Desiguel, London

We have to hand it to these guys as they really do make an effort to entice us into their stores.  Desiguel always seem to have such fun schemes in their windows - whether we personally like them or not is absolutely irrelevant, as they clearly really do work hard to entertain us.  What is particularly interesting about this scheme is the appeal to the auditory senses.  In Visual merchandising this is something that is very under utilised in the industry, as is the olfactory appeal.  If you happen to see this scheme and listen above the noise of the traffic on Regent street (no mean feat) one can hear the call of the seagulls (just about) from the fenestration.  Huge applause to these guys for doing something that we no longer see (or hear very much these days).  If you happen to walk along the luxury brand streets one can just smell the luxury oozing from the stores although this is probably not deliberate.  Luxury brands just smell nice anyway.  However, hats off to these guys for the wonderful entertainment and really trying hard to appeal to something more that the usual visual.

Desiguel, London

After a whole month of entries from New York, its sadly time to focus back on London.  I say sad, as I found some amazing schemes across the pond and its Sale time back here and not the most visually exciting time of the year but but then by the nature of travelling, at some point you have to return.  Anyway, on my quest to find some kind of innovation - and it has been difficult -  here's the first for you.  OK, well, not the most exciting scheme I've ever seen, only a slight variation on the Sale theme.  Here, at Desiquel, their vinyl informs us they they love Sale (I don't particularly) however with their giant sized t-shirt, this scheme is salvaged from the ranks of  the hideous.  But only just.

Desiguel, London

'To be happy' is the current message from Desiguel. The hand made has been quite influential this year within commercial concepts and the reclaiming of soon to be lost skills seems to be at the forefront of this brand. With their usual vibrant and colourful schemes this brand is creeping up to be one of the leaders on the high street here in UK. As its late on a Saturday night and I'm working late again, it is hard work to describe everything that you see here, but this brand is doing some interesting stuff so will let you decide what you think.

Desiguel, London

I’m not particularly familiar with this brand and although I have searched around the Internet for more information their website is incredibly slow to upload so after 30 minutes of waiting, I gave up. However, what I have managed to glean is that the brand was begun in 1984 by Thomas Meyer and is quite a hit around Europe. The interior of their spaces has a kind of market feel about it, almost as if you are stepping into the Moroccan, Turkish or Middle Eastern souks. The current promotion is based around hand made with moving graphics (well at least the arms) of a young male and female as if knitting furiously away. Surrounding them are strips of material with suspended spools. Interestingly there seems to be a further developing trend for knitting amongst the early twenties age range here in London with cinemas (I believe the Brixton Ritzy) reputedly lifting the level of lighting to enable their customers to knit and watch the film at the same time - how wonderful.