Lagerfeld, London

While we've been away the fantastic new Lagerfeld store has opened here in sunny and warm London.  Unfortunately we missed the grand opening (not that we were invited of course) but would have gone along to take a peak sooner if we had known.  Anyway, we do love this scheme created from hundreds of perfume bottles behind which is a video screen creating a wonderful sense of movement.  The outline of the man himself of course has been produced using Black versions of the bottles.  All beautifully produced as one would expect. 

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Miu Miu, Paris

Looking ever so slightly like the Prada stores with their mirrored horizontal lines Miu Miu are rocking these wonderful vertical wallpapered backdrops right now.  The pleasure of course is that this scheme is very different from its sister store back in London.  It was difficult to capture these as we were in a rush to catch the Eurostar back to London but you can at least get the gist of it.

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Printemps, Paris

In our penultimate entry on Paris before we head back to good old Blighty, naturally we have to include the monolithic Printemps before we go.  This isn't the most revolutionary scheme we've seen here although it has been superbly produced.  There is a very large run of windows so not the easiest place to manage although our feeling is, well, how many giant pages can we possibly look at?  That said of course, this has been beautifully produced and does what it does very well.

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Cosmoparis, Paris

This isn't our favourite scheme here in Paris but we felt it was worthy of inclusion nonetheless as we do like the use of the Gold and the neon lighting.  OK, well the product looks like its all fallen out with each other and clearly never going to speak again but Gold does communicate that feminine 'feel' when displaying product, don't you think?

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Louise Della, Paris

We didn't know this store at all here in St. Germain until now.  What is so refreshing about these independent boutiques is their wonderful seemingly carefree creativity.  Just look at these fantastic figures used as props to show the product.  Now you wouldn't see this down at your local Zara, Guess, Massimo....oh the list goes on really,  invariably no.

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Jean-Paul Lespagnard Installation, Galleries Lafayette, Paris

If you didn't have the opportunity to see this Jean-Paul Lespagnard installation recently, here's a snapshot for you.  Unfortunately we only have room to show you a tiny snippet of it but to give you an overview but if you experienced Gaga's workshop at Barneys a little while ago then this is very similar.  We are not sure that we are going to be enormous fans of this work, well scenic photographs of a middle aged looking man in a swimming costume with fake bee wings doesn't really float our boat but the journey that was presented was actually fascinating.  Below are these funfair-style cutouts, you know the ones where you poke your face through?  Not really revolutionary but good fun nonetheless.      

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Dries Van Noton Exhibition, Paris

We are forever being shouted at and told off here at Les Arts Decoratifs as they hate photographs being taken of their exhibits.  It seems that in Europe at least that just about every exhibition has a no photography sign up and around it (not that it ever stopped us of course).  After all we bought a ticket, we bought the book to the exhibition and we're promoting it now in a positive light, so what is the issue?  Just about everything is 'out there' in the public domain anyway, isn't it?

Having seen the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibition in Brooklyn, NYC last December and photographed and filmed it like naughty school boys and shared it with you all, we can guarantee that when the same exhibition arrives in London soon at the Barbican we would probably be escorted out of the building (we wont be trying of course as we have already seen it and captured it all anyway)  

In the meantime, this Dries Van Noton exhibition is actually fantastic.  What's so good about it we hear you ask? Well, what it shows and communicates so well is the process in which he works, in essence, concept to completion.  Go and see it if you can, it really is beautiful and well worth a visit.

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Maje, Paris

Letting it 'rainbow' (whatever  that means?) Maje, here along Rue St. Honore have presented this strand 'theme' which we referred to recently at the Joseph store back in London.  We dont know much about the brand to comment further but an interesting combination of high and low tech. being used in this relatively small store. 

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Longchamp, Paris

We were drawn in to the scheme at Longchamp here along the Rue St. Honore as we rather liked this handbag graphic.  The outline of the product has been suspended in front of the coloured shapes on the main backdrop.  The mannequin looks rather dodgy and awkwardly carrying some of their product but a great little scheme nonetheless.

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Roger Vivier, Paris

There appears to be a big 'Jungle' theme happening around town right now which we have spotted across so many brands on the high street including major brands such as Dior.  Here at Roger Vivier, a cut out Tiger and exotic plants has been mixed with some three dimensional props such as the pineapple to support their main product. 

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Kenzo, Paris

We don't often hear very much about Kenzo back in London and of course the security grilles obscure the windows so much that it really is impossible to capture what they are doing.  But not here in sunny Paris.  With their No Fish, No Nothing campaign, which is essentially highlighting the potential further loss of endangered species, and a just cause it is too.  It is a surprise to see this brand shouting anything at all actually as they always seem to sit so quietly almost unnoticed, but not any more.  A stage set backdrop in an abstracted seascape with a bit of vinyl thrown in; this scheme is very simple but communicates their campaign perfectly well.

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Geurlain, Paris

This brand is rather a blast from the past don't you think?  As with a lot of these dusty old names, (e.g. Pierre Cardin, YSL, Mr. Byrite?....or Mr. Burr-i-tee as it was so affectionately renamed for those of you who remember 1980's London) this one appears to have been revived, dragged away from the Petrol station forecourt (Gas Station for our U.S. readers) and token counter; if like us you remember, 6 gallons and get some free 'wine' glasses and a free bit of cologne that would either stun a buffalo at 20 paces with a blindfold, unintentionally blister the varnish on your 70's pine furniture or burn the skin of a small child (allegedly ..!).....but no, they are out there or at least out there somewhere and screaming along the high street.  And what a noise they are making.  Great to see some enormous creativity and life being pumped into this brand and looking so damned good too.

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Colette, Paris

No visit to Paris of course would be complete without a trip to worship at the fantastic Colette along the Rue St. Honore.  Right now we can see this incredible collaboration with Smythson and The Panama Legacy in their windows while doing a little bit of star spotting (only French soap stars in this case who we don't know).  With prices at this brand not for the feint hearted (would you pay 600 Euro for an Iphone case?) but still worth a visit nonetheless.

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Chloe, Paris

This was a very tricky scheme to capture given the amount of reflective surfaces and trying our best not to be included in the images ourselves.  We could see this scheme in the distance opposite Chanel and what is so hard to appreciate here is the movement of the reflections as the passerby, well, literally walks by.  You can see in the image above flashes of Orange as someone happened to walk by just as we captured this and as they did their image was abstracted and spun around this structure.  This is so incredibly simple but of course superbly produced.

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Correge, Paris

There's nothing better than gushing over the windows in the golden triangle of luxury stores just off the Champs Elysees and of course a visit to Correge is always on our agenda just to experience their space station-like interior.  This is actually a very cheap scheme to produce, although it is beautifully done.  With their bust forms suspended in a gravitational product handling dynamic format and the use of both vertical, horizontal, and circular lines in a vinyl which has been applied to the fenestration, how could one not be drawn in?

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C&A, Paris

Who would have thought that C&A would look so creative?  The presence of this brand on the British high street is a distant memory these days but not in the rest of Europe.  As an overview, think value retailer that no one ever admitted to shopping at apart from their ski-wear.  It was a surprise to see this of course as we always remembered it as a 'duff' old brand but look at it now, all super cool.  We adored these denim covered old VW's and odd structures which look fantastic until we realised that they are plastic and printed.  But hey, from a distance they looked great and drew is in so job well done we guess?

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Joseph, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright Joseph

We rarely have the opportunity to swing by the Joseph store along Fulham Road these days although we do love what these guys do, and do so brilliantly well.  We have seen a few of these 'strands' or vertical and horizontal line-type schemes around town recently which demonstrates how the mid-range brands keep catching up so quickly to the innovators such as here but this fantastic installation in Black and White naturally is superbly produced and oozes that stunning Art gallery 'feel' which we adore. 

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