London Retail VM and Display Show Exhibitors 2010 DZD Creative Director: Sonya Storm

Looking through my archives recently I found hundreds of advertisements for VM and Display showrooms throughout London's West End (particularly Newman st). Sadly over time one by one they have all relocated or disappeared from the map. Only one showroom is left for us to visit and what a feast it is. DZD, located along Tottenham Court road adjacent to Warren st. tube station is a fantasy land of VM and Display ephemera. Sonya Storm, the Creative Director here has worked with the company for 12 years and oversees the product buying and development within the showroom. As we have, no doubt all experienced those last minute Display emergencies it is always a comfort to know DZD provide that essential backup service that we all so often need. The clients to the company read like a who's who with all the major players calling on the expertise of the team. From Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis, to countless multiples, freelancers to tiny retailers in Ghana and Australia, the company cater for the world. However, did you know that they also provide props for photo shoots, film, TV and a bespoke service too? Their stunning portfolio of film credits and magazine coverage was little known to me too until I scratched beyond the Christmas 'stuff' that those of us who know the company are famous for. So, swing by their stand at the show next week to check them out and have a chat with Sonya and the team. I always do, and I always leave with tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks. Besides incredible product and service, they are incredibly fun to be with too - you wont want to leave.

Diesel, London

One of the coolest brands at the moment has to be Diesel. The store on Carnaby St. here in London has a great new brand campaign. What I like about this store is the fact that they actually come out of the site and utilise the front of the building as part of their presentation. I'm not over excited about the content of the graphics but it is admirable they are thinking around the existing space too as we just don't see that very often. Still, it is fun and I particularly like the inflatable Elephant (at the centre of the top image) sat on a figure - great sense of humour.

Nicole Farhi, London

Have you seen Nicole Farhi this week? Walking along Bond St. here in London the other evening I came across their new London Fashion week launch scheme. The scheme is based on around 15 famous London landmarks, the Gherkin, St. Pauls Cathedral, the Post Office Tower and so on which have been produced in a vinyl applied to the fenestration and within the store itself. These incredible drawings have been produced by Esther Coombs, a graduate in Illustration spotted at 'Tent'. Esther has been working with the ever talented Jamie Shouli who I believe produces the schemes at Nicole Farhi. After months of Christmas bling, Sale windows and Valentines motifs it is a refreshing move by retailers that they are tapping into otherwise potentially unused talent. Is this the sign of a trend and wonderful things to come in 2010? Who knows? However, I do hope that more collaborations with young Designers do occur this year and support our fresh talent. In the meantime, do check out Esthers work at http://www.esthercoombs.com/ - stunning drawings and a must have for your list of contacts.

Dover Street Market, London

While swinging by Dover St. Market this week, I came across this incredible installation. OK, well, yes, it is a horse (kind of) with images of clouds projected on it if we look at it literally, and so where is the value in that I hear you ask? I do feel that images which are projected work very well if the conditions are right - and they are of course very cheap. Sunny days are obviously not the right conditions and neither is day light. This installation works well as these were taken at night time, although the public traffic was zero (apart from me) - so whats the point? Do we need something here which can be appreciated in both day and night time? As regular followers will know, I'm not a huge fan of motifs (clouds, in this case being one of them) although I do appreciate this for its aesthetic value, even though the narrative is not very clear. Perhaps this needs to be seen during the day time too to begin to really understand what is being communicated? In addition, we can look at any number of fine art installations to find inspiration in the use of projected images whether these are static or moving and perhaps in this instance it would have benfitted from a moving projection as the conditions (at least at night time) are perfect and I do enjoy the way the projection casts a show of the animal across the whole store. Anyway, I will let you decide what you think.

Ermenegildo Zegna, London

Zegna, London

Image Courtesy and Copyright Ronald Knoth, NYC.

While flaneuring along Bond St. this week I happened upon the new windows from Ermenegildo Zegna. This is a difficult concept to make any comments about as and while I am familiar with the brand I never buy anything here and don't actually know that much about them. I have included these images to share with you as I was quite intrigued that the previous week these out sized bust frames were clad in a wooden frame. (In the New York Store they have used Mannequins inside the form too). Revolutionary stuff hey? Is the previous weeks concept and this the same? I find myself in a dilemma. It is difficult to not be mean about what has been presented to us but I simply cannot think of anything else to say and I do feel a little cheated that so little has been done to entice me (and you) - and there are plenty of retailers 'out there' doing this too. I would have thought this could be an exciting brand, and certainly the merchandise is beautiful, but where or what is the idea here? Is there a visual team here or did the part-time sales associates follow this from a manual? (I know that's rather caustic) Anyway, perhaps its better to write nothing more and let you decide for yourselves what you think.

The London College of Fashion

Following on from their visit to the Science Museum recently the students of the Fashion Retail Branding and Visual Merchandising course at the London College of Fashion began to use their recorded images from their sketch books and work these in to three dimensional models in perspex. This is quite a difficult material to use initially although the group managed to produce these incredible pieces in just a few hours. These pieces were in turn sketched. The thinking behind this part of the project was to enable students to begin working and thinking beyond the two dimensional and enabling them to communicate their intentions in order to explain their thinking to someone else, such as a client, so that they in turn could understand their future concepts. Communicating ones intentions to a client is a crucial part of the Design process. As we know a client will never part with any money (and rightly so) unless they can see what they are going to get for it and therefore this is an essential skill to have in their portfolios.

Ralph Lauren, London

OK, well here we go. Now, I did predict that this Brand would use their Rootstein Yasmin Le Bon mannequins at the end of last year and voila..! Now, I did promise the team that I wouldn't be mean about their presentation (and I certainly couldnt be) and quite honestly, the dressing and presentation is always immaculate and beautifully presented, which I always mention, because it is. Just to set the scene however, I did photograph these windows before I chatted to the team so in the forefront of my mind was, that, I was wondering if they will use this mannequin again after my previous comments which I know they read? Anyway, within the overall scheme they have used a variety of figures (headless males etc.) and the concept is, of course incredibly and so elegantly produced. The scheme itself says luxury liner to me and the use of these giant portholes really does focus our attention into the centre of the presentation. It is always a pleasure to see the schemes produced here and I always look forward to viewing them, so lets see what happens next?

Chanel, London

I do find that I struggle with this brand's presentation. I wouldn't of course wish to be uncharitable but I just feel that their schemes just don't work at all. I know that this scheme is placed around the world and they clearly do very well, although that is probably the brand name and its association rather than the presentation of the product. There always seems to be something missing and I cant quite put my finger on what it is. Out sized props can look incredible and I certainly am a fan. They are also fun. However, perhaps this scheme would have worked better without the use of the Mannequins? I feel this is perhaps the problem here. If you look at the images here and imagine them without the figures it does work much better, put in a few strategically placed products and it almost becomes an abstract installation. The mannequins are just not dynamic enough and always look like they have had an argument and fallen out with each other. As this is such a significant brand, surely someone would have picked this up? Anyway, as always it remains to be seen if someone does, eventually. Perhaps in the mean time we can send out visual thoughts to the brand to buy a new collection of mannequins, get some suggested movement going on in here and bring it screaming into 2010?

Liberty, London

While swinging past Liberty here in London tonight, I came across what are singularly the most incredibly fun windows I have seen in years. I don't say that lightly and tucked away in these tiny windows is just a glimpse of what this team can do, if they had more opportunity. (the large windows along their site on Regent had not been taken away a few years ago in favour of a more open front). I have always felt that it truly was a crime to take away this teams' main windows. Anyway, these are a huge statement based on London Fashion week, which of course is looming later this month and I just could not look at these windows without an enormous smile on my face. This truly is a wonderful two fingers up to the establishment (or whichever fingers you use depending on where you are in the world - but you know what I mean) It is bold, its fun, fun and more fun. This is what this industry is about and these windows will live on in the history of this industry - we will be talking about it for years. Thank you Maxine and your team for being daring, bringing the fun back and making London rocking again..!

Dolce and Gabbana, London

This is an wonderful juxtaposition presented at D&G this week along Bond st. here in London. I would have expected this kind of scheme to be implemented possibly May time as it suggested the holiday season to me. However, this is not to say it is inappropriate, on the contrary, this was a welcome visual and scenario, as while it has been so cold here and Winter seems to be lasting longer and longer each year there is nothing more that we could possibly wish for. What we have here is beautiful merchandise perfectly placed on a sand background with plasma screens. OK, well this is hardly revolutionary stuff but this does, I feel work very well, particularly within the context of this uber contemporary environment. I adore glass walls, particularly in commercial interiors and this is a very large space for such little merchandise. This kind of layout is particularly confident just providing us with snippets of the new collection and drawing us in to view the rest.

Gucci, London

Gucci this week have presented their scheme using a fractured vinyl applied to the fenestration with painted Black background and Gold and Silver sprayed 'bamboo' in a repetition format for their backdrop. Their use of the vinyl really does focus our attention on the product, by blocking out any unnecessary distractions and making our eyes zoom into the centre of the presentation which is all very cleverly done. I always enjoy these schemes where we are just able to see between the fractures, but not quite. It is almost like a strip tease and as we are curious animals we are drawn in to try see what has not been quite revealed. Of course 'things' which are revealed gradually are far more exciting than if we are merely presented with the visual and therefore this works incredibly well. The use of the Gold sprayed headless mannequins and accessories placed on silver mirrored plinths completes the whole visual presentation and the job is done.

Versace, London

While I flaneured along Sloane St. here in London this evening I came across the latest scheme from Versace. This is a very simple installation which therefore really limits what one can really say about it. The abstract figures have been sprayed in a Black high gloss finish and placed in front of what looks like plastic strips that wouldn't be out of place in a supermarket chiller cabinet - although in sherbet tones. The strips as a background do however, work very well and the merchandise itself is in wonderful sorbet tones although overall perhaps this scheme needs a little 'something' more? To me, at least, this scheme seems to lack the kind of 'meatiness' that it deserves. Perhaps, this is because the accessories are a little too spaced apart from the mannequins? This is quite a small space and the grill at the back of the window doesn't really help the concept. When I group mannequins I do try and think about them as if they were real people and consider how they would interact with each other. These don't interact at all. Such simple schemes are very hard to do as you can't hide any errors or distract the eyes of on lookers, so a little tweaking and pulling this together would have perhaps made this look simple scheme look far more powerful as a visual statement?

Tiffany, London

During a frenzied exchange of images between myself and my colleague across the pond, Ronald Knoth from the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (LIM) in NYC this week, I found that Ronald had kindly shared with me the image below from his collection of Tiffany store windows. I regularly view the windows of this Brand wherever I travel as the quality of the installation is Visual Merchandising at its very best. However, what this does highlight is, that as the world gets smaller and smaller and as we all know we can share information faster and faster that perhaps this notion of global branding is so very dated. It was understandable (although for me at least, quite unforgivable) from around the 1980-90's as a way of rationalising visual presentation across large corporations globally, i.e it was cheap. This made me wonder. Is this still really necessary a few decades on? I feel it is going to be an uphill struggle to lever big brands out of this mode of working, even if the pleasure of shopping, exploring, or being excited about what one store may look like in another country (and part of the reason for travelling at least for me, as this is a cultural element too) has been systematically destroyed. What I am finding, although it is still relatively a seed of a notion in the greater scheme of things, that there are some forward thinking global brands such as Diesal, Anthropologie et al taking the bull by the horns and leading the way in utilising localised visual expertise to implement the 'vision'. This, inevitably will bring us back to enabling us as the customer to enjoy a much more exciting visual experience on the high street (and dare I say shopping mall). Maybe there is hope after all. But, don't hold your breath, this all happens so incredibly and very, very painfully slowly. So, come on retailers.......we know how pioneers are celebrated and your bravery will give you the kudos that no amount of marketing can ever buy. (even better, ditch the marketeers and put the visual team back in the saddle)

Tiffany, New York (Courtesy and Copyright Ronald Knoth)



Tiffany London