Topshop / Topman, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright www.global-display.co

While its still freezing cold here in London, SS18 has already launched at the mega-brands Topshop and Topman here in the centre of it all.  Of course these brands have great style and right at the forefront of the high street with their beautiful bust forms courtesy of www.global-display.co  Do check out their website as this supplier to some of the best on the high street is producing some amazing key pieces.

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Topman, London

Black and White schemes nearly always look strong and this one is no exception.  This is a difficult brand to make look great but this masculine narrative with its cartoon-like interior space looks fantastic, particularly as it highlights the colour of the merchandise so well.  We have see these kinds of Black and White schemes at brands such as Lanvin and Jean Paul Lespagnard previously although it actually looks so much better here at this brands Oxford Circus store on this scale and particularly interesting that they haven't gone down the traditional route of Christmas trees and all round bling.

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Topman, London

Topman are rocking a kind of Mondrian meets Michael Jackson's Billie Jean video right now with their repetition of rectangular forms of various colours and white flooring.  Other than that there isn't much more to comment on here although great to see this brand looking so masculine and appealing to their market so well as usual.

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Topman, London

We passed this scheme the other evening and while we can only guess that this is referring to the festival season it was actually quite interesting so view such an intriguing architectural structure within this space along Oxford Street. There isn't much else we can say about this installation other than that but do go an have a look if you can.

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Topman, London

This is quite an impressive visual overlooking Oxford Street at Topman right now.  It is perhaps a little Hollister-esque for us and we were slightly hoping that someone who was clearly 'Beach Body Ready' (and whatever that actually means) would swim across in mock synchronized formation as we stopped and stared,  now that would have raised a smile and provided us with an unexpected surprise.  Even just a little interaction would have ticked a box, but oh no.  As there is no humour anywhere on the high street right now and no clever use of product we instead find ourselves looking at a moving pool.  Well that's 3 seconds we will never get back.  That aside, this really does glow at night time and drew us in so it is clearly doing its job.  Interestingly also there is really good information about the product inside this windows' space which informs the customer about the product/collection and is actually incredibly helpful.

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Topman, London

This has always been a difficult brand to work with (we havent included them for a while so we may have said that previously) although we have to say they are looking really good right now.  With their revolving shiny Golden pyramid and collective of mannequins (is it collective of mannequins?  a group maybe?) Topman is looking more Vegas than London this Yuletide.  To truly appreciate the effect here we have included a very short video to demonstrate what it does.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbQ91p0JDg4

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Topman, London

If you ever needed an example of Visual Man-dising then here it is.  We've always felt that Topman is quite a difficult brand to make 'interesting' although these guys always seem to manage very well.  OK, well its lots of 'males' looking up at a mirror image of themselves so we could read all sorts of stuff into it but we have a feeling that it simply is what it is.  Anyway, it does actually look rather dramatic none-the-less.

Topman, London

There's a huge stripey trend happening around town right now (and lots of other places we've visited recently).  From Louis Vuitton, the innovators, through to Fenwicks the early majority (although they have just changed their scheme) all the way through to the late majority as in here at Topman right now.  This is such a difficult brand to make look good, but goodness knows, they do it so well, don't you think?

Topman, London

We saw the visual team implementing this scheme at Topman just a few days ago (oh we remember the days of doing these windows, particularly when we had 15 of them wrapped around this site).  The space that these guys have is hugely enviable in the West End although of course is equally difficult to use.  However, while the scheme does appear as some kind of sinister torture (almost as if it is part of a giant water wheel but without the obligatory water) or some kind of contemporary but painful execution of the fashionista.....it does in reality look incredibly cool and of course is very well produced - its just our imagination running away with us.  Anyway, do go and have a look if you can.  Topshop hadn't completed their scheme but we may include them very soon.

Warehouse / Topman, London

Is there a cure for pathological visual deja vu?  Apparently sufferers of this condition are convinced that they have seen this stuff before - strange that hey?  If you happen to be around Oxford Circus here in London this week, then please do be careful, its not for the faint hearted, those suffering from respiratory conditions or children under twelve. 

If you have seen the Korean horror film 'In to the Mirror', you'll know what I mean.  If you haven't seen the film then do, but what I am referring too is how some of the high street brands are eerily mirroring each other - scary stuff, non?  OK, you're not likely to have your jaw ripped apart by your own reflection in these windows,  and if you walk away from the fenestration your reflection will not be left behind.  And no, you wont suffer  all of that other shockingly spine chilling 'redruM' scrawled on a mirror, screams of "don't be scared mommy", or children with White hair eerily singing nursery rhymes surrounded with atmospheric dry ice, kinda stuff.  However, you may well see the below, (please tick/delete as appropriate)

(a) Topman across the street reflecting the male version..ish of this window

(b) the reflection of the back of your head in your own reflection

or

ʍopuıʍ sıɥʇ ɟo ɥsı˙˙uoısɹǝʌ ǝlɐɯ ǝɥʇ ƃuıʇɔǝlɟǝɹ ʇǝǝɹʇs ǝɥʇ ssoɹɔɐ uɐɯdoʇ (ɔ)

Of course it is difficult to say which of these two brands produced their schemes first, however, just have a guess and tick/delete as appropriate:

(a) Topman

(b) Warehouse

(c) Neither Topman or Warehouse

If you ticked either (a) or (b) of course you would be wrong, but how easy was that?  If you ever saw Armani Xchange's scheme in New York 2006 (image below),  then that's right, you guessed it.....taadaaa, same concept, different city (minus glitter ball) and completely unrelated brands  - chronic visual deja vu, hey?  As with other chronic visual deja vu sufferers please allow me to offer you some reassurance that you are not alone.  For now, I'll leave you with your reflections (if they're still there of course).
Incidentally, having had a cursory glance through Google, there is actually a cure for those of us suffering from pathological visual deja vu.  Unfortunately it does rely on the 'multiple' brands being creative and communicating some form of differentiation (at the very least).  You really couldn't make this stuff up, could you?
In the mean time, let me out of this psychomanteum, I'm trying to get my 'jamais vu' to kick in again.....again......again

Topman, London

Topman here in Oxford Circus, has really established its personality. I always found that Topshop led the way with product presentation, although I know from my experience of working with these Brands, and indeed at this particular store, whatever Senior Management decide, goes and it really held the creative teams back from exploring exciting ways of presenting the image - after all, weren't Topman suits meant to be worn for your first court appearance? It is, however, very refreshing and extremely exciting to see the incredible schemes from these brands which really have the edge over most of the multiples on the high street here. No wonder this store is so popular and usually mobbed on a daily basis. The use of neon and lighting is superb and I look forward to the next installation.