Daks, London

I always enjoy seeing Daks windows along Bond St. in London as they tend to do very sophisticated schemes which ooze quality. I was therefore, a little disappointed with this scheme as while it is executed very well, it is a celebration of 115 years (as I was quite rightly corrected by an anon. follower not 150 years as I had previously posted) - and possibly in the light of Selfridges fantastic 100 years' celebration - I actually found it quite unexciting. The only real indication that Daks is celebrating its Anniversary is is a small decal on the glass telling us so and which is barely visible in my photograph. I couldn't help feeling that a little more could have been done other than the use of the repetition of photographic images in the windows and grey fabric is rather unadventurous albeit very good quality. For a retailer to reach a 115 year Anniversary is such an incredible achievement that I for one would want to shout about this and shout quite loudly. Am I being harsh here 'followers' or would you agree that more could be done visually for such a whopping 115 year Anniversary?

Jc De Castelbajac, London

Jc De Castelbajac along Conduit Street in London, I find, quite an odd store. I have seen various incarnations of the store on this site which if I remember correctly is where onkin ee (is that the correct spelling?) once stood. Anyway, I do enjoy what they do with their Windows and they certainly are creative and fashion forward. I was viewing the latest Alexander McQueen catwalk show recently for 2010 where models wore these huge Leigh Bowery-esque lips - am guessing this is where the concept came from. Anyway, I thought the reclining figure is a great prop. Perhaps he doesn't need the sunglasses? I felt this just made him suddenly look too human and therefore I was looking at a naked figure rather than a prop. Anyway, while the merchandise, it seems is perhaps for the very fashion forward / or brave, it is a fun store to see. I particularly like the figure in the perspex chair with the undersized hat positioned strategically on her head - although that chair looks very uncomfortable - well I guess that's just fashion.

Kurt Geiger, London

I think this is the first Kurt Geiger stand alone store that I have ever seen. I am familiar with the brand as concessions within department stores but I dont recall seeing any 'solus' sites anywhere on my travels. Anyway, although I have seen the use of old suitcases in many displays before, I felt that this worked actually very well. Each one has been painted in such wonderfully vibrant Summer colours and the product has been strategically placed creating an old-school-type glamour. I am not sure if this is the first display for this brand, but from across Regent Street in London while flaneur-ing the city it drew me in and I wanted to share it with you. I must admit, I am looking forward to seeing what they do next..!

Nicole Farhi, London

I have been following these Nicole Farhi windows for quite some time. Recently, I recorded some figures reclining in a deckchair with a seagull precariously perched on the back of the chair, only to find 24 hours later while flaneur-ing with my students that the Seagull had 'perhaps' been strategically moved? Anyway, I have seen a lot of schemes over the last year using furniture as props, but I thought this worked quite well. I feel that these windows are quite difficult to visually merchandise and display and the Nicole Farhi team do it very well. On the one side we have menswear with headless male mannequins stood and sat on a large circular table and in the other window we have the repetition of chairs floating on a vertical plane. I couldn't help feeling that the two windows are a little disjointed if I look at the scheme holistically. I am also not really a fan of headless mannequins as I do find them rather generic. However, the scheme is very well executed (as one would expect from a designer store) although I must ask followers, are they lacking something? Maybe something which makes us smile or something clever? There is an opportunity to do something fun here although my emotional response is that while they have been installed extremely well, someone somewhere has missed an opportunity to have fun with the scheme. What do you think followers?

Moschino, London

I came across these Moschino store windows in London recently which I thought were so interesting, particularly after my comments on the previous ones. Although, of course my comments were not negative, I was just questioning what the scheme was about? Anyway, Moschino have recently created these wonderful neon lit bust forms - the likes of which I have never seen before and I thought that these windows work so incredibly well. The neon lit bust forms reflect the merchandise next to it creating a kind of reflection and repetition of form. These windows are so wonderfully simple and yet absolutely communicate the brand and the current merchandise. A great concept, thank you Moschino team..!

Georgina Goodman, London

I must confess that I don't know much about Georgina Goodman as a brand and, of course as a male I don't buy this kind of product (fabulous designer shoes). I have passed this store many times - always at night time - and I have often seen these spinning spherical-like structures in the window that seem to me to present the 'hero's' of Georgina's range and I do find them quite mesmerising. Naturally, simply photographing this and sharing it with you does not really do it justice as the spinning sphere-like structures (that look like something from the Science Museum's collection) need to be shown actually spinning and therefore I have once again included a short video of the window. For some reason my short videos always seem to make London look like Winter time. This was actually quite a particular balmy evening, but I hope you enjoy.

Vivienne Westwood, Conduit Street, London

I don't often write about Vivienne Westwood windows as nothing significantly changes. However, as I walked my city usual walk in my 'flaneur' mode, I came across this little gem along Conduit Street in London. The windows here, contain bust forms which I believe are by Proportion London (the link to them is on the right hand side of this page) in a stripey fabric. Unusually, the windows contain these rosette 'like' structures which act as a kind of backdrop to the figures and merchandise, with an almost confetti like design vinyl on the glass. It is not clear what the story is here other than an abstract concept, however needless to say I did feel compelled to record these windows as ones which have become quite significant in the overall scheme and were therefore a delight to view and worth sharing.

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Museum of Branding, Packaging and Advertising

I recorded this while on a recent visit to the Museum of Branding, Packaging and Advertising here in London, although I cant actually remember what this 'thing' is is called. Essentially it is a concertinaed structure which is viewed through a tiny reveal at the front of the structure which gives the impression of a 'scene' through a space - if that makes sense. The reason I have recorded this is because I thought it was an incredible concept for a commercial space. Unfortunately the images are not very clear due to the nature of how it is viewed, however as commercial spaces, by their very nature are transitory (or at least should be) I thought this was an innovative and useful way of changing the space without the enormous cost of a re-build or re-fit?

Museum of Brands Packaging and Advertising

The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising is absolutely one of my favourite small Museums in London. The Robert Opie collection I believe consists of around 12,000 items. What is so interesting here is that one is able to view long forgotten items and ones that you never knew existed..! Toothpaste in ceramic jars, tiny bottles of perfume from the reign of Queen Victoria, right up until the present time. There are numerous items to kick start ideas for product presentation and commercial interiors, from eras that no-one is left to remember. One of my favourite cases contains bottles and containers of contemporary brands through a kind of metamorphosis over time. What always amuses me is that the medicine and 'health' product containers have become smaller while the boxes of chocolates and other consumables have become bigger - an amazing indication of the sign of our times.

Rome Store windows

Further along Via Condotti in Rome I happened to come across these stores - Stuart Weitzman (above) and Vicmatie (below). The Stuart Weitzman store reminds me a little of Frank Gehry's Issey Miyake store on Hudson in New York. Of course the Miyake store is rather more sophisticated than this one although while teaching my students about fashion trends recently, I thought that this was such a great example of how Commercial spaces as in Fashion are possibly translated from the designer stores (albeit on the high street) to the more commercial ventures? What I cant say of course is that there is a direct link between the two stores in relation to their design and that one was in fact influenced by the other, however it is interesting how closely the designs are linked.

The Vicmatie store had an interesting concept based on the repetition of a photographic image. I thought that this concept needs to be a much bigger statement. Perhaps the use of a backdrop of some kind would have created a much stronger context and varying the size of the repeated photographs beyond those in vinyl on the glass - which incidentally I think works very well.

Rome store windows

Rome is not very well known for its store windows, however, of course the designer brands always come up with the 'goods'. While walking along Via Condotti - the Bond Street and the 5th Avenue equivalent in Rome I came across these windows. The top image is from Gucci who have used a three dimensional stage set perspective view that is developed from and reflected in their merchandise and close by Moschino created these three dimensional animal shaped forms using an origami technique.

Valentino, London

I love this idea displayed in Valentino's windows at the moment. It consists of a series of four boxes which have at the centre a type of sand blasted effect material which hides the product. Each one illuminates alternately revealing the product behind (handbags) It is very difficult to see this from a 'still' and in day light, however in the video below I think it really does begin to become alive. In the evening when there is less reflection on the glass it does look particularly exceptional.

Chanel, Sloane Street, London

I really do love Chanel's products. They are absolutely at the forefront of fashion, and the store in SoHo in New York is particularly wonderful, as are the people who work there. However, ......and I never wish to be derogatory...... and this is not what this blog is about, although I am just simply not sure how to interpret their windows - and I have felt like this for along time, if I am honest. I have never met anyone who has produced their schemes, not that I suppose that means anything really, but I am interested in who does. I feel that this concept is one of their better ones and that the details look amazing, yet, from an emotional response perspective I am always left feeling that something somewhere is missing in their concepts? I have looked at, and followed Chanel for a long time in many different cities and I do find it quite difficult to be constructive about their presentation. I must ask 'followers' what do you think? Am I being harsh? Chanel display team, please let me know the context in which these concepts are produced? I would dearly like to work on the concepts for these schemes.