Learning from Las Vegas, Parts 5 and 6

In our final entry on Las Vegas (and learning from it) we decided to go back to where it all began - Fremont st.  In now what appears visually as an in town /out of town shopping area reminiscent, albeit vaguely of a northern city shopping centre back in the UK or a Russian shopping mall, only with better weather and more lights. This area has a huge worn-out-curly-edged-dog-eared-tinge of faded glory about it, although it appears that someone somewhere has attempted to regenerate it with the addition of an enormous 'light-show' canopy over the main drag.  This is what Vegas always appeared to be from the outside looking in and from every kind of media we've ever seen, and we are fascinated to be part of  it.  Now sadly,  here, the vagrants hassle tourists for money by attempting to strike up a conversation at the loudest level possible.  We impolitely ignore them as our British accents appears to give them more opportunity to converse and they move on to the next passing flaneurs.  The proudly and literally named 'heart attack grill' delivers steaks the size of a cow (complete with parked ambulance and waitresses dressed as nurses) and deep fried Oreo's are on the surrounding menu's - nice.  This area seems to be a populated Farmagusta of the West, or an homage to the way things were only with a lot more lights attached. The flashing signs at the toe curling Glitter Gulch Gentleman's club, 4 Queens (with missing or broken lights) and the Golden Nugget beckoned us in - we easily manage to resist.  Our eyes smart at the strap line of Oscar's casino which announces that it has 'beef, booze and broads' (interesting how cultural dynamics change but some places are to vacuous to keep up) and the ill-fitting ruched lurid Pink and Green outfits of the 'door-whores' at Mermaids drive the final nail in the visual coffin and so its time to move on.

In Part 6, our final entry and further along the road less travelled we ventured into the surrounding streets in an attempt to scratch a little deeper into the skin of this place.  We found a lot of interesting graffiti which communicate political frustrations as well as the humour of the local population.  Some of the signs and signifier's beyond the sanitised resorts really are quite telling of how the main drag is perceived and how life really is beyond the gloss and glamour.  We have only touched on the fringes of this incredible place, and only been able to show you a tiny snapshot of what we are looking at and our emotional response to it.  These things of course are best experienced, but hopefully the small slides that we have given you at least offer a kind of 'Google Earth' view of Las Vegas. We would recommend that you visit here yourself and experience all it has to offer.  The pendulum between perceived ecstasy and sadness, despair and hopelessness seems to swing quite far out here but then it was always going to be in the Casino's favour, wasn't it?  In the meantime, we're London bound. 

Learning From Las Vegas: Parts 1 and 2

In our final three entries on Las Vegas, we wanted to offer a kind of synopsis of our journey.  We don't take holidays as such and therefore we don't take holiday snaps, so our images are simply of what we see, what we wish to communicate to a wider audience and what our emotional response is to whatever we are viewing.  Naturally, the thoughts we share are ours and we like to leave our audience to make up their own minds about what they view too, after all we're not always 'right' (whatever that means) however, it is at least one voice reflecting on our Visual Merchandising industry and where we are now and where (we think) we need to be.  We approached Las Vegas in a similar way to that of the Architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, albeit very humbly following in their giant footsteps. 

Venturi and Brown visited Las Vegas nearly 40 years ago which led to their incredible book, Learning from Las Vegas.  Of course it was unrealistic to attempt to do everything that these phenomenal people did on their journey and therefore we were only ever going to be able to skim the surface of what they produced, however we have looked at some of the iconography contained within this urban sprawl from a commercial and visual perspective and attempted to record the journey to sale and the experience on that journey.  Also, we wanted to see for ourselves how these incredibly huge resorts work so hard to capture their often big money spending customers and how they attempt to keep them there by offering everything that one could possibly desire under one roof.  Each resort vies for the attention of the potential customer at every possible level in a very different way, to ensure that we part with our hard earned cash. These strategies in particular fascinate us.  Part 1, records very much how Vegas should be seen - from the automobile, where we have recorded what Venturi so wonderfully called the Architecture of Persuasion, or perhaps more commonly known to us as Visual Merchandisers as (the miss-named) Point of Sale (we prefer The Journey to Sale).  In Part 2 we look at some of the resorts and what some of the key elements are that hook us and reel us so willingingly in by capturing our attention, teasing us, promising so much, but ultimately one realises that the thin veneer of gloss, is just that.

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Itsugar, Las Vegas

If you happen to be in New York, New York, in Las Vegas (that's confusing..!)  then do go and have a look at the the jelly bean Statue of Liberty in the main entrance from MGM.  Thousands of these sugary little beans have been (we assume glued) to create this  huge replica.  We saw something similar in New York (the city not the hotel/resort) at Henri Bendel over Christmas.  But anyway, this is great fun and immediately tells you what the product is even if Miss. Liberty looks perhaps ever so slightly annoyed.

H and M, Las Vegas

If you do happen to go and watch the animatronics show at Caesars Palace, do go and check out H and M.  How cool is this store - we even had to make a video of it as we were so impressed with the video wall, the suspended mannequins and disco balls and the flashing lights on the back wall - all of these elements cant be appreciated through still images so we've included our video here too for you to view.

http://youtu.be/7-fWGHn8qiM  

The Chandelier, Las Vegas

If you happen to swing by the Cosmopolitan here in Vegas, then you must go and have a look at The Chandelier.  Essentially the Chandelier is a giant chandelier hanging over two floors around a bar and a seating area.  Hilarious fun? or trashy Vegas?  Well, we'll let you decide.  In the meantime we did make a short video of this as we were rather bemused and it certainly is a sight to see.  It is also quite a novelty although we did get over it quite quickly.  Anyway, do check out the video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l6egczQLM4&list=UUsubIQJFMNM6ZVPlgxA4MaQ&index=3&feature=plcp

Beijing Noodle No.9, Las Vegas

Quite a relief for these little fellas we would imagine?  Wandering in and out of the slots and poker tables, teasingly named Rembrandt's riches, Pussy cat delights, Aces high......the list is almost endless, here at Caesars palace, there are a few wonderful little oases such as Beijing Noodle No. 9.  Two rows of these fish tanks teaming with Goldfish dominate the entrance to this space, however, of course, these spaces don't seem to offer very much rest bite from the bling-bling and all the whistles and bells of the gaming machines. although they are a rather great to at least view (oh and free..!).

Nanette Lepore, Las Vegas

Sitting amongst the mass of global brands all peddling the same schemes that we've seen either in London or in New York, it is always a pleasure to find brands that we don't know or don't have a global presence yet.  Here at Nanette Lepore, situated within The Forum (inside Caesars Palace resort) we were struck by these fabulous palm trees in neon colours.  The scheme is a little messy for our tastes, particularly with the Green and Pink wrapped gifts, although it is a break at least from the usual global schemes from the lux brands that appear to dominate the resorts here. 

 

Versace, Las Vegas

We loved the colour of the merchandise within the womens wear at Versace (Aria Center) next to the Gold of the plinths and backdrop.  Sadly, as always menswear is the usual choice of Black, Brown or Grey, however the lighting of this scheme with the merchandise made it almost impossible to miss.  We actually quite like this scheme, which is a slightly different offer from the other Versace stores that we've seen recently in Europe and New York.  What do you think?

Hermes, Las Vegas

This is the only store for this brand that we could find here in Vegas.  There may be more however?  But, anyway, we weren't entirely sure quite what this is?  It looked to us like an under-water-coral-and-jelly-fish theme?  What is refreshing to see is the lack of the brand colour being used here, and the brand do tend to use localised creativity rather than one company to do all of their stores, so this is quite an interesting direction.  With its small reveals containing the merchandise within this huge expanse of fenestration, these guys clearly know and understand how to use a mall window space.  Don't you think?

Marc Jacobs, Las Vegas

Its always a pleasure to view fun schemes with a narrative of some kind behind them, don't you think?  Here at Marc Jacobs at the Forum (Caesar's resort) it was refreshing to view such little merchandise (confident retailer an' all that) with a kind of Treasure Island narrative.  One mannequin on a tiny sandy island complete with treasure chest and handbag lost to a shark.  With that much treasure, why worry, just buy another load of them, eh?

Paul Smith, Las Vegas

The Mondrian-look is a little done to death, don't you think?  We do actually really like this store, although, thinking of the kind of quality window schemes that these guys usually produce and how beautiful their stores usually look, this one is rather disappointing.  We have no idea whatsoever why this store looks so different from its 'sister' stores around the world, and although change is always welcomed, a Mondrian inspired store front wouldn't have been our first choice.  Maybe this is avant garde here in Nevada, who knows?

Fendi, Las Vegas

We were really wowed seeing this Fendi Store at the Aria center here in Vegas.  We love, what we call the 'strip tease' effect that some retailers do so well.  'Things' which are gradually revealed are always far more exciting than if we are merely presented with them - just like a strip tease, and Fendi have done this so incredibly well.  With their almost completely covered windows, we are given just these small reveals to peer through.  Watching the passing crowds at this mall, so many people did.  As curious animals, how could we not?  Beyond the reveals are tiny abstract movies playing and one with a changing coloured background (below).  Great stuff, we think, don't you? 

Tadashi, Las Vegas

Right across from Anthropologie, within the Forum at Caesars is Tadashi.  Its quite refreshing to find brands that we don't know and this one is possibly an independent?  Anyway,  although this isn't the most exciting scheme in the world, we think it was produced actually very well.  OK, well we have the usual White High Gloss figures placed in a 'bus stop' format (VM speak for grouped badly - these should have been grouped as a 3 and 1), although the props here do work rather well, don't you think? 

Anthropologie, Las Vegas

Through pure serendipity we came across one of our favourite brands right now - Anthropologie.  The mixture of materials and textures the guys use here is just superb.  The fixture in the image  below (left within the image) is an 18th Century Butchers block from France - stunning, eh?  If you happen to be at the Forum shops, attached to Caesars Palace, then do go and check them out.  The Forum is staggeringly huge so it may take some time however.

The Wynn, Las Vegas

No photograph can ever capture this incredible place.  Here at the Wynn, in Las Vegas, this secret garden is just incredible.  Suspended flower structures, palms, trees, plants and all sorts of seasonal foliage fill this enormous space creating a very magical experience.  We're resisting being drawn into the casinos, although it doesn't take us much to resist, the mere thought is nauseating (the noise of the slots is also quite deafening) although there are places such as this within these incredible hotels that one should experience.  The streets are comparatively empty as everyone is inside to either gamble or wander and be amazed at the decadence of this town.

Louis Vuitton, Las Vegas

Well, we couldn't be in Vegas and not check out our favourite visual brand could we?  Here on the 'strip' is another one of their gorgeous stores.  Of course we've shown these Elephants and scheme in New York and London already here, but we couldn't resist but include this store too.  We think this is a Frank Gehry building which also houses Tiffany, Tom Ford and YSL, but we'll have a closer look soon.  We will also be putting an album together to give the flavour of this 'bonkers' place shortly.