Hermes, Paris

One of our favourite stores along the Rue St. Honore has to be Hermes.  Having seen the artisans working away back in London at the Royal Academy last year and also the pending show next week along the Kings Road, we really do appreciate the work that goes into their products and in particular their nerves of steel in standing up and doing what they do so well without grasping for all sorts of variations of retail options.  Superb stuff.

Chloe, Paris

Isn't this scheme at Chloe beautifully simple?  We love the product handling dynamic here of Gravity demonstrated so well and presented almost like an art gallery space - stunning.  In our book published later this year by Bloomsbury we explore a whole range of dynamics which you can apply to your retail space very simply in order to achieve this type of quality which is always such a pleasure to view.  We always gave Chloe a cursory glance previously but it really does shine on the high street and very worthy or a second look.

Galeries Lafayette, Paris

We wouldn't like to suggest that there are references to the Moulin Rouge going on here, maybe there are or maybe we are simply reading something into this that isn't actually there?  But, anyway, further along the high street here in Paris at the 'fashion' area of the Galeries Lafayette, oodles of netting fill this space in a variety of colours.  Our favourites are the midnight Blue although this fantastic Red and Pink Lyra scheme is particularly great fun. 

Galeries Lafayette, Paris

At Galeries Lafayette its all about the skate board.  Chairs on skate boards, plates on skate boards.  You name it, its on a skate board, whether suspended, stacked or clamped together; home ware has gone skate board bonkers with a little nod to Paul Smith.  We have to admit that this scheme has been produced very well and these monolithic emporiums to all things design are quite impressive.  Fashion is interesting too and we'll share that scheme with you shortly.

Galeries Lafayette, Paris

We are currently working with one of our international clients here in Paris for the next couple of weeks and have already been out and about scouting for the best in Visual Merchandising in this glamorous city. From the incredible department stores to the smallest boutiques we will be sharing some of our wonderful finds with you that are happening right now.  Just watch this space......

French Connection, London

This poor old brand appears to have been scratching around to keep their heads above water for an eternity, haven't they?  Fortunately they appear to be looking really interesting again from a visual point of view although our shopping connections still lament that the product is the same year after year.  We don't actually know if this is the case as we rarely ever walk inside these stores ourselves.  However with their rotating mirrored 'billboards' (yes these mirrored structures are just like the thing you may have seen on the side of the highway, motorway and so on) actually do generate a bit of interest into their windows and we really are willing this brand to keep going and do some stuff less ordinary although not like the previous campaigns however.  I am Goat, You are Handbag kind of stuff really didn't work, did it? 

Moschino, London

OK, well you know we usually bash this brand whenever we come across what they do, but hands up, this one is actually one of their better ones.  The props are well made and it is a bit of fun.  OK, that's it.

Uniglo, London

As the schemes here go, this is one of their more interesting ones we thought.  Well, interesting in that the boxes behind these mannequins rotate 360 degrees.  Revolutionary stuff this.

Harvey Nichols, London

Mannequins dripping with paint, woven into a loom, disembodied and hybridised   This should be a scene from a horror film but instead it is absolutely mesmerising.  Have you been to see the scheme at Harvey Nichols recently?  These incredible scenes of mechanical movement, colour, texture and fantastic fashion are rocking Knightsbridge right now.  Simply, incredible, exciting, fun and fricking creative.  What more could we ask for?

Buro Happold, London

Not exactly a retailer but selling services nonetheless so more than worthy to be included here we thought.  We happened to be passing this architectural practice last week and were wowed by this incredible structure bursting through the window.  The guys here were kind enough to let us photograph it from the inside too so that we could share it with you.  So interesting to see more and more varieties of professions adopting Visual Merchandising principles and techniques don't you think?  This can only serve to highlight its importance, cant it?

Clarks, London

We've been looking at Clark's now for quite some time as they have really grown significantly visually over the past few years from a dull old hush puppy brand to a visual force on the high street.  We're a little unsure about this scheme however.  We are fascinated by associations of colour, and for us at least this has a whiff  of nautical meets Halloween, don't you think?  

Mathew Williamson, London

If you are a regular follower of this site then you may remember that we included this installation recently complete with coloured Easter Eggs.  The tree of course will change throughout the year with various additions to it according, we guess to the key trends, seasonal changes or simply at the whim of the the designer. who knows?  The jury is still out whether this is a clever concept in line with sustainability or simply a solution to avoid having to think about what to do next.  We're really not sure yet.

Republic of Fritz Hansen, London

If you happen to be around the Oxford Circus area of town do go and have a look at the Republic of Fritz Hansen.  We just so happened to be passing by and, well, wow, what an incredibly interesting place filled with the best of Scandinavian design.  Even more interesting is that this brand have joined forces with makecreate to launch an Artists in Residence programme which will see a selection of designers and artists using their store windows as a temporary studio space.  Amongst the artists in residence are Celia Smith, Makala Djorup, Peter Gura, Liam Richardson, SmithMatthias and Hayley Steadman to name just a few.  So do swing by their store on Margaret st and take a look at this incredible installation.  Collaborations are clearly one of the key trends  happening around town right now.