Proportion>London, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright proportion>london

Proportion>london, the leading UK manufacturer and supplier of retail mannequins, bust forms and display accessories have just announced their recent completion of a management-led buyout.  The team, Antonia D'Marco (Sales Director) Tanya Reynolds (Creative Director) in conjunction with the appointment of the current chairman of Gieves and Hawkes Mark Henderson we know will take the company into pioneering territory and support our industry needs well into the 21st Century.  There are very exciting times ahead.  With such a distinguished heritage and well-respected reputation within the visual merchandising industry, proportion>london's client list reads like a who's who of fashion retail, spanning global luxury fashion brands and high street multiples. Clients include M&S, Ted Baker, All Saints, Chloe, the list goes on and on.  New proportion>london product collections launch at their Clerkenwell, London showroom September 1st too. This includes Capsule; a female bust form and accessory concept, Boudoir; a lingerie and hosiery range and Theory; a female, young fashion fibreglass mannequin collection.  If like us you have an insatiable appetite for new things then just get in contact with these guys to view their delicious new additions for yourself http://www.proportionlondon.com/.  

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Brooks Brothers, London

We haven't included this brand for a while so we thought we would give them another go and see what they are doing.  The brand of course is very 'state side' in its presentation although we're not so sure that this is so aspirational to the European customer?  Maybe you know better and love this brand but that 'preppy' look is a little dated for us but not in a vintage cool way but just past its sell by date.  But anyway, that's not to say that the presentation isn't there, because it is, although we do get a feeling that their warehouse filled to the brim with old props somewhere out of town has been raided and then the found bits placed within the space to support the graphics here rather than an interesting concept developed and produced that has some level of depth?  That said, there clearly is a market for this stuff and perhaps this is all we are ever going to get; we just want to see something a little less ordinary that's all.

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Coach, London

Grrrrr......Wild Things.  Check out these windows at Coach right now.  OK, OK, we photographed these on the ever security concious Bond St. here in London which of course at night time, even though there is a security presence is actually very quiet and therefore the need for the security grilles which kill our images, but then with the ever growing 'smash and grabs' it is understandable we guess.  Gorgeous animal heads, beautifully executed and of course ties in perfectly with their website.  Nothing better than joined up thinking.  These guys are clearly communicating with each other in house.

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Hackett, London

Gravity defying mannequins and bust forms have been appearing a lot lately on the high street (check out our entry on Harvey Nichols for example).  With their gambling references and 'if there's no risk, there's no reward' strap line, Hackett as usual are leading the way with their menswear presentation and strong narratives.  If you want to see menswear windows at their very best and currently most interesting then do check out these guys.

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DKNY, London

This is probably one of the strongest windows that we have seen from this brand in a while.  Very impressive photography and flashing images in a repetition format.  Nothing more than that here although it did stop us and encourage us to take a closer look so job well done we guess.

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Lladro, London

We haven't been to visit these windows other than passing quite quickly after a little Sunday worship at Fortnum and Mason.  We adore these origami fish and well, the product fills a gap in someone's life we guess and while it is appreciated that these guys have clearly made an effort its just such a shame that this scheme looks so meaningless?  Cu'mon guys this isn't rocket science.  Begin with the product and build a scheme around it, taa daa, a product led scheme.  Done.  

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Hugo Boss, London

Winter it seems is just around the corner at Hugo Boss and their super cool steel installation.  It still slightly amazes us how quickly the Summer season appears to disappear and fade away here in London and in no time at all, once we have 'Back to School' out of the way its almost straight into Christmas.  Anyway, slick vertical and angled lines with layered dressing at Boss right now and one of the best schemes we've seen from this brand in ages.

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Desigual, London

If you want to view a bit-of-fun scheme then always pop to Desigual.  This brand oozes personality and this tiny little window is always a favourite of ours; we religiously pass by to take a look and see what they've done.  Looking ever so slightly triffid-esque (OK well its not actually a word but we're sure you know what we mean, if you don't then just look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triffid) with giant dots this window is just fun, fun, fun.  

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Iconome, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright Iconome

Wow, have you seen this yet?  We have to say, this is one of the biggest leaps in the use of mannequins we have ever seen in the history of figures in retail and a sign of how the future of our retail experience will become ever more technology based.  The technological based company Iconome have launched its VMBeacon based mannequins across several established UK brands which enables us as the customer to receive details of the products worn by the mannequins in a store window via your smartphone (once you download the app of course).  What this also does is to allow the user to find out more information about the products and access different offers, rewards and so on.  This is such an exciting development and so visionary that we just had to share this with you.

Check out our fantastic sponsors below for incredible Visual Merchandising solutions or click on the banners on the side of the main page at www.retailstorewindows.com

Banana Republic, London

We haven't included this brand for while, but usually when we don't include a brand its not because we don't like them or that we have an issue with them but only because they haven't produced anything very interesting or we just whizz by regardless en route to another retailer.  Of course this current scheme looks fantastic and you have to see it in the 'flesh' to truly appreciate its large swathes of paper and graphic lines in these enormous spaces.  Collaborations between brands always adds a refreshing perspective to the shopping experience and this one between Roland Mouret and the brand looks particularly interesting.  Go, look and experience for yourself.

Check out our fantastic sponsors below for incredible Visual Merchandising solutions or click on the banners on the side of the main page at www.retailstorewindows.com

Liberty, London

We rarely see references to War and Death in retail store windows as these are such taboo subjects to include usually (and a brave retailer who does).  There have been one or two recorded throughout history although retailers tend to avoid them.  However, we were really impressed with Liberty's inclusion of images of the men who worked for Liberty and fought in World War I.  We were rather taken aback to be honest with you as these references are so rare and we all know how ruthless retailers can be although this really has given us a new found belief that there are some retailers who have risen above the perpetual commercial promotion and shown a little bit of humility.  This has given us a huge amount of respect for this brand.  Clever emotional marketing ploy or a brand that actually does care?  We'll interpret the latter we think.

Check out our fantastic sponsors below for incredible Visual Merchandising solutions or click on the banners on the side of the main page at www.retailstorewindows.com

Visual Merchandising For Fashion, London

For all of you who have requested copies of our book Visual Merchandising For Fashion translated into Spanish and Portuguese, we are pleased to announce that our publishers have just published copies in both languages.  We are hoping that a Chinese version will be available at some point and we will certainly let you know where you can find copies of these versions very soon.

Also, don't forget to vote for your favourite Visual Merchandising and retailers by clicking the link here.

Diesel, London

We've ventured outside of London for the day and actually not on an aeroplane for a change and down to Bluewater shopping mall to view what is currently twitching window wise.  OK, well we found smaller versions of the usual stores which we usually include here although as its not always easy to find a Diesel store on our usual rounds we have decided to include them while we came across them.  Diesel are currently showcasing their D.N.A. Re-Evolution denim at the moment.  Essentially its the best bits from their previous ranges all rolled into one.  However, the presentation is interesting here.  Large moulded panels of the human figure fill these windows where the product is somehow attached.  It does actually look really interesting although it was possibly a nightmare to work out how to do this so well.

Check out our fantastic sponsors below for incredible Visual Merchandising solutions or click on the banners on the side of the main page at www.retailstorewindows.com