Zara, London

We love this scheme at Zara right now.  OK, well its possibly one of the remnants from the Olympics, but we have been out of the country for a while so its new to us.  In this locker room scene which looks almost like a modern version of a Caravaggio painting, the mannequins with their zigzag eye brows and multi-coloured wigs just looks superb, don't you think?

John Lewis, London

Well we're back in London and wow......how hot is this city?  We're not just talking about whats happening here window-wise but the weather is incredible..!  Anyway, we've already been out and about to have a look around town and it is amazing all of the changes that have taken place in a relatively short space of time.  D&G have closed their massive store  on Bond st. and Smytheson is going through a whole refit.  Coach has opened its doors for business and Juicy has opened in the old Kurt Geiger store in Regent st.  Gawd you turn ya back for on minute and the whole place falls apart.  Anyway, in the meantime, John Lewis is rocking Oxford St. with its massive Union flag graphic wrapped around the building.  Magnificent..!  We're so glad that the VML's have kicked in with Westminster Council to support this stuff.  We hope we will see more of it.  (VML's = Visual Merchandising Laxatives)

Signage, Shanghai

On our very last day in China, we decided to take some time out and climb (well, elevator) to the top of the Pearl Tower.  Although our Chinese is not good, we have to guess that this sign means no smoking and no hair dryers? 

We're now London bound so we'll be showing you next the latest and greatest from the coolest place on the planet; post jet lag of course.

Izzue, Shanghai

One of our favourite brands right now here in Shanghai has to be Izzue.  We had never heard of them before although we've seen several of their stores across China and their stores are looking super cool.   We're guessing that these guys are a Vietnamese brand as the Vietnamese seem to be getting everything so right?  Anyway, the merchandise is just a little on the super small size and this stuff is a little pricey for Chinese high street merchandise, although it is fabulous quality and we are rather tempted.

Markets, Shanghai

As regular readers will know, we spend hours scouring markets for delicious finds for trends and props and Shanghai has some corkers.  If you're looking for a ceramic Chairman Mao in a multitude of poses, some old Chinese lamps in unusual shapes, old coins, suitcases, bird cages or just some Asian stuff....the list goes on......then look no further.  We have to confess that we did have to treat ourselves to a ceramic waving Chairman Mao just for the kitsch value although we did resist the man selling a tiny vase in which one would place just one flower.....pluuurreaase we have enough 'stuff' already.  Anyway, the market traders here do come across a little aggressive and we're not really sure when we explain that 'We don't want a rusty bird cage thanks' whether they are replying 'Oh OK nice British visual researchers, 'ave a nice day guv'nor' or whether they have just put some Gypsy curse on us.  These guys do like to peer into your wallet however so if you do get down here, have small notes and haggle like your life depends on it.  One ceramic Chairman Mao - 3 quid, Kitsch value - priceless.

Plaza 353, Shanghai

We're becoming a little shopping weary right now having explored most of the malls, plaza's and department stores in Shanghai.  We are finding much of the same stuff repeated everywhere so any little gems that we find seem to make us ever more excited and delirious (well either that or the sun stroke is kicking in a treat).  Anyway, if by chance you happen to be in Plaza 353 and need to lift the shopping malaise then check out these fun seats.  The instructions are in Chinese and to be honest we don't have enough energy to even begin to try and translate this, but essentially these are old chairs with inflatable bits attached to them.  We don't know how comfortable they are, but they are great fun to view and we love this combination of the old and the new here.

Moncler, Shanghai

We've never recorded the windows of a Moncler store before although the brand seem somehow familiar?  Its still scorching hot here and the light is a little too blinding to our Western European sensitive eyes.  Clearly we are more suited for cooler climates which is probably why we were drawn to this scheme.  It seems so odd to view a Winter style theme in such heat, don't you think?  We love it of course, but we would probably faint just trying on this little Black number complete with Golden Cyber-storm-trooper-type helmet and even the thought of it is making us sweat more.  We always try and capture images of windows at night time although this city is rather too large to just spend all night trawling the streets and unfortunately therefore we have almost complete glare and reflection in these images.  Ah well, we're sure you get the gist of it anyway.

Louis Vuitton, Plaza 66, Shanghai

Through absolutely pure luck we came across this Louis Vuitton installation at Plaza 66 here in Shanghai.  In a desperate bid to keep cool, as its fricking hot here, we made a bee line for this actually fairly nondescript Plaza along the main drag.  Its rather quiet inside as you can see from this image although we managed to take some quick images of this enormous luggage shaped exhibition space.  To visualise the size of these just look to the right hand corner of this giant piece of luggage in the forefront where the doorway is in order to give you a sense of scale.  We also managed to get some cheeky interior shots but we know you wont tell anyone.

Adidas, Shanghai

Things change and move on and nothing lasts forever.  The London Olympics have come to an end in the most spectacular way, but then we in the UK were always good at closing things down; remember Thatcher?  Anyway, we've moved onto Shanghai and we're sweating more than the sweatiest Lycra wearing Olympian but exploring the delights of this magnificent city anyway.  We're seven...ish hours ahead of the UK so its desperately late...or early? and we're working through the night in search of the best windows that we can find.  Hands up, Adidas is looking hot right now and just like Nike we have an army of mannequins guarding the entrance to their store.  Adidas has never looked so good with their massive Dragon vinyl placed on the fenestration adding to the excitement shared around the world.  Amazing stuff.

On the Streets, Beijing

There seems to be a Soho in just about every major city in the world, isn't there?  So, its not really a surprise that areas which are clearly being regenerated for the Urban cool shouldn't call at least somewhere, Soho.  Although there's notreally much here at the moment apart from office blocks which is quite interesting (well the fact that the Chinese call this area Soho, not the office blocks of course).  What you cant see in these images is that there a massive fly over right in from of the signage.  Very odd, but, well, good on these guys for trying we guess and we wish that we could stay longer to see what happens in this area over time.

American Apparel, Tokyo



Images Courtesy and Copyright Lena Shockley



We just love the far east right now.  The weather is scorching that even at night time we dare not walk too fast around town as otherwise its a case of changing into a third set of fresh clothes: although part of the fun in being in these places is being able to get into the rhythm of life here - wonderful.  Anyway, we were kindly sent these images which we love.  The colours of the far eastern regions all look so incredible in this light.  The scheme here at American Apparel just about sums up what we need right now.  Very cold ice creams and lolly pops.  American Apparel has never looked so good.  

On the Streets, Beijing

We're still rather stunned at how excited and Olympic mad the Chinese are.  These guys working at a local mall sporting their London 2012 Olympic t-shirts were particularly excited.....;o)

Nike, Beijing

Sports, and in particular, the Olympics appear to be taken very seriously here in Beijing, and judging by the windows at Nike on the Wangfujing, with its army of mannequins, all rather powerful too.  The lighting along this street is so bright that even at night time it appears as if its day time; well London day time at least.  Huge video walls and flashing lights make this area very alluring and exciting to be a part of; at least for a while.