The Wizard of Oz at Harrods

Department stores go all out at Christmas on their window displays and if there was a hierarchy of London stores Harrods would definitely be up there as royalty! This year the department store are celebrating 70 years of the Wizard of Oz. Each window takes a different element of the story and illustrates in a larger than life display. Examples above include the iconic ruby slippers, the scarecrow and Dorothy's dog Toto.
Rather than the windows just being a set of props, they cleverly integrated products from all of their departments giving each feature of the original story a modern and glamorous twist. My favorite example of this is Toto who is wearing a diamonte collar and lives in a Caesars Palace kennel showing that a little artistic license goes a long long way!

Christmas Trend Spot: Oversized Baubles

Christmas is always an exciting time of year in the world of Visual Merchandising and this years displays do not disappoint!
On a research trip to London this week, I kept my eye out for concepts retailers have used for Christmas 2009.
A big trend I noticed was the use of giant baubles; the examples above show displays in Topshop, Harvey Nichols and Banana Republic. What I really like is how each brands display, is a unique take on the trend, reflecting the individual retailers image and taste. For example, Topshops display uses very soft and metallic colours, reflecting the tones and styles of their key trends this season. Whilst Harvery Nichols boldness and use of colour are very different in comparison, it is entirely appropriate for the department store.

Feel at home with Joules

I visited the Joules store in Cheltenham last weekend as a part of my research into lifestyle brands for my final project. I really like the concept Joules have used of making the store like a home. Each area of the store has different props and fittings that reflect a room in a home, like in these examples above that use a bath tub and an ironing board. All of the props, like the stores interior are painted in very neutral tones. This enables the brands products to really stand out with their vibrant patterns and colours. The concept reflects one of Joules core values of being a brand for all the family and creates an enjoyable store environment for customers.

The Thomas Pink Library of Shirts

This window display for womens shirts at Thomas Pink in Edinburgh uses a really interesting concept. Pink's tailored shirts in every style and colour imaginable are their signature garment. I really like the way they have used the idea of a library as an analogy for their shirt collections. Referring to it as a 'Shirt Library' and using a backdrop of assorted books communicate ideas of volume and collections that you associate with a library of books.
The composition of the backdrop, the mannequins with only shirts on and the text on the window, work really well together. The display promotes one of the brands signature garments in a fun, and easily recognisable way.