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.

On the Streets, Beijing

It took us a while to work out what this is.  It seems to be a promotional installation for capturing images and it was only by watching the Chinese interact with it that we could work out what it did.  There was nothing revolutionary about it but it seemed by the crowds who were interacting with it that it was very popular, although only temporary.  In the image below you can also see what appear to be little crosses.  These have been filled with all sorts of images from the Olympics.  It seems so strange to view what is happening back in London from the streets of Beijing, but one thing is clear from what we have observed, and that is that they are Olympic mad here.

I.T, Beijing

One of the wonderful things about the Malls of Beijing is the masses of space that they seem to have and we are quite in awe of it all and slightly overwhelmed.  Here at the Oriental Mall on the main fashion shopping street of Wangfujing which leads on the Tiananmen square, there are, yet again far too many shops to know where to begin.  I.T, which unfortunately was in Sale when we visited looked particularly interesting because of their enormous video wall.  We love the respect here shown to everyone as this kind of installation would probably be smashed and bashed if it were back in the UK, but the Chinese appear to take care of everything so well that we could probably eat the Chicken soup that we had for lunch (still with its head attached and complete with comb) from the floor.  Still, we did manage to avoid ordering the fried toad and the snake fish by mistake. 

Louis Vuitton, Beijing

No visit to any city would be complete without checking out the latest scheme at Louis Vuitton.  With so many of these stores here in Beijing we had a huge choice to select from.  This one which is situated on the JinHao has this incredible installation which was produced in conjunction with the artist Yayoi Kusama.  Of course seeing an installation in a static image is not particularly fun and therefore we have also uploaded a video of this for you through our YouTube channel which can be found by clicking the link here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2r5IOXab_U

Pops, Beijing

This brand is a completely new one to us.  Pops, which we understand from our fabulous Chinese interpreter is actually a brand from Vietnam.  Who would have thought that Vietnam would do such brilliant presentations and have such amazing brands?  Every single one of their stores is immaculate and creative and we've spotted quite a few here in China on our travels.  Anyway, lingerie is very difficult to make look good and original as the biggest players just get it so right.  If you happen to be here, just go and have a look.  Its fun and young and we love it.

Burberry, Beijing

Wow, how cool is this Burberry store?  We came across this one, which is adjacent to the Sun Long Place Mall.  You can get an idea of how hot it is here as even our image appears bleached by the Sun.  The Chinese seem to love the presence of the Lux brands although there appear to be very few of them (the Chinese) wearing any of it.  Luxury brand stores are just about everywhere here and in virtually every mall but who's buying this stuff?   

Converse, Beijing

Its been proving a little tricky to take images here at the Joy Mall, but we've managed to take some quickies to share with you in between the thousands of shoppers.  At Converse, we love these paint rollers being used as display stands for their trainers (or sneakers if you're stateside), although they are clearly proving difficult to remain balanced as the rogue trainers would indicate.  The presentation isn't particularly well done, but the concept is here so they still get a few brownie points.

Kiton, Beijing

There are so many brands here in Beijing that we have never heard of that we are in shopping heaven.  OK, well they are not all the most innovative but surprisingly the Vietnamese brands that we are finding are looking particularly good and are very well presented.  We're not sure where this brand is from although we did like the out sized pencils and bizarrely a chair.  What's the connection between the props we hear you ask?  We have no idea.

H & M, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright Matt Banks

As we're doing the grand tour of China right now we aren't able to view these windows for ourselves, but thankfully the guys at H&M have kindly shared these with us.  How cool is this brand looking right now?  These are some of the best Olympic windows we've seen so far and clearly rocking London retail.  Mannequins on asymmetric bars is no easy task to produce but these guys have absolutely got it so right without the mannequins looking as if they have been hybridised, i.e. placed in positions that they aren't meant to be in which always looks so odd.  Do swing by and have a look at this brand right now as the installation was probably as tough as any Olympic sport itself; bring on the Gold medal for these guys.

Joy City, Beijing, China

We're not big fans of shopping malls, however, as it is so incredibly hot here in the heart of Beijing, we are rather thankful that shopping is actually in doors.  Here at Joy City, we're perusing the brands both international ones and lots that we have never heard of to hunt out the best bits.  Filled to the brim with the usual luxury stores and the global brands the malls here seem to get it right - well nearly.  We've also spotted some duff ones also.  Anyway, we will share the best bits shortly with you.