Selfridges, London

Whether you want, desire, worship, covet, envy, lust or yearn, Selfridges is the place to be. This store goes from strength to even stronger, and I cant help but love it more and more and be drawn in to spend my ever dwindling cash. Looking is free, of course, but the way these guys present their merchandise does make it ever more desirable that I cant help but want, desire, worship (OK, maybe not worship), envy and lust, almost certainly everything they sell. The atmosphere is electric, the experience is fun and the merchandise is delicious. I may need to have another fix very soon to feed my shopping dependency. Am just kidding of course, but do go and check them out. Simple wooden structures based on White emulsioned bricks create an industrial feel to these windows. If you haven't seen them, go and be seduced.

Due to techinical problems with the server, unfortunately today's entry will be delayed in launching. Apologies to all followers.

Butler and Wilson

A few days ago, one of my regular readers asked me if I could find the Butler and Wilson Store here in London and if I would feature this store for her as she had seen a lot of their 'stuff' on QVC. She did mention how "outrageous" their jewellery was and yet, how much she thought I may be interested in reviewing it. Well here you go. Along South Molton St. here in London is their incredible store. Jewellery and these kind of accessories are notoriously difficult to present effectively, however these guys do it quite well. I am not quite sure about the use of the mannequins here, and in display dynamic terms, this doesn't work particularly well. On viewing the store, I do feel that if these guys are going to use a mannequin, then the product needs to be elevated about another 60cm to prevent the 'gap' in the products becoming the focal point within this installation. In the meantime, I love the bling merchandise and while I am unlikely to buy anything, it is a pleasure to view.

Harvey Nichols, London

I was nearly run over last night by a monster of a car (or probably one of those Chelsea tractors) but with an Arabic number plate as it left that 'interesting' Knightsbridge casino next to Harvey Niks and as I flaneured around Knightsbridge itself. I'm not asking for sympathy here as it was my own fault as I tried to take in the incredible new scheme at this ever fabulous department store in order to take some photographs for you all. How dedicated am I, hey? Anyway, I was so in awe of this scheme walking backwards and forwards to look at the detail that I now know what these guys were up to behind those 'Sale' vinyls for the past few weeks. This is one of the greatest schemes I have seen from this brand and one that will appear in all of those publications around the world. Janet Wardley, the Creative Director here and her team have absolutely excelled themselves and this is certainly the top scheme of theirs for 2010. I would liken it to Bergdorf Goodman in New York (I do regard BG as the pinnacle of this industry) but, this is much, much better (apologies to my dear VM and Display friends in NYC, but this one really is the best right now). Just go and check it out - spectacular and what this industry is all about.

Amouage, London

Amouage's flagship store along Lowndes st. here in London, has recently installed this incredible tree in its windows. I don't walk around this part of town very often (well rarely, if I'm honest with you). The SW1 area of London is not my normal stomping ground which is usually reserved for the Uber wealthy, so it was particularly a great treat to happen upon this store on my journey while flaneuring the city and taking a few welcome detours in order to vary what I present. I would recommend occasionally doing this too in order to find such hidden gems as Amouage. Amouage, "was created over a quarter of a century ago as a niche luxury brand" and "draws inspiration from its birthplace of the Sultanate of Oman". I actually hadn't realised just how big this company are - and so global too. Anyway, its transpires that this installation here was developed between the guys at http://www.ksht.co.uk/ and the clearly creative Director Christopher Chong, based on his collection which had been inspired by the 'tree of life'. The incedibly beautiful illustrations of Aurthur Rackham informed the look or this piece by designers Kathryn Scanlon and Howard Tong and created by Dallas and Angel at DnA factory (you must look at their amazing website). If you don't know KSHT, its OK. I only recently found them too. But now you know them you must take a look at their website and let yourself be amazed at the projects they have worked on. These guys have produced so much for the high street how did I not find them sooner? Anyway, you must check them out here at http://www.ksht.co.uk/ and add them into your book of must have contacts.

London Gay Pride Parade 2010

Some of the best places to find inspiration is on the 'street'. The London Gay Pride march through the heart London's West End and centre of shopping is just one of the events where the flamboyant, the daring, the caring, the carefree, the political, the loud, the proud, the quiet, the sporty, the old, the young (the list goes on) come together in an amazing choreography and spectacle almost too much to capture. Here are just some of the images from the day, many captured from my vantage point on a balcony over looking Oxford st. and some in the heart of Soho. If you were there too, hopefully some of these images will remind you of what you had forgotten although sadly images never really capture the atmosphere. If you are in the images, thank you for your wonderful creativity and inspiration.

Dunhill, London

Dunhill is one of those brands that I remember so well from the 70's growing up in suburbia, well the countryside actually. OK, if I'm honest, an 'interesting' 1960's council estate in the back of beyond which I am assured will one day be cool to admit. Still, this is not to say that it was unhappy growing up there, nothing could be further from the truth and I am actually thankful for that. "Ya know, it helps me keep it real an' all that". However, the reason I mention that context is that it didn't seem to matter where these tiny towns or places and spaces were, there always seemed to be a Dunhill on the high street. And, it was the kind of place my grandfathers would have shopped, it they had ever shopped at all. This I do doubt. These stores always seemed to have 19Th century shop fronts, the top part of the fenestration was always filled with stained glass, the kind that is Uber cool now for the likes of Anthroplogie et al and seemed to be crammed to the rafters with dusty merchandise and odd looking mannequins. Anyway, I was quite stunned to see this little gem adjacent to Fortnum and Mason just off Piccadilly here in London. My, how times have changed. This store actually looks so cool. OK, not cool as in 'cutting edge' but I am really quite wowed at how these guys have turned this brand around. Suitcases (covered in shiny Silver Vinyl) have been hung and opened as if pouring out the flawless merchandise. I really am surprised at this brand and I do hope that they will nudge a little further forward and continue with this creative streak. This is clearly quality menswear and I may just drop by and take a closer look. Am I turning into my grandfathers?

Anthropologie, London

Anthropologie as always, come up with the goods. Here in their windows along the iconic Kings Road in Chelsea is their much celebrated store (celebrated my me at least) is their latest installation. A boat has been suspended as above its moorings around which cardboard ripples have been placed. Such a simple concept, yet cleverly executed. Well done guys, its a pleasure to view.

Mary Portas presents prizes to students from the London College of Fashion

Pierre and Giles, Viktor and Rolf......you know the combination. Over the past several months, I have had the wonderful privilege of working with the VM design stars of tomorrow at the London College of Fashion. These two students pictured above are from Asia, both speak English as a second language, and both are pictured here with the Queen of VM and Retail Mary Portas with their Silver prize for the National VM awards and their avant-guard design. Both Tommy and Zero entered the VM awards and worked on a concept based in 2060 with references to the 1960's using an imaginary product - the dream pillow. They created a character called David (although, I must say, David looks rather spookily like me if I wore Silver make-up and a Silver suit and the guys do laugh a little knowingly at me when I mentioned this - although I would be hugely flattered if it were me of course). However, 'David' dreams of being a Rock star and the Dream pillow helps him to achieve this. Over the past few months it has been really exciting for myself and my colleague Sarah Bailey (pictured below) the Course Director of the Fda Fashion Retail Branding and Visual Merchandising course at the London College of Fashion to work with these guys. As you can see in the image above, there is already much media interest in these two guys, in fact, they have already been spotted and head hunted by a number of big companies. If you didn't meet them - this was your biggest missed opportunity of 2010. All I can say is................watch this space and you had better find out who their agents are.....soon..! Just remember, you saw it here first.

Prada, London

The other evening, with a lovely friend of mine who is very well respected in this industry, we flaneured around the city during a particularly warm evening here in London. As we turned around the corner from viewing the Paul Smith 'home' store and bumping into the American singer Kelis (yeah, I know..! - but forgive me for name dropping here) we happened upon the new concept at the Prada store. I think both of us gasped at this store in wonder and I certainly love this scheme. But then Prada usually do produce such extraordinary schemes and this one certainly looked dramatic during the dusky early London evening. The mannequins have been covered in the same camouflage design as the merchandise and backdrop. Perhaps the floor could have been covered too? But anyway, it looks dramatic and this is another scheme to go and see right now. It looks far better in real life.

Moschino, London

I could just eat this window. In the current melting heat of Central London this window couldn't be more appropriate. After months of a bitterly cold winter here in the city, we now have the other extreme and it really is scorching. I sound like I'm complaining, I'm not. Its just hard to work in this heat. Anyway, Moschino couldn't have got this window more 'right now' than this really is. This is a significant statement and communicates how cutting edge that they really can be. My only gripe, I suppose, is that the quality of the props are not up to their usually high standards. This is something that I would have expected this brand to get absolutely perfect and the 'finish' after all is as crucial as any of the other components that make up these schemes. I have heard quite a few industry leaders here in the UK mention this more and more recently. Still, from an aesthetic angle these props are great fun and worth checking out.

Mulberry, London

I do love these big glittery Cats at Mulberry, here in London. If I am honest I don't do glitter but this somehow works very well. The concept here is very interesting and there is a narrative to a point although I cant help feeling that there is something missing from this window? I feel that the Gold hoops with the handbags work well and perhaps the fact that the hoops for these lions to jump through are rather too small is incidental. Perhaps we need a bit move dynamism here and maybe these big Cats need collars or chains rather than 'roaming freely'? In New York in 2006, Cartier had something similar (although illuminated) crawling up the outside of their store on 5Th Avenue. Although I don't advocate plagiarism perhaps this is another missed opportunity that could have been explored?

Architects build small spaces, V&A, London

Dotted around the Victoria and Albert Museum right now are a series of small spaces, refuges and retreats. I cant help but love these spaces and consider how we could use some of these concepts within a commercial or retail context. "Small spaces such as these can push the boundaries and possibilities of creative practice. A shift in scale towards smaller, bespoke structures encourages a heightened sensitivity to materials, texture and proportion. A renewed clarity emerges allowing architects freedom of expression that often struggles to survive in larger building projects". These spaces are potentially a great starting point from where we can begin thinking about our own commercial spaces. I'm not suggesting of course that we take 'pieces' like this and simply placing them within a commercial environment. This kind of 'pick up and drop' is endemic in retail. However, what I am suggesting is that these beautifully design spaces can be used as inspiration in the development of retail concepts and thus avoid the 'White boxes' that we are expected to accept for most of our retail experiences. What do you think?