Molinard, Grasse

If you happen to be exploring the French Riviera then you must pop over to the town of Grasse.  At the bargain price of just 1 Euro (we have a feeling we are being seriously mugged in London) we made the pilgrimage on the bus for one and a half hours to the centre of the perfume industry.  Want to develop your own scent? then this is the place to come.  Thank goodness for the Internet that were able to discover this clearly hidden place where we're sure the best brands in the world must come to develop their signature scents and clearly keep it a secret.  Molinard is by far our favourite place which just like the other perfume houses oozes history dating back centuries.  The whole process of perfume making can be explored here with every perfume house containing this wonderful Copper equipment which squeezes out every last bit of juice from their flowery friends.  It truly is an amazing experience for sure.

VM and Display Show, London

Just a few days left to register before the show.  Don't forget that you can register here by clicking the link on the right hand side of this page.

Louis Vuitton, Nice

During our final few days here in possibly the most wonderful part of France, we naturally have to include the brand at the forefront of creativity.  We have seen this scheme in various places along the French Riviera so naturally we should include them with their fantastic spider web concept in front of which the merchandise is presented.  Isn't this great fun and very simple, ticking all of the boxes beautifully.

Alain Figaret, Nice

We have never heard of this brand (or maybe its just one store?) before now, but clearly they care about their presentation which is refreshing.  Here at Alain Figaret with their sheet music and music stands which present their more formal shirts in addition to their bust forms is simple in its format and applies all of the regular 'rules' of presentation (well, versions of at least).  Perhaps the bust forms could be positioned in a rather more neutral format as their kind of maestro pose looks rather more odd than dynamic, don't you think? 

Fashion Gallery, Nice

After what seems like days and days in bling hell (OK, well it was sunny and warm so we're not complaining) we've finally moved on to the gorgeous city of Nice.  The whole of the French Riviera appears to be carved out of the coastline which simply adds to its fantastic appeal.  Here at the sadly rather dated named Fashion Gallery we are in design heaven.  We could very happily live in this space and spend days and days loving the amazing merchandise, particularly the vintage and antique chandeliers hanging from the space carved from the rocks.  If you happen to be in Nice do go and find this amazing place just beyond the flower market.  We simply came across it by chance while wondering along the tiny alley ways.  The sales assistant here is so incredibly friendly too as most people are in this area of France which just makes us want to keep going back more and more for our design fix.  Love it.

Hermes, Monte Carlo

Now this is an interesting scheme.  We've seen a key trend across a lot of brands both back in London and in New York recently, not just in the use of laser cutting but in cut outs generally.  We're drawn more and more to this brand as they really do work so hard to present cleverly and creatively when so many luxury brands appear either to have given up, have no one in control of the creative vision or just run out of ideas?  

Gucci, Monte Carlo

Virtually next door to Valentino here in the land of tight faces so botoxed that any facial expression will have to wait and hair so bleached that it could start a fire, here we have the Gucci scheme.  We actually quite liked this one when we saw it in London even if it does resemble the sexual fetish of zentai suits (is that a bad thing, probably not or de rigueur as they say in these parts?).  Of course, repetition of mannequins in this format can always look good in its simplicity which is reflected in each of the windows of this particular store.  Menswear looks a little dodgy (who would wear a Green suit besides a few ageing rock stars?) although women's wear is rather more interesting with its use of pattern, don't you think?

VM and Display show 2013

Don't forget to register for the pending event of the season by clicking on the banner on the right hand side of this page.  The VM and Display Show 2013 is one of the key events that you must attend.  So, go on, take the afternoon off and go and view the latest products from your industry suppliers.

Valentino, Monte Carlo

We always find ourselves slightly unnerved by this brand.  We really, really want to love it and we feel that we should, but we can only barely bring ourselves to glance at it occasionally.  Of course, here in the land of the vulgar, brands like this reign supreme.  Fabulous cars, fabulous yachts, fabulous homes and they all shop at brands like this (we know because the locals are wearing this stuff).  Got a spare 2.5 million Euro?  Then why not bag yourself a fabulous tiny broom cupboard sized studio apartment while you are here? 

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Why?  We often find these kinds of stores on our travels and they are very typical of every city the world over.  Its one thing having at least one store that sells this kind of tourist malarkey but we've never quite understood why literally every single store also does the same.  Even here within the Palace walls in Monte Carlo amateur retailers clearly just don't get it.  How many badly made products blazoned with city logos do these types of retailers think we would ever desire?  Nearly every store here sells identical products of t-shirts, bags, postcards, key rings.....oh the list just goes on....which we find bizarre.  Just a hint to the Monegasque retailers - differentiation is good.

Nice, Cote D'Azur, France

Yeah, we know...!  For the next couple of weeks or so we're sending you the best from the Cote D'Azur / French Riviera and we are beginning in Nice.  We're venturing to the Principality of Monaco, the streets of Nice and all the way to Cannes, Antibes and Grasse.  It really isn't easy work, we promise, in fact exhausting, but we are passionate about what we do so we're bringing you some of the best (possibly the worst) from the fabulous French Riviera.  Its tough old work but someone has to do it, eh?

H&M, London

The guys at H&M clearly work really hard to achieve some level of differentiation in their stores presentation which is always really, really appreciated.  While on their sustainability theme, different to their first scheme ( but happening at the same time as their paper foliage scheme) here they've used this large graphic in a symmetrical format.  

Nike, London

We're not massive fans of this brand and its mega-superstructure-stores although we do pop in intermittently to have a look at what they are up to, and hands up they do some amazing work and we love this graphic in their windows.  This is so simple and just works so well, don't you think?