Fenwick, London

Fenwick continues to make some noise at their store along Bond street and their latest installation, a little reminiscent of the new age period which launched Rifat Ozbek to the forefront of our minds quite some time ago now looks superb.  Giant sized handbags, sunglasses and shoes illuminated with this minty Green glow and several product handling dynamics applied such as the use of the pyramid and symmetry generates that wonderful sense of balance.  We keep finding ourselves going back again and again just to see what they do next.

Dolce and Gabbana, London

This probably the best window scheme we have seen from this brand, ever.  Just look at those gorgeous props in the window.  If you have ever been to the Sir John Soane's Museum in Lincolns Inn fields then you will understand the comparison here.  And we adore that place.  Eclecticism at its very best and beautifully produced architectural components in a stacked formation.  Gorgeous.  Anyone know who did it?

Anya Hindmarch, London

This is a refreshing direction from Anya Hindmarch right now here in the centre of London.  Could someone let us know what these guys are doing elsewhere as they seem to be promoting the localised creativity trend; possibly inadvertently although it is welcome nonetheless.  Lab experiments and gorgeous product.  Great to see oodles of creativity injected into such a tiny space.

Bershka, London

Have you seen this installation at Bershka right now along Oxford Street?  We do love to see these collaborations and interesting 'bits' that these multiple brands drop on us now and again.  Unfortunately we were only able to capture a part of this so you will have to go and visit it for yourself, however the information reads that this was produced by Julie Waibel at the RCA based on Mary Poppins' never ending bag (you have to see the whole installation to understand this).  This is a fantastic example of how seemingly generic brands are supporting fresh new talent.

Liberty, London

This brand rarely fail to impress and we adore the fun that they inject into their schemes.  While not the most lavish of schemes, it is of course a wonderful surprise not to view the dreaded Sale schemes which still haunt us around town.  With their 'Cut out and Keep' installation, simply but beautifully produced we can't help but keep following them to see what they do next.

Prada, London

With their waffle backdrop and chequered floor the merry widows at Prada empty their brightly coloured handbags in search of their dearly departed husbands will.  Meanwhile, random shoes keep watch over the spectacle.

Asprey, London

Did you see the Christmas windows at this brand?  If not then we did make a short video if you check out our YouTube site as it was quite spectacular.  Of course its that time of year again when everything seems to almost go into slow motion and by comparison of course the latest scheme, while not looking exactly flat, doesn't quite have the wow factor.  But then, we guess, that's what makes Christmas schemes so special.  It is of course a beautiful quality installation nonetheless.

Berlutti, London

This brand appears to have gone from strength to strength visually over the past year.  Its seems, at least from the outside looking in that this is an old brand which has been injected with a refreshing amount of creativity, although not so much that it changes the brand so completely to alienate its core customers (whoever they are) although personally we rather like radical changes.  Blowing off the dust and cobwebs is a good thing and adding a teeny bit of humour here with the use of the saddles strategically placed as if they are trophy heads / skulls ticks the boxes very nicely.  We know these brands read this site, so come on guys, if you are reading this in your dark dusty boardroom, possibly with the whiff of damp trouser hanging in the air from the old guys who have been there for decades and hold the purse strings; lets keep the creativity coming and push those boundaries, eh?

Ralph Lauren, London

Thankfully there is some great theatre on the streets at the moment and of course Ralph Lauren never fails to impress us.  The lavishness and detail of their schemes is quite beautiful and this one, even though simple by comparison to their usual offering is no exception.  It is always quite a risk 'hybridising' mannequins.  What we mean by that is placing them in positions in which they were never designed to be.  However, it was extremely difficult to tell whether the ballerina figure had been hybridised as the guys here have handled it so incredibly well.  We've never seen a ballerina mannequin figure so we are guess that they have worked their magic on this one? 

Louis Vuitton, London

We do honestly look forward to this brands' presentation as we never really know where they are going to go next.  OK, well, Christmas was just a smidge generic and didn't really float our boat, but hey look at this little gem.  If you happen to be in London then do go and check out this scheme.  If you are a fan of post-modernism then this will definitely draw you in.  We've always been huge fans of the post-modernist period, although of course we are ( almost nearly) all post-modernists whether we like it or not simply by our age.  

Anyway, Le Corbusier is certainly one on our list of favourite architects even if he did leave us with hideous tower blocks with graffiti covered pilotis in just about every city in the world which quite honestly just don't work as we know.  There is a very long debate here and this is just a sound-bite so we cant go into that much detail.  

Charlotte Perriand is someone who we had never heard of previously and we are rather ashamed to admit it, although here we have references and a big old giant nod to this incredible female who was apparently famously rejected by Le Corbusier with a "We are sorry but we don't embroider cushions here".  Ouch.  Sadly, if he had employed her originally the world may have looked just that little bit better.  Anyway, do look her up as there is a fascinating story behind this woman from which this brand have drawn references.

Tiffany, London

Its nearly that time of year again,  Yes, Valentines is creeping up on us led once again by the luxe brands.  Here at Tiffany Golden arrows point directly to the product (just in case we cant see it).  Fantastic quality scheme as always but why oh why do we have use the usual horrible motifs?

Hackett, London

If the rain here on the streets of London is not enough for you then why not pop to Hackett and let it rain in store for you too?  Oh those clever boys and girls at Hackett have done it again and what a corker of a scheme.  Its been a long time since we've seen running water in a scheme, possibly not since Liberty in the 90's and a hairdressing salon in Tokyo in the 00's, so it really is refreshing to see this gem.  But why not push those boundaries a little further; real ice?  Will Westminster Council and the Crown Estate allow Fire?  Yeah go for it guys?  Are we being mischievous?  Damn right.

Daks, London

We really want to love what this brand do but right now we are struggling to appreciate this one.  OK, well we understand the anniversary connections and all of the props, but maybe this just could have been rather more 'meaty'?  Right now as a passerby the scheme does appear a little like a diorama from a museum display rather than a cool fashion installation, but that's just us, or is it?

Tods, London

OK, well we can go two directions with this one.  On the one hand we have seen this scheme at Tods before (well the fixtures at least) although are they actually being sustainable and reusing 'bits' from previous schemes because they care about the environment or have they run out of ideas?  We can only wonder? 

Alexander McQueen, London

We've been passing by this scheme here at McQueen for some time now and keep meaning to include them.  Of course this is one of our absolute favourite brands for creativity in spaces which are extremely difficult to work with.  Anyway, let us know what you think?

Diptyque, London

This was another one of those schemes that slipped through the net just before Christmas which we just didn't have the time to show.  Of course with Sale still upon us, we thought it was worthwhile including this one while the rest of the high street remains a sea of Red.  Here at Diptyque with what are actually quite difficult windows to work with they have included these incredible peacocks.  We're not sure of the material that these are made from but they are super cool nonetheless, don't you think?

G-Star Raw, London

We've gradually warmed to this brand; some are slow burners we suppose.  Anyway, doing their bit for recycling, G-Star have dusted off their old skeleton and wrapped it up ready for Sale time.  We did see this last year so on the one hand we would have liked to see something new, but, hey, sustainability an' all that.

Hermes, London

Throughout 2013 Hermes just delighted us more and more with their schemes.  Did you see the last one that we posted just before Christmas.  Superb, although it only appeared for about a week.  Anyway, we adore these metal filling cabinets in gorgeous colours with these shiny Silver Ants.  We haven't worked out the connected yet however, is there one?

Tods, London

This is a another scheme which we just didn't have time to show to you before Christmas.  We wanted to just slip this one in before Sale time ends and new schemes begin to break through.

Smytheson, London

Just in case you missed this little scheme at Smytheson, here it is for you.  Unfortunately we ran out of time to show you this before Christmas and although we often pass this store along Bond Street it is easy to miss the impact of the flooring here.  We've seen a few optical illusions around and this one has a slightly Esher feel to it, don't you think?

Acne, London

We don't know what to make of this window?   No Visual Merchandising or Art installation?  Who knows?

Faberge, London

We don't often have the opportunity to have a look at Faberge just off Bond Street here in the centre of it all, but we did swing by just to have a peak in case something interesting was happening.  Well, OK they have their Christmas scheme in which isn't particularly exciting (but then would you prefer a sale graphic?) when the event has now long gone but it is very worthy of being included nonetheless and something very Tiffany-esque going on here, don't you think?  

Dover st. Market, London

Well would you look at this little corker of a scheme.  The one key wonderful 'thing' about luxury brands and what delights us so much is that they are so far ahead of everything and everyone else that we can actually view what is going to happen over the next few months to a year.  Well, actually if you follow the press and have your ear to the ground on an hour by hour basis then you can pretty much determine this stuff yourself.  However, avant garde -ness and other wordly-ness (are we gushing?) of the schemes at this brand are just fantastic and Gary Cards installation of the Abandoned Amusement Park Attraction is certainly one to go an see for yourself.

Cos, London

Oh those guys at Cos have yet again come up with a killer scheme for Sale.  This brand it seems at least to us (and we don't know the guys here) but we bet the visual team is being run by a fine artist?.  The schemes here, OK well not the most visual on the high street have that whiff of an artists studio and ooze the intellect that bypasses most and yet hits 'it' almost like an iron fist right on the nail.  Are we right?

Desigual, London

Never a brand to disappoint, Desigual have yet again pulled off a killer window.  This is such a tiny space and yet every time these guys inject such humour and quality into what is actually a banal time of year.  We've been so impressed with their contribution that we have even included their previous Sale scheme in our book Fashion Visual Merchandising which is out now.

Hackett, London

With so many brands simply adding a Sale sign to their Christmas schemes, its always a welcomed relief to see Hackett making such an enormous effort and what fun too...!  We adore out-sized props and in this case their references to Hitchcock keep us smiling.  We honestly didn't think that these guys would have much space in their new store to carry on with their amazing input onto the high street which keeps them at the top of our list of ones to watch, but they have and in such style too.  Why not dial 'S' for Sale?