Trend Spot: Flamingos

Over the last month or so I have spotted a number of flamingos within window displays of various retailers. The first example I have shown is of Harrods, this particular pink bird featured in their Alice in Wonderland display. This trend I have noticed undoubtedly is linked to the Alice in Wonderland theme popular in March, as in the story Alice plays croquet with some flamingos.

The River Island display shown in the last two images mimics the bright coral/pink of the flamingos in two dresses modeled on the mannequins. I like the way in this display the two birds are doing different poses adding interest to the props. The bright colour of the bird makes it an ideal prop for Spring/Summer and the Alice in Wonderland link strengthens its relevance this season.

Alice steps out of Wonderland and into the windows!

When I heard last year that Tim Burton was collaborating with Disney to produce a new version of Alice in Wonderland I kept my fingers crossed that it was going to be big. The publicity surrounding the film has been huge, and I am so pleased to see that it's been adopted by my two favorite department stores in London as a visual merchandising concept.

These photographs are of Harrods and Selfridges Alice in Wonderland window displays; two very different schemes that take inspiration from the same film. Alice in Wonderland is filled with motifs and characters that make it an ideal theme for a visual merchandising concept. From teacups, cream cakes and rabbits, to clocks, keyholes and playing cards.

The first four photographs are from Harrods, the displays use bold colours and patterns to reflect the bizarre characteristics of the story. Whilst props such as the giant teacup and playing card cake are manipulations of scale, featuring objects from the story that are famously associated with Alice.

Selfridges take on the theme, shown in the last three images, is a lot less theatrical and more traditional and old-fashioned in comparison. They have used the same objects such as playing cards and clocks but arranged them in a jumbled manner in scenes that mimic the Mad Hatters tea party.

Which do I prefer more? That is hard to say but I do think they have both done a very good job of paying tribute to one of the most famous children's stories of all!

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!