Oliver Sweeney, London

You may remember a short while ago that we commented on how badly wrapped these, well probably boxes we guess, here at Oliver Sweeney on Conduit street were in the image above.  Well....to our amazement, they've been swapped for these deliciously packaged gifts complete with signature ribbon and gorgeous paper that we would love to receive ourselves.  What a difference just a little bit of thought and care make, eh?  Cheers guys........so much better.  We may be stateside right now but we can still sniff out an improved scheme......;o)

Ralph Lauren, New York

There's always something so satisfying about visiting New York during the holiday period as nearly everyone makes such a big effort to embrace the season and show themselves at their most imaginative and  exciting.  We've visited the Ralph Lauren Mansion along Madison several times before as they do what they do so deliciously well and we want to keep coming back.  This years scheme is nearly all White, creating this fantastic winter wonderland and of course is beautifully produced to the standards which keep this brand at the top of the industry.

Barneys, New York

We've been following Barneys Christmas window schemes for almost 15 years (yeah...!) and we loved the Cher scheme, the homage to Warhol, the Green Christmas, the Hippy Holiday, the Rudolph reindeer in respect of 9 / 11, Gaga's Workshop.....the list goes on.  But, fricking Disney?  We've heard along the VM grapevine that the brand has been sold and now owned by an investment company (we don't know for absolutely sure)  However, while digital technology is definately of the moment, does it really have to be Dis-mally?  Oh what a shame.  Apologies for the smears of tears left on the fenestration @ Barneys but you clearly no longer understand your brand and the soul has been ripped out.  There are two ways left to go; either Bonwit Teller (as in no longer in existence) or Macys (horribly mainstream).  What a great big Disney tragedy for such a gem of a company.

Bergdorf Goodman, New York

Our first stop in New York has to be Bergdorfs.  This year the store have presented this incredible Follies presentation with their usual microscopic attention to detail.  Strangely, overall the Bergdorf scheme is not as lavish as we have seen in previous years, although the attention to detail is second to none.  These guys are at the top of the tree for sure.  We've seen this 'Charlston' mood happening across a lot of brands throughout the year so we will be keeping track as it begins to trickle down into the mainstream.  If, in the meantime you can go and see this scheme, then you must.  We've taken lots of images of these windows and constantly licking our laptop screens in awe.

Retail Store Windows in New York

We are currently scouring the latest and greatest from the Big Apple to bring you all of the wonderfully delicious schemes happening right now stateside.  If you want to know whats up, whats in and whats happening, then do keep checking back here at www.retailstorewindows.com

Image source: http://www.whatswrongwiththeworld.net/2010/02/americas_british_culture.html

Prada, London

Prada always seem to make such an effort with their schemes, don't you think?  We are always strangely surprised at what they produce and in this case there appear to be references to Verner Pantons work of the 1970's and in particular Visiona and Visiona 2. 

Gucci, London

We haven't looked at Gucci for absolutely ages, possibly because their Bond street store always has its security grille down so its not very easy to capture their windows often. However, their Knightsbridge store doesn't appear to be as precious so we were able to capture their Christmas scheme in all is blinging glory to share with you. 

Selfridges, London

Like a beacon of retail hope, Selfridges is beaming onto Oxford Street right now and looking, as ever, incredible.  We always adore what these guys do and of course always look forward to their Christmas schemes.  This year, we have seen the fantastic tongue in cheek humour from this brand which harks back to when store windows were just that;  Clever, fun and beautifully produced, yet selling the products.  Selfridges always gets it so fricking right, it hurts and hurts wonderfully.

De Beers, London

De Beers never really do anything interesting but thankfully there are exceptions and clearly stranger things have happened.  We captured this at night time so there's no jewellery to be seen here but we did think that this absolutely summed up that frosty feeling that we are experiencing in London right now.  These beautifully scratched windows revealing what we thought initially from a distance was an advent calender actually reveals these videos of candles burning.  A wonderful scheme and it would be great to come back and see more creativity here.  Well, we're hoping at least.

Mathew Williamson, London

We adore the colours here at Mathew Williamson, aren't they stunning?  Unfortunately the scheme itself is not very strong and we can see that the usual mannequins have been dusted off and represented as if they've all argued with each other.  Of course, the mannequins are the highest quality, as is the product but sadly nothing ever seems to happen in tandem.  There is such enormous mileage in this scheme but it just doesn't work as one.  What a missed opportunity.

Fortnum and Mason, London

Christmas really wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to Fortnum and Mason, would it?  These guys absolutely get it all so right every time.  Following on from their amazing Jubilee scheme (which now seems so far away) we have their latest offering which simply oozes the quality one would expect from such a wonderfully historical brand that knows how to handle such difficult product.  There really is no where like this brand and the skill of the team here is second to none.  Another fantastic year guys. 

Fred Perry, London

We often forget brands such as Fred Perry who seem to work away doing their thing and perpetually feeding their loyal clientele.  Tucked away somewhere behind Carnaby street in the centre of it all is one of their central stores.  These windows are really very difficult to produce for, for the 21st century demands, although these guys always do exceptionally well, don't you think?  With their repetition of these out sized toy soldiers in a White finish just about sums up the season.  Simple, fun and does everything it is supposed to do.  Perfect for this brand and job well done.

Fenwicks, London

Well, would you look at Fenwicks.  Who would have thought that this brand would be looking so amazing?  For so long, this store has sat quietly along Bond street in the centre of it all and did nothing very remarkable, and look at them now...!  Each scheme just gets better and better.  The team here obviously have a unique vision and dragging this monolith bang up to date with every scheme.  We may now actually have a little wander inside and take a closer look.  It has been years and years since we have done so, but their schemes are looking so cool that we are now compelled to take a closer look.