Esprit, London

This is a surprisingly interesting scheme from Esprit, don't you think?  We are pleased to see that the repetition of mannequins in an ordinary-space-days appear to be far behind this brand and, well, hands up, these guys are so interesting and really working hard for your 'bucks'.  We like that.  With their train station-style installation all painfully crafted (probably on a budget but that's OK, right? - no, not really) these guys have delivered a fun, interesting and less than ordinary scheme with minimal cost.  We know very well how hard it is to do these things and we wish that the accounts departments of these types of brands would just leave the creative  teams to get on with the job and support them in producing lavish schemes; no chance of that happening.  Sadly the boys (and females) possibly in Grey suits just love to feel cool and privy to the party.  Sometimes, we have to work the floor and just let them think that they are, even if we know otherwise, right?

Ralph Lauren, London

Gorgeous Spring / Summer colours are slipping into schemes around London right now which is a welcome relief from either Easter or winter installations.  Thankfully also, the holiday season is creeping up on us (a little quicker would be nice of course) so this beautifully presented scheme at RL is just what we need to see.

VM & Display Show, 2013

Have you registered yet for the VM & Display Show yet?  No? Then what are you waiting for?  Just click on the image above and complete the pro forma and the guys will do the rest (it takes a few seconds).  So cu'mon lets get on with it, eh?

L.K.Bennett, London

We're loving this Pink at L.K. Bennett right now.  With such a large window and comparatively small product, good old L.K. have got this absolutely right.  So often we see these vast window spaces with tiny product placed inside which are completely lost in the vastness of space.  What these guys have done is to hone the customers lazy-21st-century-tech-savvy-blasted-with-to-much-information-constantly-eyes in on the product without actually blocking the whole window space out.  So, lets appreciate the thinking behind this and go and have a look at this simple yet perfectly applied technique? 

Browns, London

We haven't been to have a look at South Molton street here in London's west end for months and months.  We were actually looking for a particular French Chocolatier but it seems sadly that a lot of the small stores have moved out and there are a couple of empty stores along this street currently.  This is a shame.  But anyway, we love Browns and what they are up to right now.  The scheme is a little disjointed but they have had a go which counts for something.  In one window we have this 'favela' inspired scheme with a large format graphic and these little houses.  The colour's look great although the execution is a little dubious.  Just next door the neon and the props look fantastic and great fun.  Its a shame that this semi-open space couldn't accommodate those horrible wires but then as this fantastic boutique have actually done something to entice us in (and we imagine the rents here for spaces is horrendous) so we cant be too harsh and these schemes were a pleasure to view regardless. 

Diptyque, London

There appears to be an architectural theme beginning to happen around town right now with brands such as Diptyque with their model buildings and Browns and their Brazilian favela influenced scheme along South Molten street.  We absolutely love the products at this brand and savour in particular their candles which surround retailstorewindows towers on a regular basis.  We just wish that these little beauties were illuminated when we passed although cardboard and hot lamps of course are not the best mix.  LED's would have done the trick however.

Calvin Klein, London

We never thought we would be waxing lyrical about this brand in London but these guys are rocking right now...!  We adore these old style television sets in a pyramidal format and real TV screens. These window schemes continue to call back to us to have a look, beckon us in and be excited about what they do.  CK is cool again and thank goodness someone has gripped this brand by the throat here in London and injecting some energy and creativity.  We're loving it and want to share it ever more. 

G-Star Raw, London

We don't tend to see very much creativity coming from this brand although there is a kind of quiet sophistication about what they do, don't you think?  Large format graphics of course are particularly cheap to use and so many global brands adopt this position when they have so many stores and no visual merchandisers to implement their schemes. One would hope that the savings would be passed onto the customer.  G-Star product is not actually particular cheap, so we're guessing that someone somewhere is making a lot of money and a someone possibly named 'Tracy' (hypothetically of course) who works on the fitting room on a Saturday is busy hanging graphics during a quiet moment in store. Sigh.  We continue to tell it like it is.

Desigual, London

It appears that the guys at Desigual are having far too much fun, don't you think?   Screaming from this tiny (by comparison to the others on Regent street) is their latest offering that says 'we're a young and fun brand and just want to share it all with you'.  The energy and passion that these guys clearly have oozes from their schemes which makes the surrounding stores appear deficient by comparison. 

Alexander McQueen, London

This is an incredibly striking scheme at McQueen.  We often find it difficult to find schemes in pure Black and White (although actually Moschino around the corner are also), however this eery scheme stopped us in our tracks along Bond Street.  As always, simply stunning.

Fortnum and Mason, London

The latest scheme at Fortnum and Mason brought a huge smile to our faces.  How fantastic are these windows?  We absolutely adore the creativity of these guys.  This is one of the few stores globally specialising in food presentation and don't they just set the standard, eh?  Historical references and good old camp frippery at its very best.  We bet their customers love this. How can anyone even come close to the quality of what they do here?

Burberry, London

Wow, look at these gorgeous windows at Burberry right now.  We can honestly say that this scheme looks much better in reality than in a photograph as the suspended mirrored 'bits' at the back move slightly and glint in the lighting.  The mirrored finish of  these purple plinths and the jewel-like merchandise looks almost edible.  There also appear to be references between Miss. World and the Olympics with its pyramidal dynamic  but, still, this is a definitely a winning scheme and someone somewhere really does understand how to apply the various product handling techniques so well.

Guess, London

We are just going to squeeze just one more London Fashion Week scheme into the schedule as so many of you have asked for it and quite surprisingly, the Guess scheme actually looked a little interesting, don't you think?  We're not massive fans of this brand and usually perhaps a little scathing of their out-of-the-packet schemes, but hands up, they do look rather less ordinary right now.