Smythson, London

We have to confess that we are not massive fans of this scheme, although with Sale windows in place in just about every other retailer in town, it was quite a necessary inclusion for today.  It is fun in a way but we do find that the colours are incredibly garish, the product very expensive and we're not sure that these two elements work well together, what do you think?  Expensive brand looking cheap?

Scabal, London

On a few occasions we do find ourselves wandering along Saville Row, just in case something somewhere catches our eye.  We usually make a bee line straight to Lanvin as they tend to produce schemes that are rather more professionally produced to the usual tailors.  However, we were rather impressed, given that Saville Row tailors are not particularly noted for their window schemes, with this one from Scabel (no we hadn't heard of them either).  Anyway, the usual pyramidal dynamics are in place so we suspect that they were given a hand by someone who knew what they were doing and what you see here is what you get.  Quite refreshing to see someone else on this street making an effort, and therefore worthy of inclusion on this site, we think?

Berlutti, London

We often pass the Berlutti store along Conduit Street and barely give it a cursory glance.  This store, which is next door to the ever fabulous Vivienne Westwood and opposite the new and pending Nicole Farhi store and their new and incredibly exciting site (the hoardings are up and we are dying to see what they are doing behind it).  With their tiny window spaces at Berlutti, these guys don't really do very much but on this occasion, they raised a smile in us with their presentation of their shoes stepping on egg shells.  Finally, we have something from these guys worth sharing and we are so pleased to do so.  We don't know anything at all about this brand other than that they are probably incredibly expensive, given their location, but we do hope that even in the tiny space that they do have, that they will continue to entertain us and make us come back again and again.  If you are along this part of town, do go and have a look.  There is clearly something intriguing about them and we want to know more, so hopefully their PR guys will get in touch and we'll be able to tell you more about what they do (unless you already know?)

On the Streets, London

No Entry?.....No problem.

Bally, London

Its quite unusual for Bally to use bust forms in their window schemes.  What is so interesting about these ones also are the layers added to them which makes them ever more interesting.  These bust forms used in a repetition format are being used 'naked' and raw with the addition of, in some cases this fibre glass layer which has been added to them.  We suspect Tanya (Tanya Reynolds, creative Director at Proportion>London) and her team have been experimenting with different materials and these ones are quite delicious.  We're pleased to see these in place at Bally as bags can be shown in such dull ways normally and what great fun they are too.

Gucci, London

We had forgotten that we had taken these images until recently.  Of course Sale windows are so dominant around town right now that there really is little else to photograph anyway, therefore we are scanning our previous weeks images in search of the latest or at least current images that we may previously overlooked.  These are some of them.  We had actually meant to include this scheme recently as it does work so incredibly well in its simplicity.  An image of a White marble staircase leading to nowhere in particular forms the back ground to the product here.  Strangely, these images of staircases do look incredibly cleverly and beautifully produced and our images just don't do them justice.  Sadly in our images the whole thing just looks like a headless mannequin wearing an OK suit in front of a White marble staircase.  Ah well,  who said that the camera never lies, hey?

Sale Windows, London

We have to admit that we are struggling at the moment to find anything innovative happening around town right now that we haven't already included on this site, and so we have a selection of Sale schemes for you.  We guess its a necessary evil and all part of the commercial calender out there on the high street, so lets get it out of the way and we'll bring you some none Sale schemes the rest of the week.

Moschino, London

The London store of Moschino have been using quite out-sized props at this site for quite some time, however their latest offering, following in the footsteps of brands such as Diane Von Furstenburg and many others over a longer period of time, the props themselves reflect the merchandise being presented.  While this is not a terrible thing to do we always wonder if the brand has simply run out of ideas and looks to the merchandise for inspiration?  But anyway, as usual, it looks great, but a sharp injection of fun would be good to view too, non?

On the Streets, London

Who could this possibly be?  Opera Gallery itching to be included on a site somewhere....well here ya' go guys, complete with Super-Obama.

London College of Fashion students win GOLD

We are so pleased to announce that Lai Chi Ho (Tommy) and Wakana Murata, Fashion Retail Branding and Visual Merchandising students at the London College of Fashion have been awarded first prize at the Skill VM competition (the In-store show) at Olympia yesterday.  My colleague Sarah Blackburn (Course Director) and I are very proud of these guys who worked incredibly hard to win the Gold award.  Tommy and Wakana developed a concept for a luxury brands' 'little Nude dress' based  on the exhibition by the House of Martin Margiela and the game of Jenga, and with just four hours to install this scheme, the outcome is quite remarkable.  Each of these tissue boxes were hand made and embossed with the brand logo and strategically placed as if they were about to fall while communicating both the fragility of the merchandise and the tensions of the game.  The judges for the scheme which included the Heads of Visual at Peter Jones and former head of Aquascutum and Jaeger were enormously impressed with these guys who's scheme can be viewed at the Peter Jones site along the Kings Road / Sloane sq. here in London very soon.

Liza Minnelli, Royal Albert Hall, London

Well, today was either Sale window schemes or photos of 'Pop Royalty' and well Liza clearly won.  This month seems to be teeming with invitations to shows and events here at http://www.retailstorewindows.com/ towers and, well how could we resist but to go and see the Queen of torch songs and other stuff, Liza herself when we had such amazing seats at the Royal (Uncle) Albert Hall here in London?  We're sure you will read all about it in the popular press anyway, although from our perspective, while the music was a little lounge lizard-esque,  it was great fun, great entertainment, incredible energy and a good old trip down memory lane.  How long can this incredible woman go on?

On the Streets, London

What is a PEDESTPIAN?

Red Border, London

For all those aspiring to enter into the world of Visual Merchandising, what a wonderful opportunity..!