Cofrad, Paris

Were you at the Cofrad launch event in Paris on Thursday evening?  If not then you missed a corker of a party.  Performance artists, tattooists customising a mannequin and a fantastic crowd followed by a wonderful evening partying with Parisian glitterati.  This was an evening filled with the beautiful of Paris and we have to admit, we did feel a little fragile on the Eurostar back to London in the morning.  Fantastic collections of mannequins were on show and the showroom which was a former Parisian Butchers is absolutely stunning.  Thank you for our invitation guys, we had a wonderful time.   Static images never really communicate an atmosphere, so we've incuded these links for you see the space and information about the company for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4cLzovalWk   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYg4sJlqCAg

Esprit, London

We're loving this collaboration between the Royal College of Art and Esprit on Regent street right now.  How cool is Esprit looking? At the entrance of the space are these graphic panels supporting the incredible product.  This store looks more boutique than large corporate giant that we are loathed to shop in, but may be a little more enticed now.  We're seeing a lot more of this localised creativity and hopefully product differentiation across a lot of brands.  This could only be a good move forward otherwise there's no point in shopping in different cities if the product and stores all look the same.  Don't you think?

DKNY, London

Hints to London Fashion week are all around town right now - of course.  The scheme at DKNY is not the most original or amazing sadly, but they have made an effort.  Its just such a shame that these awful security grilles are everywhere which just do nothing to support the product.

Burberry, London

Have you been to the new Burberry flagship yet?  If not, then it really is worth a visit.  You may remember this site as the place where Habitat completely failed to make an impression in what is actually a very difficult space to sell from.  We've done a little research and apparently this is also the site of a former cinema where Queen Victoria saw her first film.  Anyway, the site does look a little reminiscent of possibly a Methodist church which makes this space very hard to design within, that said it is very impressive.  Technology is clearly leading the way right now as a strand through new retail environments and this one is no exception.  The massive amazing central video screen, screens concertinaed around the first floor and all sales staff armed with ipads, this is retail of the future, only now. 

Alexander McQueen, London

How stunning is this merchandise at McQueen?  We are huge fans of this brand and have just visited the new McQ store just around the corner - its so new that we can still smell the paint and had huge amounts of fun with the incredible digital screens taking photos of ourselves and emailing them.  Anyway, we imagine the London Fashion Week show for this brand will be spectacular as ever.  Sadly we never get to go but at least we can drool at the windows.

H & M, London

The beginning of Fashion week has certainly generated a lot of excitement amongst the retailers around town right now.  Thankfully H&M haven't simply applied a vinyl to the fenestration like most, and here we have these fantastic out sized letters screaming the launch of Fashion Week.  These guys are doing such exciting stuff, don't you think?  For a mid range retailer they are working so hard to create a fun and exciting environment for us to shop in and entice us in and we really do want to take a closer look.  Great product, beautifully presented how could we not want to shop here?.    

Hobbs, London

Oh Hobbs sweetheart what the frick are you doing?  Animal heads were on trend a year ago.  We did screech to a halt when we spotted this lil' 'ole scheme on South Molton street, but only because of the dead eyes of these bird heads. This scheme reminds us is of  the film 'Calendar girls'.  You remember the one where all the women from the local WI get their boobs out for a calendar?  Lots of other 'institutions' followed suit and some got it completely wrong.  Remember the middle-aged women's weaving circle that flashed their bosoms and lost thousands of pounds because no-one wanted to buy images of females with their scary middle-aged brown saucer-like nips being flashed on a calendar? (pounds as in sterling not weight for those of  our readers stateside).  Anyway,  cu'mon guys, you want our hard earned cash - make an effort?  Mannequins with dead-eyed birds heads on mannequins dressed like frumps is just not enticing.  Get ya'self a copy of The Mix Mag. and invest in great VM's to turn yourselves around; it really is the only way.

Oasis, London

Oasis seem to just get better and better, don't you think?  We have spotted some brilliant schemes at this brand over this year and this one is no exception.  OK, well they probably don't have enormous budgets to play with so some corners have to be cut, although we have to say that they are looking really very good.  We particularly enjoyed the luggage laden car right at the front of the store on Argyll street here in central London which brought a huge smile to our faces.  Fantastic guys.

Gucci, London

Butterflies on leads?  It has to be Gucci.  Furthering this flight / travel trend which is clearly peaking right now if the lux brands are doing it can also be seen at Gucci on Sloane street here in London.  We're not massive fans of what this brand do, although the quality is always here.  But anyway, as these are one of the 'innovators' on the high street, they will almost certainly be looking over their shoulders at what the mid-range and value's are doing, so we wont be surprised if this scheme changes quite soon.

Dior, London

Its all click, click, flash, flash down at Dior.  This scheme, probably in preparation for Fashions Night out is possibly one of the best that we have seen from this brand in quite a while.  We captured this one at their Sloane street site as Bond Street never seem to do very much with their schemes - odd.  Anyway, gorgeous models, beautifully dressed, not a particularly original scheme but beautifully produced.

Gant, London

We have a mix of ideas here at Gant, firstly with this kitchen scene and references to quite utilitarian environments and the second promoting the new collection from Michael Bastian, The Lucky ones (maybe they are linked, we don't know?)  We did have a quick search of their website but we're not entirely sure if these are connected.  Anyway, what we do know is how cool these guys here at Gant are and have had the opportunity to see first hand how they work so enjoy even more the direction that they are moving in.

 

Diesel, London

We love the direction that Diesel seem to be going in here with their large illuminated props.  If you remember the last scheme which contained the Amy Winehouse-type sailor tattoos supporting the product, we thought it looked very cool.  If you cant remember what it looked like you can scroll back from the left hand side of this page.  We've also mentioned recently the travel trend that that we're seeing more and more of around town, previously at Banana Republic and Desigual.  At Diesel the references to travel, and in this case space are particularly vibrant, fun and exciting, don't you think?

Belstaff, London

Further along the windows at Harrods here in Knightsbridge is the new Belstaff scheme.  What is particularly interesting about this scheme, besides the high quality of installation is the amazing rolling screen.  This is a difficult scheme to appreciate in a static image so if you happen to be over this part of town, do go an take a look.