Desigual, London

Oh guys, we were really relying on you to share some creativity with us with this scheme.  We've seen some fantastic stuff in just this one window here on Oxford street in the heart of it all and right now.......taa daa...a badly lit window.   Whats going on here?  Cu'mon Desigual we know you have it in you to entertain, make us drool a little, tease and make us come back for more; right now this window sucks.

Banana Republic, London

Ooohhh, loving the Blue and the Lime stripes here at Banana.  This scheme is of course a little reminiscent of a Police line up again without the added height measurements but the colours do look great with the merchandise.  The wiring on some of the figures is rather dodgy however; just look at how far these wires are away from the mannequins feet like they have either had a huge argument or trying to escape one another.  Cu'mon guys, a few painted blocks under the mannequins feet to keep her steady and get those wires closer.  We can swing by and show you how for a small fee if you need us?  Good old fashioned techniques very much needed here.

Cos, London

We adore the simplicity of this scheme right now at Cos and what these guys are producing just gets better and better; they clearly have a strong philosophy in place?  If you look closely there are fans positioned just underneath these shirts which have been designed for Park Nights 2013 at the Serpentine Gallery although they weren't in operation when we were looking unfortunately so we haven't seen it in all its glory.  This is a shame really as it wasn't very late in the evening and we would have made a video of it to show you via YouTube which would have added to the number of people who could have viewed this.  Missed opportunity then.

Ralph Lauren, London

We rather stopped in our tracks when we saw this scheme at Ralph Lauren.  Aren't the colours here the most delicious?  Really very stunning.  We've never liked of course the use of good old Yasmin as their stock mannequin from the 90's Roostein collection and we keep willing them to update her, however, we couldn't help but drool over this scheme.  Someone here clearly knows how to handle colour, the combinations presented in this scheme are simply superb.

Levis, London

Images Copyright Melvyn Vincent

Those clever boys at Lucky Fox have been waving their magic over quite a few stores here in the West End lately and this one led by Levis is particularly interesting.  The Good Things Take Time to Make campaign references the methods and craftsmanship which goes into producing the woven detail on their patterned T-shirt.  Anyway, do go in and take a closer look, we've heard that the limed oak and antique Brass fixtures within the interior are particularly delicious so we will be swinging by shortly to take a closer look. 

Diane Von Furstenberg, London

Given the amount of space that this brand have for their windows it really is no mean feat to create a narrative or at least something of interest within them.  We adore this brands NYC store in the meatpacking district with their huge space within which to work but here in London, squeezed into this tiny store the schemes are more miss than hit.  However, that said this is quite a winning scheme using mannequins styles which are particularly difficult to work with.  Simple and fun and much more interesting, plus better quality that some of their previous installations, don't you think?

Mathew Williamson, London

We've really enjoyed following this installation for several months now and this is the third change since its installation in April with its Easter eggs.  What a great concept and fantastic from a sustainability point of view.  In fact we thought this was so innovative that we have even included it in our first book Fashion Visual Merchandising due out later this year, published by Bloomsbury press.

Max Mara, London

We've never seen out sized props at Max Mara before so this is something a little bit new.  This is a great example of how to ooze sophistication in a window scheme, don't you think?  The purity and simplicity of this scheme matched with the tonal merchandise is just superbly done in the top window at least.  The backdrop of the second window (below) also looks great but does it jar a little with the merchandise or is it the 'hooker' / 'police line up' positioning of these mannequins?  Oh, everyone's a critic, eh?

Tods, London

This scheme at Tods brought a huge smile to our faces, how fun is this?  This brand of course always produce so fantastic quality schemes from the best materials but rarely do we see any injection of humour in here at all; but not this time, fantastic fun.  We're just a bit let down by men's shoes though.  OK, well we have the usual Black, Brown or Grey pieces of footwear but men have a sense of humour too, don't they? (yes, we do) 

Anthropologie, London

We've been searching the markets all week to view some of the key trends in props and naturally have come across some delicious finds.  Of course Anthropologie always do this so damned well anyway, so we might as well just swing by and get our 'fix'.  If you haven't been to see this brand recently do go in and have a look.  This is definitely the place to see if you need inspiration.

Chanel, London

..........and here's that shade of Blue again.  Chanel have been very visually poor for such a long time, only really noted as we would have expected this brand to be a leader on the visual front.  However, with the launch of their new store along Bond street recently, this scheme is definitely one of their better ones.  We still don't like these pin head mannequins, but the we 'get' the narrative here and the scene does actually work very well.  There is a VM God after all?

Tiffany, London

Repetition of these beautifully produced radiating forms are absolutely on trend right now.  OK, well this type of Asian paper parasol has been done countless times before, but the mini scale with just one piece of gorgeous jewellery highlights the luxury of this particular brand, don't you think?  We're also seeing this shade of Blue quite frequently at the moment around town, particularly at some of the Luxe brands so no doubt the laggards will be following shortly?

Guess, London

Globalisation and mass brands are not exactly our favourite things to look at, particularly when so little skill is involved in implementing schemes such as this.  The layers of graphics of course work very well suspended in a 'gravity' fomat but the images themselves are of the usual hideous lifestyle that make our you-know-whats clench.  Still, there is a market for this kind of malarkey and some people clearly love this stuff; just not us.