Themed windows: Back to School by John Lewis

Since I was already on the topic of John Lewis, I realised that back in London a couple of months ago, I had actually passed by the store and had a few snapshots of their "Back to School" window displays, which I shall showcase here. In case you're just like me, living in a weird country; where schooling is such a top priority in young children to university young adults, as seen by the amount of money parents are willing to spend on their tuition, but no one sees potential to tap on this "Back to School" theme at all. You can sell a zillion things! See how John Lewis departmental store does it right:

See, when I mentioned that they are a heritage store, what they intended was to inculcate the idea to consumers that this will be THE store not only where your grandparents and your parents shopped, but it will be always there for you and even your future children.

Right from when your little ones come into this world, they're ready for you.

For the girls:

And the boys:

This may not be entirely relevant to the Singapore context where kids wear school uniforms to school. In fact, I guess it's the same for UK kids as well. Nevertheless, the fact that they decided to use this theme, not only makes you think of having to wear new uniforms and get new books, but also remind you to buy new clothing for the children for out-of-school social events such as their birthdays, or just out for the weekend. After all, who doesn't like new stuff?

And I like that they have the posters to clearly indicate the gender so that people don't have to look for clues. There is a whole lot of stuff hanging in there, and I wouldn't believe that a busy parent with a couple of kids on their hands has enough time span to scrutinize what's going on in this window display. The peg walls are good for display a variety of products visibly in this space too, as compared to the plinths. It works especially for outfits, so that it doesn't have to be cluttered with too many mannequins in the window.

I love these three windows below 'cause it's so relevant! Haven't seen a window for college students, perhaps there was, but it was probably just college fashion for the new semester.

 See how this window has attracted a mom and her daughter who might be moving to college soon?

But this is so useful for freshmen who are moving into apartments or hostels as we call it here and want to shop for stuff for their entire living space. The stuff are already nicely grouped into kitchenware and stuff for the bedroom and desk, so they can almost make "wall" selections of stuff instead of going to individual places for different stuff that will probably be mismatched or take up too much time. Who wants what?! College life is all about productivity! Either study-time or party-time! No time to fuss about buying home stuff!

xoxo,
Yuhan

John Lewis - The Brand that touches us all.

So, I LOVE Lily Allen. It becomes clear to me, if I love someone that much, usually I have a very clear recollection of how exactly and what made me fall in love. But that doesn't always happen... (I still love you guys for those I don't recall!) Anyways, my then close friend, Shan, introduced me to her. And the song I fell in love with was "Fuck You" because it was on my mentor, Matt's playlist all the time while we dealt with all the shitty people and nasty uncooperative reactions. Her songs, and lyrics and persona grew into me over the years... and I even had a magazine clipping of her wedding dress designed by Karl Lagerfeld.

Afterwards, she was inactive for a couple of years. My moments were sad, reliving this beautiful voice through listening to her other older songs. She has returned! But for now, most of the songs she sings are collaborations... I want more! Finally, not this one, not this one that she sang for the John Lewis Christmas 2013 ad.

John Lewis retail, a departmental store totally unfamiliar to me until one of my teachers mentioned it during my VM class in Marangoni while I was in London. All I recalled then, was that it was a heritage store and their ad was incredibly touching after I was shown this:

Just when you thought that was touching... How does it get better and better?!

I mean... seriously?!

I have full of admiration for this guy and his direction for the store: how he does this emotional selling so subtly but successful (You realize he always choose the right singers too?) And look at how it then translates into a magnificent window display for their store so customers, young and old, whom have seen the ad can relate and recount that same experience again. And in case you were wondering it's just about being pretty, the video below shows how all these "animals" from the advert are actually made up of different household products that can be found in the store.

Pretty damn amazing and well executed! This marks the start of the departmental stores VM which I will be covering for the rest of the month... partly because I can't wait to showcase what I have been doing the last week for one store! My first project! And that's also how I came to understand how much hard work is put into these mega stores with a zillion brands and products. Ciao!

xoxo, 

Yuhan

Inspiration: Origami birds part 3

This is almost becoming like a trending window! Or has a little bird flew over across the street from DFS Galleria right into the Anne Fontaine window?

In any case, I just can't seem to get enough of these!!! Even though they are all appear to be the same origami bird, as seen in previous entries, (read: Inspiration on origami birds part 1 and part 2 here) VM-ers have used this simple concept to create exciting displays, and at the same time, cater to their personal needs (i.e. individual themes and products that they want to sell).

And take a look at this! Fresh, and very much Anne Fontaine! I must first point out, I totally dig the 'Anne Fontaine' lit brand signage. It was exactly the same idea, same font I had for a signage in my concept store for Selfridges in my Marangoni school project. And as most fans of the brand know, they are well known for their crisp white shirts that comes in various designs each season, so white is probably their main colour in terms of design and also for windows. Here is an excellent example of a window for education; informing the consumers of Forest day which the 'Anne Fontaine foundation' supports. So in this case, it is also promoting the brand itself as one that cares for the environment, and contributes back to it.

In this window, the origami bird couldn't be more appropriate as a prop! Firstly, it enhances the message about saving forests, plant trees, which leads us to think about saving paper as well. Secondly, the paper with its strong, sharp edges but when folded, portrays the grace and natural movement of flying, fully brings out or is at least in line with the brand image for their white shirts: crisp and smart, and at the same time, elegant and graceful. As a side note, circular rings hung together with each bird to highlight this important prop,

The hung feathers, probably to imitate clouds, add to the lightness and natural flow of flight for the birds, and also reminds the customer of the softness of their shirts.Clever use of continuation of feathers on the short plinth brings the the line of sight down to the accessories display, one of the focus point in the window. 

As for the garments, the lighting and the forward positions of the hanging mannequins (especially having one with a white shirt) would have immediately caught the attention of the viewer after reading the line of words on the bottom left.

The only thing I didn't light about the window, is the lighting. As this is an open back window, and with a rather high ceiling, their lights come from the side. That isn't bad, considering from what I see here, the lighting on the products is sufficient. However, having those big cylindrical studio light lookalikes in white sticking out from the side of the window really distracts one from the main window and isn't aesthetically pleasing. I hope that do something to hide it, or at least make it less visible. 

xoxo, 

Yuhan