift Shop. Fifth, we wanted to make clothing, and we thought having Los Angeles in the name would help sell product. Result: What Are You Looking At as an acronym is WAYLA. Thus WAYLA was born! And for the record, it’s pronounced 🗣️WAY L.A.

PS, Bansky’s identity was recently revealed. Or was it? You be the judge.

‘A March 2026 Reuters investigation strongly indicates that Banksy is Robin Gunningham, a Bristol-born man long rumored to be the artist. The report connects Gunningham to the artist through legal, travel, and archival records, including a 2000 New York arrest. Gunningham, often linked to the pseudonym David Jones, has operated anonymously for decades.’

Hello Chicago! just opened the best little shop in this best little neighborhood Lincoln Park. We’re honored to have played a role in store #2 for this amazing company with the sickest men’s threads. Big shout out to B$Lee for directing another beautiful store and the great merch team and for driving it home. See everyone in the new year!

What an amazing year it’s been full of awesome travel, new friendships and epic installations. But none so far tops the experience of being part of the Whatnot House for New York Comicon this past October at Javits. Aside from our roll which we’ll get to in a minute, the one thing that amazed us most is the resilient heart of a collective group working toward the same goal. For a second we thought this maybe wouldn’t work given some very challenging conditions (the usual: time, labor, site, budget etc). But witnessing a team of 50 coming together and all saying ‘fk it, we’re going to make this work one way or another’, was some next level $hit. The great Vince Lombardi said ‘perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence’. Damn was he right. Thank you to everyone that helped make this big idea a reality. You know who you are. And thanks of course to our favorite team at for entrusting, yet again, this small but mighty group of designers to help bring your vision to life.

The Deets:

- 2500sf foot print
- Javits Center, NYC
- 2 month timeline
- design/build/install
- digital house of whatnot
- New York Comicon (go big or go home)
- nailed it