Fishs Eddie, New York

This is our last entry here in NYC before we head for a much warmer climate in Africa (Yeah..!) and what a time we have had.  We're publishing our 10 Commandments of Visual Merchandising 2013 tomorrow so please do check back if you think they may be of use to you all out there, some where or at least else where.  In the meantime, we had to mention Fishs Eddie before we leave; this store is just opposite ABC on Broadway.  We love the merchandise here.  The store and brand is kind of slightly Anthropologie, although not as cool, however not as sanitised as Crate and Barrel and definitely not as nauseating as Pottery Barn. The local demographic is sliced ever thinner.  Anyway, do check them out as they have great windows and the interiors, while comparatively small (in comparison to the previously mentioned brands) they do actually stock some fun (we are resisting saying 'cute') stuff.

 

C. Wonder, New York

'Delivering brightness to every corner of life' is  the incredible  C.Wonder.  We have never come across this store before and the brand is completely new to us, but how incredible  does this brand look, eh?  Our only  criticism is the at the merchandising is not very strong and does look rather confusing.  There are some fun products and the in store looks cool with these wonderful Zebra's although just a little too polished for us.

The Hoodie Shop, New York

We're not massive fans of Hoodie's per se, but this store does look rather cool.  Hoodie's seemed to hang around very much like leggings in the 90's and don't seem to want to go away anytime soon.  That said this store looks incredible and the brand have quite an amazing website too.

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop, New York

This just made us chuckle.  Probably not too busy this time of year for these stores as its so cold, but we love the concept.

Any Old Iron, New York

Well, we've survived the Christmas splurge and thank goodness its all over at least for another year.  We've decided to concentrate now on the lower east side which is definitely the coolest part of Manhattan.  Gorgeous bars, cafes and stores are in abundance here.  This store, Any Old Iron definitely has the coolest window in the street.  A whole variety of ephemera in a repetition format, hung on a wire framed background and sprayed in a White finish looks so incredibly cool that it hurts. Now lets change that awful bust form in the window though?

Merry Christmas, New York

Well that's Christmas all done then.  We hope you are having a fantastic one.  Few things are worse than seeing Christmas schemes after Christmas so we're off to the lower east side to the cool part of the city.  We haven't had the opportunity to include every Christmas scheme in New York and London but hopefully you have had a flavour of what is happening both sides of the Atlantic.  As you dig into your turkey, nut roast or just liquor enjoying all the festivities that this nauseous time of year has to offer think of us flaneur-ing the streets to bring you the latest and greatest in retail store windows.  If you are reading this, then switch off your computer and go and enjoy yourself.  We are....!!  Have a great one and thank you to all those of you who follow the site or simply check us out.  We're off to a warmer climate shortly also so do check out what we are up to during our adventures in Marrakesh and our 10 Commandments for 2013. 

Club Monaco, New York

Blimey...!  How much bling?  We've seen this Gold trend happening all year long so hopefully this is the end of it.  Painted White and this would have looked more Margiela so the use of multiple objects sprayed one tone is not new, although we do like it but would have liked a lot more of it.

ABC, New York

One of our absolute favourite stores has to be ABC along Broadway.  This magnificent store over several floors is just stunning and we always make a beeline for it on every visit just to have a look.  It is very pricey but it does stock the most extraordinary stuff that we drool every time we come here.  The vintage feel and the shabby interior space with the most delicious merchandise is heaven.

Saks, New York

This part of 5th Avenue is always so incredibly jammed with tourists viewing this spectacle.  Saks with their usual style have projected this amazing spectacle onto the front elevation of this iconic store.  The visual and the sounds against the noise of the traffic and crowds is quite amazing to be a part of and makes us tingle just being here.

Bonpoint, New York

We passed this scheme recently at Bonpoint on Madison and literally stopped in our tracks.  Picture the scene......we're out late at night, virtually no traffic, absolutely no-one else around and we come across this creepy looking scheme.  A metal framed bed in a woodland scenario, pink kiddie dress (and a floaty one at that) on a hanger and placed on a bed, just slightly tilted as if the previous occupant had been dissolved away and this scary masked creature in Black stooped over it.  This is the stuff of nightmares.  It haunts us.  Sleep well.

Fendi, New York

We weren't quite sure whether we liked this scheme at Fendi along 5th avenue that we spotted recently (not that that actually matters) however once we had taken a closer look (so the scheme worked in that way..!) the detail here is actually very interesting.  What looks like horrible gold boxes from a distance are actually what appears to be melted letter form in this repetition format.  The stands holding the accessories are also melted Fendi 'F's and really does look very glossy and very interesting when one stands very close to them.  We're not fans of 'bling' but this does actually work really well.

Anthropologie, New York

A visit to New York would never be complete without swinging by at least one of the Anthropologie stores and we've been to them all...!  We adore what this brand do, the creativity the products, the whole philosophy of the brand.  Anyway, here at the Rockefeller centre, we had to wait ages and ages to get even these quick shots as the crowds here are rammed trying to look at a Christmas tree.  Whys that we hear you ask?  Well we have no idea, its just a tree, but the locals and not so local love it.  Well, we wish they would move out of way then while we try and take these images for you, its madness around here. 

Helmut Lang, New York

We've been to visit two of these stores here in New York (there may be more?) and we quite like this  feeling of curator ship rather than 'shop', retail / commercial space.  With these interesting engines suspended within the window space, fashion, although of course an art in itself, appears to be ever more connected....well literally at least.  Very interesting and simple presentation.

DIM at El Cortes Ingles, Madrid

We always love to view whats happening around the world and we have been fortunate to be sent images and a video of one of the schemes at El Cortes Ingles in Madrid by the clearly talented Xavi Selles (unfortunately blogger doesn't allows put accents on names of things, places and people, but you get the gist).  Anyway, this is one hell of a creative way to show hosiery, which is always notoriously difficult to do and certainly grabbed the passersby.  Great fun, eh?  In the meantime, do check our Xavi's website http://www.xaviselles.com/   Who knew Spain was looking so good, eh?

 

 

Reed Krakoff, New York

We had never heard of this brand either before ("well where have you been shopping guys, K-Mart?", we hear you shouting at your screens) But, anyway this glowing (literally) scheme drew us in to make a closer inspection.  Reed Krakoff himself, it transpires is also apparently a photographer and a bit of a mover and shaker in the 'fash' biz so we're a little embarrassed not to have heard of him.  We will get over it of course.  Anyway, OK well we have seen chairs being used in windows for as long as we can remember, but this scheme does have an edge to it and we really rather like it.  What do you think? 

Aaron Basha, New York

We'd never heard of Aaron Basha before, nor ever noticed this store here in New York.  But, how cool is this store? We were pulled from the other side of the street to take a closer look at this illuminated angel? (we guess?)  Jewellery stores are not always the most innovative, but wow, the colours and simplicity of this store combined with fabulous design is a definite winner.

Oliver Sweeney, London

You may remember a short while ago that we commented on how badly wrapped these, well probably boxes we guess, here at Oliver Sweeney on Conduit street were in the image above.  Well....to our amazement, they've been swapped for these deliciously packaged gifts complete with signature ribbon and gorgeous paper that we would love to receive ourselves.  What a difference just a little bit of thought and care make, eh?  Cheers guys........so much better.  We may be stateside right now but we can still sniff out an improved scheme......;o)

Ralph Lauren, New York

There's always something so satisfying about visiting New York during the holiday period as nearly everyone makes such a big effort to embrace the season and show themselves at their most imaginative and  exciting.  We've visited the Ralph Lauren Mansion along Madison several times before as they do what they do so deliciously well and we want to keep coming back.  This years scheme is nearly all White, creating this fantastic winter wonderland and of course is beautifully produced to the standards which keep this brand at the top of the industry.

Barneys, New York

We've been following Barneys Christmas window schemes for almost 15 years (yeah...!) and we loved the Cher scheme, the homage to Warhol, the Green Christmas, the Hippy Holiday, the Rudolph reindeer in respect of 9 / 11, Gaga's Workshop.....the list goes on.  But, fricking Disney?  We've heard along the VM grapevine that the brand has been sold and now owned by an investment company (we don't know for absolutely sure)  However, while digital technology is definately of the moment, does it really have to be Dis-mally?  Oh what a shame.  Apologies for the smears of tears left on the fenestration @ Barneys but you clearly no longer understand your brand and the soul has been ripped out.  There are two ways left to go; either Bonwit Teller (as in no longer in existence) or Macys (horribly mainstream).  What a great big Disney tragedy for such a gem of a company.

Bergdorf Goodman, New York

Our first stop in New York has to be Bergdorfs.  This year the store have presented this incredible Follies presentation with their usual microscopic attention to detail.  Strangely, overall the Bergdorf scheme is not as lavish as we have seen in previous years, although the attention to detail is second to none.  These guys are at the top of the tree for sure.  We've seen this 'Charlston' mood happening across a lot of brands throughout the year so we will be keeping track as it begins to trickle down into the mainstream.  If, in the meantime you can go and see this scheme, then you must.  We've taken lots of images of these windows and constantly licking our laptop screens in awe.

Retail Store Windows in New York

We are currently scouring the latest and greatest from the Big Apple to bring you all of the wonderfully delicious schemes happening right now stateside.  If you want to know whats up, whats in and whats happening, then do keep checking back here at www.retailstorewindows.com

Image source: http://www.whatswrongwiththeworld.net/2010/02/americas_british_culture.html

Prada, London

Prada always seem to make such an effort with their schemes, don't you think?  We are always strangely surprised at what they produce and in this case there appear to be references to Verner Pantons work of the 1970's and in particular Visiona and Visiona 2. 

Gucci, London

We haven't looked at Gucci for absolutely ages, possibly because their Bond street store always has its security grille down so its not very easy to capture their windows often. However, their Knightsbridge store doesn't appear to be as precious so we were able to capture their Christmas scheme in all is blinging glory to share with you. 

Selfridges, London

Like a beacon of retail hope, Selfridges is beaming onto Oxford Street right now and looking, as ever, incredible.  We always adore what these guys do and of course always look forward to their Christmas schemes.  This year, we have seen the fantastic tongue in cheek humour from this brand which harks back to when store windows were just that;  Clever, fun and beautifully produced, yet selling the products.  Selfridges always gets it so fricking right, it hurts and hurts wonderfully.

De Beers, London

De Beers never really do anything interesting but thankfully there are exceptions and clearly stranger things have happened.  We captured this at night time so there's no jewellery to be seen here but we did think that this absolutely summed up that frosty feeling that we are experiencing in London right now.  These beautifully scratched windows revealing what we thought initially from a distance was an advent calender actually reveals these videos of candles burning.  A wonderful scheme and it would be great to come back and see more creativity here.  Well, we're hoping at least.

Mathew Williamson, London

We adore the colours here at Mathew Williamson, aren't they stunning?  Unfortunately the scheme itself is not very strong and we can see that the usual mannequins have been dusted off and represented as if they've all argued with each other.  Of course, the mannequins are the highest quality, as is the product but sadly nothing ever seems to happen in tandem.  There is such enormous mileage in this scheme but it just doesn't work as one.  What a missed opportunity.

Fortnum and Mason, London

Christmas really wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to Fortnum and Mason, would it?  These guys absolutely get it all so right every time.  Following on from their amazing Jubilee scheme (which now seems so far away) we have their latest offering which simply oozes the quality one would expect from such a wonderfully historical brand that knows how to handle such difficult product.  There really is no where like this brand and the skill of the team here is second to none.  Another fantastic year guys.