Banana Republic, London

I guess its that time of year again to dust off the Silver birches and put them in a window.  Happy Christmas....I guess?  Throughout 2009 and 2010 we've seen these crop up time and time again and currently can also be seen at French Connection so I am just a little bit bored of seeing them myself.  OK if I am honest with you I am completely bored with seeing them again.  I am praying that this is not Banana's Christmas scheme and maybe they will throw in at least a bauble or two if nothing else.  It is of course a quality produced scheme and it uses the usual product handling dynamics, but the concept itself? Well, there is isn't one here, is there?.  This is just the usual repetition of a bit of a tree that we can see or have seen just about any where and every where else.  Come on Banana Republic, I cant believe you don't have the cash to do something even vaguely more interesting?

Liberty, London

It certainly is that time of year again with Christmas schemes poking their heads up through the annual calender of events.  This year Liberty here in the centre of it 'all' is having a Wild Christmas.  I am wowed by this scheme and how much stuff these guys have managed to get into these tiny spaces.  There is so much to see and and of course with their wonderful sense of humour some wonderful bits to entertain us too.  This really is a completely wild-Christmas-store-windows-on-crack kind of scheme.  You cant get much better than these guys.  Throughout the whole of 2010 the team here have launched the most incredible schemes firing them seemingly effortlessly at us every few weeks.  Of course its incredibly hard work to make it look that simple.  My favourite bit?  Well it definitely has to be the centipede doll with Purple hair which is a little reminiscent of the work of Australian artist John Beinart and his doll-gomunkulusy  - wonderfully and superbly bonkers.

Louis Vuitton, London

Louis Vuitton

You just cant beat a new scheme that makes you salivate and apologies to LV for the drool I may have left on the fenestration at the Maison Louis Vuitton, along Bond Street here in London after viewing this scheme, but I simply couldn't help myself.  I have never seen a Diwali scheme in the West End (the centre of the incredible retailing and cutting edge retail brands in Central London, just for clarification to those readers from around the world).  I am quite stunned that after more than a decade publicly talking about this stuff that I finally didn't have to venture to Green street, Tooting or Southall to witness the celebration of the festival of Light.  With the current scheme designed by the amazing artist Rajeev Sethi - and you must see his site to view the incredible work this guy has produced - the latest scheme from this very confident brand certainly is a site to savor. Beautifully lit gravity defying lanterns with just a hint of the LV luggage sensitively underplayed and encapsulated within the concept is just delicious, the tones are so wonderfully subtle that you will feel the need to emulate this scheme within your own personal environment.  I'm just left wondering what these guys are going to do for Christmas......just watch this space I guess.

London Christmas Schemes



Fortnum and Mason

Its that really odd time around town at the moment.  That in between events period.  Of course the creative teams are beavering away behind the screens to bring us their Christmas offering (or piling the props out on the high street ready to go in - I see Ralph Lauren is using a Red Sleigh this year) .   I know, we are barely out of October and here we go again.  Having spent years implementing these schemes myself these days, you wont find a single bit of tinsel, bauble, fairy light or anything else linked to Christmas in my home.  I think I would find myself taking them all down late on Christmas eve and pasting sale flashes on my bay windows and baffles from my ceiling.  Anyway, I'm sure this week we will gradually see these schemes being revealed and I will of course post them as I see them for you.


Burberry



Loro



Ralph Lauren



Halloween, London



Stella McCartney

I've often wondered why UK brands never seem enthused by Halloween?  Its an annual event afterall whether we like it or not.  Still, there were a few scary all expenses spared schemes nodding to the event around town this week.  Thankfully, Fortnum saved the day.


Stella McCartney



Fortnum and Mason



Nike, London

I usually have to drag any enthusiasm out of myself when I look at large corporate brands' concepts, although I have to say I really do quite like the scheme at Nike here in London at their Covent Garden store.  This nostalgic scheme created from fencing reminiscent of a sports court, vintage and contemporary product images and white neon lighting in the form of historical dates really is so incredibly simple and so different from their flag ship store at Oxford Circus.  The difference of course is possibly because the sites fall in different boroughs in London?  The Oxford Circus site of course is within in the jurisdiction of Westminster council and I know from my experience from placing neon lighting in a store window a long time ago in this borough that it didn't last very long once the local authority had their say.  One only has to look at the Bronze lettering uniformly placed above every store along Regent street to see the level of control that's in place here.   This site falls within the London borough of Camden so probably a little more relaxed in allowing creativity to flourish.  Who knows?  Ultimately, great scheme guys.     

Kurt Geiger, London

I spotted this scheme from Kurt Geiger during London Fashion week and was quite stunned at how well this worked at their Covent Garden store here in London.  These wonderfully chromed shoe stands really do look incredible and the use of mirrors reflecting the graphic image which begins to abstract it and create all sorts of interesting combinations.  However, come on guys, replenish, replenish, replenish.

 

Penhaligon's, London

I have to admit it, I do love out sized props in window schemes.  The kind of 'land of the giants' installations are always so much fun.  Penhaligon's  along Regent st. here in London have produced these out sized cotton reels with thread weaving its way through these giant needles within this scheme to communicate Satorial, the scent of Saville Row.  Recently at Decorex, here in London we could also see similar but with cable / rope reels being used within Interiors - trend?  Who knows.  Anyway, a great scheme from these guys, a variety of which can be seen all around town right now.

Market Day

Bonjour...!...Nothing beats the experience of market day for me.  I hate having to get up out of bed at 2.00am and drive for hours and hours along motorways, tiny roads, going through the hassle of passport control, to get to the markets and this time of year is not my favourite when its cold here in the UK.  However, its always worth going even just to have a poke and rummage around the heaps of gems I find here and watching the sun come up, priceless (as they say in the adverts). 

Stuff I never knew I wanted or needed, I suddenly have an overwhelming desire to own - how shallow am I, hey?  Anyway, while shopping for clients here are just some of the delights I found on my various journeys of which I seem to have so many of these days with clients wanting that differentiation from other brands or simply want gorgeous things to look at, touch, feel, look again and enjoy.  I've stocked up on all the latest bits that you may well see in the coming months, so sorry guys.

Selfridges, London

With such a large corner window to install schemes to be seen from so many angles, Selfridges always seem come up with the goods and this installation is no exception. This limited edition pack of Dog Lamps [have been] created for 'Alter to the Chew'.  These incredibly fun series of Dog lamps can be seen drooling at the shrine of images and will be auction to raise money for Battersea Dogs home which is celebrating its 150th Anniversary.  A worthy course indeed.  If you happen to be on Oxford Street here in London do go and check this out.  Great fun, great humour, great cause.

Victoria & Albert Museum, Glassware

Nothing can beat a good old scout around the stunning V&A here in London in search of a cleansing experience and certainly while on the hunt for new concepts what better way than to be informed of what already exists or has existed from the historical to the contemporary?  Having spent a few hours studying the glassware what better way of showing product than utilising objects like these?  The delicacy, the jewel-like tones and depth of understanding and skill that created these magical objects is incredible.  The amount of ideas developed from them, infinite.  My concept development books are crammed full.

Brick Man by Max Jacquard

While perusing the wealth of creativity around London recently I came across this incredible installation by Max Jacquard.  I'm always on the look out for new concepts and either how these can be developed, change direction, how they can be applied or perhaps where new concepts can begin.  This installation struck me immediately as a possible new path to display fashion merchandise, although on reflection, and now looking at my images it does look rather corpse-like and of course death in Visual Merchandising has always been taboo.  This is not to say of course that no-one has ever done it or that we shouldn't do it, as there are examples out there of windows representing death but its hardly a cheery strategy right now to employ such schemes. Don't you think? 

Max Jaquard's Brick Man 'attempts to describe the sense of isolation, self protection and perhaps a certain brittle vulnerability felt by the artistic ego'.  'The body form represents a kind of protective shell'.  'That it is made of glass is an irony that emphasises the futility of the exercise'. 

Yep, cheers Max, I hear you say. 

While of course we can be flippant and dismissive, on a serious note, understanding this kind of work and the ways in which we understand it (or not) are really very crucial and indicate how perhaps (at least I feel) we need to move the VM industry on to a higher level of understanding and communication.  Just about every Design discipline has its own theoretical underpinning, while Visual Merchandising still lags behind as the poor relative that we never like to mention to our granny-kind-of-scenario.  So, lets start looking to these incredible artists and designers to help us get up to the level that we should be working at rather than simply transplanting their work as we so often see.  Or at least as well as, after all they equally need our support.  I don't underestimate that it will take quite a few generations to get it there (wherever there is) but we know VM  is an important part of the overall commercial process and yet it is never given the importance it should have, particularly when a recession hits.  Only then will we receive the credibility (or at least a perceived version of it for now) that this industry deserves.  Higher level of thinking + Higher level of working = Longevity,  right?  So, OK this installation is corpse-like.  The current level of thinking appears to be how this could be placed in a commercial concept as is, however,  maybe lets start to think how perhaps the techniques used here can be adopted, how the processes can be used, how this concept has been informed and developed, what is being communicated or not so that we are developing a much deeper approach to our work rather than the surface approach which seems to drag and imprison this part of the Design industry.   In the meantime, I'm off to see incredible glassware at the V and A to feel cleansed.

John D. Wilson, Artist

I've seen the work of John D. Wilson on many occasions, including the work above situated in the Business Design centre here in London and also once a long while ago on a billboard around Earls Court.  It was a gem of a find but impossible to record as it was situated on such a speedy road.  Anyway, the possible applications of Wilson's work are endless and yet no one has picked this up as a possible solution to the malaise we are experiencing in current commercial concepts - missed opportunity or what.  This work as an installation would be incredible.  So come on retailers why not commission this guy to implement a scheme with you, I can guarantee tourists will be outside having their photographs taken with it, passersby will slow down and take a closer look and you never know, it may increase your sales too.  If anything, everyone will be talking about it, everyone will want to go and look at it, taadaa.....great concept, great publicity, greater brand awareness - job done.  This stuff is not rocket science.