Uno de 50, Paris

We had never seen this brand before walking the streets of Paris, although we were reliably informed that this is a Spanish jewellery brand.  We were particularly drawn, not by the windows here, but of the glimpse inside of this space with its repetition of these little bags on a raised plinth and suspended semi bust forms in, probably fibreglass.  We have to confess that we were a little dismissive of this brand as the name, which may sound cool in Spanish or any other language -  where it may just be meaningless - to us it sounded a little like a value retailer called "Under 50".  We have since seen some of the product which in fact is actually quite interesting.  Guess you cant judge a book by its cover after all?  Or can you?  Well, once they sort out their lighting i.e. illuminate their product evenly, and raise the product away from the floor in the windows, we may take a little more notice.  As it is, we nearly walked on by.  Luckily the door was left wide open in the bracing Paris winter cold and we got the shot below.  The website raised a little curly smile as it announces that it has limited edition (only 50 in the world, yes, that's right, only 50) eraser lamps and paint brushes stamped with Uno de 50.  Naturally we had to rush out and buy one - yeah that will be the one then.  Ya not quite LV yet, Uno de 50..!  (did you buy one?)

Laurent Debraux, Paris

Images Courtesy and Copyright Laurent Debraux

We love the work of Laurent Debraux here in Paris right now.  Born in Paris in 1965, Laurent worked initially  as software programmer before developing his kinetic sculptures in May 2010 for a neighbourhood event (open doors for Belleville’s artists workshops , Paris) purely for his own interest. However, after peer group encouragement, he decided to continue with the development of his work.

Laurent's work "aims are to transmit emotions by movement".  After all, "95% of communication between two people is non verbal" say Laurent, "and a lot of it passes by with very little perception of movement". What Laurent tries to recreate is an experience with minimal materials, in order for the viewer to see only the movement itself. Laurent confesses that he has no "talent to do beautiful things".  We disagree and can see all sorts of commercial applications for his incredible work.  If you have a scan on Youtube you can find all sorts of interesting videos of his work.  Really fascinating stuff, we think.

Louis Vuitton, Paris

We have to confess that we do love our, quite often these days, indulgence into the world of LV.  As these guys do such fun and interesting stuff, we are drawn to keep coming back to get our fix.  Here in Paris, in yet another one of their stores, LV, playing on the theme of travel, have included these fun bright Red bell boys popping out of their very desirable luggage placed underneath suspended and even more desirable bags.  As the backdrop we have a whole variety of hotel keys in a repetition format.  This scheme is so simple and allows our own imaginations to fill in any gaps.  As always, beautifully produced and great fun.

Lanvin, Paris

Strangely, Lanvin has always been very low on our radar although was suddenly rocketed last year to our attention when launching their new collection for H&M (or maybe rather for Ebay?).  Of course here in Paris, it is rather more cool and well known as one would expect.  Since it began in 1946 Lanvin has changed  hands on countless occasions.  One only has to input a cursory google search to see how incredible this brand really is.  We haven't had the time to have a good root around the inside of the store yet but we certainly are going to swing by the Saville row site once we get back to London.  In the meantime, their window schemes are great fun.  With men's and women's wear on opposite sides of the street here on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore the public become the models on the catwalk of the street.  High White gloss seated mannequins view the viewers through their dark glasses or enlarged eyelashes.  Fun stuff.

Hackett, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright http://www.harlequin-design.com/

We do love the visual presentation differentiation that this brand offers from the rest of the high street that, at least to us, currently just all looks the same particularly within this market range.  This installation by the creative team at Hackett in collaboration with the very cool Harlequin Design really does make this brand so much more interesting, desirable and we want a closer inspection.  Harlequin are "a design agency offering clients skills and services across a range of disciplines including Brand development, Retail, Print, Online and Marketing and PR solutions" have just completed this installation of moving cogs and vinyl letter form that gives this mid range brand a whole new feel.   We have enjoyed the fun narratives this brand have presented over the past year which are pitched at just the right level. In the meantime, do have a look at Harlequins site and see some of the projects that these guys have produced.  Fun, sensitive and absolutely right for the brands that they work with, what more could you ask?  http://www.harlequin-design.com/

Epices Roellinger, Paris

If you happen to be along Rue Sainte-Anne here in Paris, you must stop by at Epices Roellinger and have a look at this incredible store.   Sandrine Donvale who runs this particular site is most helpful and provided us with a lot of information about this site.  The spices here are heavenly.  In the centre of the store is this cabinet that wouldn't look out of place one of the grandest museums, in which sits a ship made of cloves - just exquisite.  All around this space are spices stacked to the rafters with names such as Poivre du Sichuan, Graine du Pardis, Muntok blanc and so many others too numerous to mention.  This place really is so wonderful and unique that we could hardly bring ourselves to leave.  If you want more information about this brand, do check out their site at http://www.epices-roellinger.com/ or better still, go and pay them a visit.

Les Arts Decoratifs Exhibition, Paris

We couldn't help ourselves and had to whip out the cameras to capture some of these little gems at the Les Arts Decoratif's exhibition in the Louvre right now before being busted by a very masculine female security guard.  Such is our life.  Anyway, this really is a superb exhibition celebrating 150 designs selected from the most "emblematic" collections of the 90's and noughties.  The exhibition shows work from various movements in fashion from "Belgian, British, urban, minimalist, haute couture and independent".  Our favourites here are the McQueen, Westwood, Miyake and Margiela pieces which really do communicate the creativity of the period. Our only gripe is how dusty and dirty the floor of these showcases are and chipped mannequins have been used which really distracted us from the incredible beauty of these pieces.  So no points here for presentation.  However, if you can ignore that then do go.  Well, go anyway as it really is quite stunning. 

SFD, London

If you haven't seen the launch of  SFD's new Christmas proposals for for 2011, then do swing by and take a look.  Today (27th January, 2011) is your opportunity to view their new offering based in the Visual Merchandising studios on the top floor of the London College of Fashion on Oxford St. (entrance John Princes st. nearest tube Oxford Circus) and it really is stunning.  These guys have their finger on the pulse of the year ahead having explored all of the major cities around the world identifying whats hot and whats not.  With their brand new cool website too you would be bonkers not to check these guys out to see what they can do for you. Of course, Christmas is only one part of the year and these guys do a whole lot more.  As ever the only limitation is your imagination.  So, while these guys are up for a challenge, are you creative enough for them?  They are all so incredibly nice too so if you haven't worked with them yet, what are you doing?  If you cant get to the show, do check out their website at www.sfd.co.uk and see what they can do for you.

Pierre Cardin, Paris

Its such a shame what has happened to this brand.  While iconic for some time and possibly just about everyone of a certain age is aware of it, we just cant help thinking about cheap belts, aftershaves that would strip your G-plan or 70's Pine furniture or could have stunned a mammoth and wallets that you would be embarrassed to show off.  Of course this brand is not alone and, at least for us Yves St. Laurent is still desperately clawing its way back up to the ladder of desirability after employing the same strategy of  too many licenses on a global scale selling stuff that one could find street sellers around the world trying to peddle for a pretty penny.  We're not sure what this space is all about as the Embassies close by had a big illuminated event and the French Police moved us on - and we weren't about to argue with their ferocity.  Still, its a great retrospective at least, although we cant help feeling that it needs a new 'star' to come along and do for it what (possibly) Tom Ford did for Gucci.   

Hermes, Paris

We had heard of this Hermes store in Paris opening previously somewhere but had forgotten about it until we met Jerome Commergnat the former Commercial Director at Christian Dior recently who mention that we should go and take a look.  Incidentally what a nice guy...!  Anyway, just a stones throw away from the Bon Marche (now in the very capable hands of LVMH - we're waiting for the magic to happen with this iconic but faded glory-type store) is this Hermes mecca.  Situated in a former 1935 swimming pool, this store is just delicious.  Still retaining its original swimming pool surround, tiles an' all - the floor dips slightly around the edges and the central area has been filled in and covered in mosaics.  These incredible wooden structures dominate this space, inside which the merchandise is placed.  With an inclination toward home ware merchandise, this store does still have some fashion bits, but generally houses lifestyle stuff.  We really were in awe after seeing this.  It seemed a shame to fill in the swimming pool area with concrete but that's architects for you.  However with the most incredible staircase, handrails clad in stitched leather and beautiful finishes of glass and wood this really is a stunning place to view and experience and definitely a must on the retail visual merchandising trail.

Hermes, London



Images Courtesy and Copyright http://www.creea.co.uk/

If you are passing through Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airrport soon, do go and have a look at the new Hermes scheme by the guys at http://www.creea.co.uk/ based here in London.  Creea,  "provide creative model making solutions for a variety of different business sectors including advertising, film, special effects, photography, theatre, retail, transport, product design, even magicians.!"  Check out their cool site see the range of amazing stuff they do, including some of the projects for this brand.

Louis Vuitton, Paris

As regular readers know, we usually rave about the concepts at Louis Vuitton who drive through where everyone else should be.  And this scheme is no exception.  We had heard about these Zebra's along the grapevine and have just had the opportunity to get a really good close up of these beasts for ourselves.  The detail here is exceptional, down to every eyelash and nose hair - incredible.  These are vast windows at Masion LV, Paris, and no easy task creating something spectacular for the space.  With its beaded backdrop in animal print, the hours spent in production here must have been enormous.  Its no surprise that LV is the No. 1 luxury brand in the world and with its schemes and simply sumptuous interiors as well as its desirable product, it really is no wonder.  The staff here are also incredibly friendly too - a rarity in Paris.  If you do happen to be here in Paris soon do take a look for yourself,  otherwise just enjoy the images here.

Colette, Paris

Having heard of Colette for absolutely ages, naturally we had to make a bee-line here and check out the what was happening.  While this place is buzzing with a fabulous club-like atmosphere albeit it in virtually florescent lit atmosphere, the crowd here spent an awful lot of time checking each other out rather than the merchandise.  It appears to be the place to want to be seen rather than shop and with vulgar merchandise priced that of a small mortgage, we'd rather not part with our Euro.  Obscure magazines line some fixtures next to apparently cool jewellery, t-shirts and so on, names of which you feel that you should know but don't.  And this is the crux of it.  Emperor's new clothes sprung to our minds in this scenario with a lot of surface gloss and little substance filled with the crowd that want to be part of something cool but don't seem to know what.  This place is jammed to the rafters with 'the crowd' not the merchandise.  Of course, its a pleasure to see less merchandise, but better merchandise would have been appreciated.  We wouldn't personally have put Topshop make-up next to the incredibly cool product that we've seen many times in NYC, La Labo - pretty criminal actually, placed in an area which appears to be an after thought in a lower mezzanine.  Still, the tourists love it and I guess what Colette says, goes, although from what we've heard, little has changed in three years, so hardly cutting edge?  The store looks great from the outside and has a wonderful reputation, but if you want something with a bit more depth, then just go and look from the outside and keep walking.