Galeries Lafayette, Paris

At Galeries Lafayette its all about the skate board.  Chairs on skate boards, plates on skate boards.  You name it, its on a skate board, whether suspended, stacked or clamped together; home ware has gone skate board bonkers with a little nod to Paul Smith.  We have to admit that this scheme has been produced very well and these monolithic emporiums to all things design are quite impressive.  Fashion is interesting too and we'll share that scheme with you shortly.

Galeries Lafayette, Paris

We are currently working with one of our international clients here in Paris for the next couple of weeks and have already been out and about scouting for the best in Visual Merchandising in this glamorous city. From the incredible department stores to the smallest boutiques we will be sharing some of our wonderful finds with you that are happening right now.  Just watch this space......

French Connection, London

This poor old brand appears to have been scratching around to keep their heads above water for an eternity, haven't they?  Fortunately they appear to be looking really interesting again from a visual point of view although our shopping connections still lament that the product is the same year after year.  We don't actually know if this is the case as we rarely ever walk inside these stores ourselves.  However with their rotating mirrored 'billboards' (yes these mirrored structures are just like the thing you may have seen on the side of the highway, motorway and so on) actually do generate a bit of interest into their windows and we really are willing this brand to keep going and do some stuff less ordinary although not like the previous campaigns however.  I am Goat, You are Handbag kind of stuff really didn't work, did it? 

Moschino, London

OK, well you know we usually bash this brand whenever we come across what they do, but hands up, this one is actually one of their better ones.  The props are well made and it is a bit of fun.  OK, that's it.

Uniglo, London

As the schemes here go, this is one of their more interesting ones we thought.  Well, interesting in that the boxes behind these mannequins rotate 360 degrees.  Revolutionary stuff this.

Harvey Nichols, London

Mannequins dripping with paint, woven into a loom, disembodied and hybridised   This should be a scene from a horror film but instead it is absolutely mesmerising.  Have you been to see the scheme at Harvey Nichols recently?  These incredible scenes of mechanical movement, colour, texture and fantastic fashion are rocking Knightsbridge right now.  Simply, incredible, exciting, fun and fricking creative.  What more could we ask for?

Buro Happold, London

Not exactly a retailer but selling services nonetheless so more than worthy to be included here we thought.  We happened to be passing this architectural practice last week and were wowed by this incredible structure bursting through the window.  The guys here were kind enough to let us photograph it from the inside too so that we could share it with you.  So interesting to see more and more varieties of professions adopting Visual Merchandising principles and techniques don't you think?  This can only serve to highlight its importance, cant it?

Clarks, London

We've been looking at Clark's now for quite some time as they have really grown significantly visually over the past few years from a dull old hush puppy brand to a visual force on the high street.  We're a little unsure about this scheme however.  We are fascinated by associations of colour, and for us at least this has a whiff  of nautical meets Halloween, don't you think?  

Mathew Williamson, London

If you are a regular follower of this site then you may remember that we included this installation recently complete with coloured Easter Eggs.  The tree of course will change throughout the year with various additions to it according, we guess to the key trends, seasonal changes or simply at the whim of the the designer. who knows?  The jury is still out whether this is a clever concept in line with sustainability or simply a solution to avoid having to think about what to do next.  We're really not sure yet.

Republic of Fritz Hansen, London

If you happen to be around the Oxford Circus area of town do go and have a look at the Republic of Fritz Hansen.  We just so happened to be passing by and, well, wow, what an incredibly interesting place filled with the best of Scandinavian design.  Even more interesting is that this brand have joined forces with makecreate to launch an Artists in Residence programme which will see a selection of designers and artists using their store windows as a temporary studio space.  Amongst the artists in residence are Celia Smith, Makala Djorup, Peter Gura, Liam Richardson, SmithMatthias and Hayley Steadman to name just a few.  So do swing by their store on Margaret st and take a look at this incredible installation.  Collaborations are clearly one of the key trends  happening around town right now.

Jaeger, London

With a heritage dating back to 1884, this enormously iconic British brand in the heart of London's West End, Jaeger has had new life pumped into its veins with the launch of their stunning newly refreshed store. Linking its incredible heritage with the contemporary shopper the Uber creative (and actually damn right deliciously clever) guys at Elemental Design worked in conjunction with the brand to turn their tired (our words) looking space into one of the most desirable places and spaces on the high street.  Thankfully, as heritage is one of the few things we have left in Britain which generates the desirability to be a part of either through buying into it or through products or places, we feel assured that this national treasure of a brand is in safe hands and through this fantastic reinvention will continue onward for yet another century. This gorgeous Boutique Gallery features ready-to-wear, accessories and jewellery from the best of British brands  So, if you've lost touch with this store or only give it a cursory glance, then do swing by and take another look?

    

Fortnum and Mason, London

It seems like months and months since we visited Fortnum and Mason and wow, what a corker of a scheme that they have.  We do adore their historical references produced with such incredible attention to detail and care that it almost hurts.  We had never heard of The London Pleasure Gardens at Vauxhall Gardens or Cremone Gardens (?) so we are even more intrigued to find out a little more.  Of course the 'modern' Vauxhall was actually outside of London and in fact in the county of Surrey where a lot of the Glassworks which produced mirrors and general glassware for the city and we imagine export around the former Empire.  Examples of the glassware can be viewed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and references around the Vauxhall area to the former glass works still exist albeit in the names of some of the streets, namely Glasshouse walk.  Fascinating research you've done guys.

Alexander McQueen, London

We do like to see great examples of 'product-led' schemes and where better right now to view a fine example than the incredible McQueen store here in London.  We often use this honey-comb or rather more formally known hexagonal structure ourselves to communicate the connection between organic forms and visual merchandising installations.  In this scenario of course the shape is informed by the product itself and as ever, beautifully produced.