Top Trunks 2010

Is exhibition the new promotional innovation? I know, that sounds like a mouthful, so let’s get straight down to the general jist. 2010 has marked a new era of the use of visual promotion and I reckon this is only the beginning…

Let me take you back to earlier this year. May, to be specific. David Cameron had moved into Number 10, our England team was geared up for what promised to be their best World Cup yet (a-hem) and London was hit by an elephant invasion. No, don’t adjust your computer screens, you read correctly. Picture the scene - I’m walking through Hyde Park when suddenly I come across a giant elephant decorated to look like a panda. Or a giant panda, shaped to look like an elephant, depending on how you look at it. Sitting next to it was a second one – this time donned trunk to foot in athlete’s gear (complete with headband, very fetching). As I carried on down the path I noticed a third and fourth – and it didn’t take long to discover that actually, these elephants weren’t just dotted around the park, they had invaded London. 261 individually decorated elephants spread across more than 100 venues in the centre of town, all designed to raise awareness of the charity, The Elephant Family.

Genius. 261 elephants, 261 talking points. From their eye-catching and quirky designs, to their proximity to every major tourist sight in London, to the fact that they were sodding great big elephants, you couldn’t miss them! Such a simple idea, such an immense amount of interest – I think it’s safe to say that it has ground-breaking potential and could spawn many exciting ideas for the future.

Trafalgar Square didn’t manage to escape the elephant invasion, but our peanut-loving friends could only play second fiddle to the Square’s own exhibition, known now simply as “The Fourth Plinth”. Last year, it was left to the hands of the public when they offered a scheme allowing people to exhibit whatever they wanted for an hour each, over 100 days. This year it has played host to more traditional artworks – a giant ship in a bottle, to talks of a huge Battenberg made out of bricks… so what next year? Could the Fourth Plinth prove to be an advertisers dream? It might not be in-keeping with Trafalgar Square’s theme, but in the ever-increasing commercial environment that we find ourselves – let’s not forget that Piccadilly Circus, a square popular purely for its feature of lit-up advertisements, is one of London’s biggest hotspots - it could be the next progressive step. Only time will tell.

Heading South of the river now, and onto one of the highlights of our sporting calendar – Wimbledon. Again, imagine this… you’re heading down to SW19, squashed like a sardine on a District Line train that you’ve probably waited at least half an hour for, all to queue up for three hours in the hope that you can catch a glimpse of your favourite tennis stars in action. The only consolation is the fact that there will be Pimms on tap. That was until some unnamed genius decided to transform Southfields station into its very own Centre Court. We’re talking Astroturf, court markings, gazebos - the works. American Express were the first sponsors, then HSBC… well, 2010 saw the station sponsored by ASDA and its strawberries. All of a sudden the atmosphere when you step off that sweaty tube becomes one of excitement, a buzz in the air, a spring in your step and excitement sweeping through you as you head down the road towards the fun-filled day that awaits you. (And I bet ASDA’s strawberry sales went through the roof too.)

So what does 2011 have in store? None of these ideas were particularly new, but the past 12 months have seen them move onwards and upwards to the next step of creative sparkle. Who knows what next year could bring, but I sure can’t wait to see what’s coming soon to a London landmark near you…

Our Top 3 Windows for Christmas and more..

Christmas is well and truly underway here at SFD headquarters.  Our M&S windows have been installed and very successfully received,  the staff Xmas party is quickly approaching and I’m already having a minor meltdown about Secret Santa!

As t’is the season to be jolly and all that, I thought I’d have a wander through London to see which retailers have really gone all out and which ones are more credit crunch Christmas this year.  As you can hardly avoid the magic triangle of Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty when talking about Christmas windows, I hot-footed it down to the former to begin my festive foray.

I was very impressed with the overall effect.  The attention to detail is outstanding; from the giant dog kennel showcasing the adorable cuddly toy puppies to the arrangement of the Sylvanian Families (my word that takes me back!).  There is an overall feeling of nostalgia about the theme this year with the toys being more nineties than noughties along with the key feature of the Frank Sidebottom mannequins.  The day I was there the flagship window (corner double view) had turned into a crèche and children were happily playing away with, I assume, this years ‘must have’ toys.  The windows do draw you in and keep you looking at the detail which is obviously the name of the game.  Personally I love the use of their mannequins - Once again, Selfridges has proved itself as a forward thinker with the versatile use of mannequins and I think other retailers have a long way to go to emulate their success.

Although I could have quite happily spent another hour looking at the windows I was now on a mission to compare my Christmas notes. 

What should have been a ten-minute (but turned into 50 minute) walk later (along with a couple of new bruises and a heightened hatred of the scrum on Oxford St) I found myself staring at what I can only describe as a glitter explosion at Liberty London.  Liberty have really pulled out all the stops this year.  With limited space they have crammed in so much excitement; I really am in awe of their window dressers and VM guys.  The theme is the sort that you wouldn’t want to pass at night after one too many drinks or any illegal substances, with very bold uses of mannequins and so much colour (and glitter!!). It really is one to go and see – any extensive description here would not do the madness and vibrancy of this scheme justice so just have a look at the pictures and judge for yourself.  A heavy hitter once again reigning supreme and perfectly showcasing the craziness of the festive season.

Last, and certainly by no means least, I head to the Mecca of Christmas – Harrods.  When I saw that Harrods were using Peter Pan as a theme this year I was very excited! I wasn’t wrong to be, the windows are incredible!  They captivate the true childlike fantasy of Xmas and takes me back to simpler times when Christmas meant trawling through Disney films with my kids from 5am in the morning. The use of mannequins to depict the much loved story is quite outstanding.  Along with all the luxury you would expect from London’s most famous department store you also feel drawn into the story through the visualisation of the classic scenes.   It is no exaggeration to say that I spent a couple of hours taking in all the detail of the Harrods windows and I still want to go back for more.  I would fully recommend a trip to see them to momentarily escape Christmas shopping hell this December.  A little touch of fairy dust goes a really long way here and yes I do believe in fairies!

So that’s my first yuletide ponderings for you.  Overall I think there is an air of vintage in London this year.  From cult 90’s toys to hacienda windows and children’s story themes I really do feel taken back to younger days… shame that the 90’s being vintage reminds me how old I am!

The Fantastical Christmas Contraption

Ok, picture this - It’s August, the sun is blazing, a smattering of white cotton wool clouds, shorts, T-shirts, suntans, the smell of mowed lawns and a 99 ice cream in tow…Ok, it was pelting down with rain and bloody freezing but this is England after all!

The point is it was Summer.  My Creative Director, Andi Grant, and I had just walked out of a Marks and Spencer brief on their Christmas window displays in five flagship stores; Marble Arch, Westfield, Edinburgh, Manchester & Liverpool, and now had to come up with an inspiration/design that would showcase the M&S gift and toy collection for 2010.  We were asked to draw on a much-loved children’s theme, the toy workshop/factory, using inspiration from Wallace & Gromit and Willy Wonka.

A quick trip down Christmas memory lane - watching The Snowman for the 10^th time, heads spinning from an overdose of chocolate, tiny bits of packaging strewn across the floor and lots of cheap plastic toys that would be abandoned by Boxing Day - it is safe to say our creative juices weren’t exactly flowing.

But then it happened…!  As Andi revealed his first sketches of ‘The Fantastical Christmas Contraption’ incorporating ‘Upalupa’, ‘The Sparky 2000 plus 10’, ‘Loopy Lou’ and the ‘Funnellvator’, we knew we had it.  We were transported back to our childhoods.  Was this the work of a mad genius or were we seeing the fantasies of a six year old Andrew Grant finally unleashed on an unsuspecting adult world after 22 years?

From the moment we unveiled this innovative piece of festive magic to M&S they realised they were on to a winner.  With over 50 moving parts this animated display will surely captivate and excite shoppers from Edinburgh to London, especially the ones under 10 who are the target audience!

The animated gift window features ‘Tink the Robot’ who mixes the toys together.  When they’ve reached the perfect consistency they slip down the ‘Funnellvator’ into the ‘Sparky 2000+10’.  Here they are tumbled to make them nice and soft.  They leave the Sparky by means of the ‘Loopy Lou’ whose motion is powered by the ‘Springlepops’ squishing down and springing up.  The ‘Loopy Lou’ transports them safely to the ‘Packorama’ where they are wrapped up all nice and warm, before boarding the ‘Upalupa’ ready for transportation to children everywhere around the world.

M&S in-house design and visual teams worked together closely with SFD to design and dress the moving windows to ensure their range of toys and gifts were brought to life.  Brendan Davey, Head of Visual at M&S, said: “We’re delighted to introduce some festive magic to five of our flagship store windows. Christmas provides a great opportunity for us to be really innovative with our designs and create an exciting visual display. We hope that the animated toy workshops in the stores' windows will provide an entertaining focal point on the high street and captivate busy shoppers with our latest Christmas gifts.”

This has been a journey for us all and with December fast approaching I feel like we will be visiting Xmas for the second time…Two for one! I’ve definitely been in retail too long!

Top 10 reasons why mannequins have never been trendier

1)     There has been much criticism this year over a new collection of male mannequins looking "too skinny" and one retail chain in particular using plus-size mannequins. What is your opinion on this?

Size in fashion has always attracted criticism and attention, especially in today's world of media scrutiny and the furor surrounding size. As a fashion led company it should be part of our agenda to address current trends. It is our    responsibility as commentators to address certain trends athough we may not always condone them. Trends in society change quickly and in many directions, over short periods of time and our job is to keep on top of this.

2)     What is the current trend in mannequins and what can we expect to see in 2011, in terms of shapes, finishes, textures, colours etc.?

High end texture rather than raw urban finishes will play a large part in terms of finishes. E.g. Gloss, concrete, slate and rustic finishes. Texture is a way to further differentiate for the brands that we deal with. There will be a move  towards retailers looking for their own  Identity ,this can be done by designing bespoke mannequins (which we are starting to do now) This will naturally herald the end of the  trend for headless mannequins and more of a shift back to  realistic mannequins with heads and facial features however this time because of the move on with the many amazing new finishes and textures that are available to us, this can be done with an abstract twist . We generally follow trends in fashion when it comes to colours which are definitely leaning towards pastel colours rather than to the black and white gloss colours of the last 2 – 3 years.

3)     Where does SFD draw its inspiration from for its collections?

Due to the development time of mannequins being 3 – 6 months we are constantly thinking up to 1 year 18 months ahead in terms of current retail trends to ensure new mannequin ranges are relevant to our clients. Our research draws inspiration from diverse fields such as fashion trends, popular culture, architecture and furniture design. Because we are dealing so intensely with many of the brands we serve, we often tap in to their audience and what inspires them.

4) What is the most bizarre/challenging brief the company has been given to date?

For Selfridges in conjunction with a Chinese designer we created a window of flying mannequins and for House of Fraser we created a one off 30ft mannequin as a spectacular entry display to their Belfast store. Other weird and wonderful projects have been cartoon characters, animals and a mannequin with a tea pot on her head!

5)      What is your best seller?

Elegant, sophisticated, abstract mannequins with a small amount of movement, with featureless heads in a black or white gloss.

6) Historically, mannequins mainly served as an idealised reflection of the person looking at them but now there appears to be a trend for more abstract mannequins. Why is this do you think and what can abstract mannequins offer over more realistic models?

The trend for abstract mannequins has peaked in the last 3 – 5 years. Tighter financial restraints due to the recession have played their part in affecting retailers as the demand has been for mannequins which require less maintenance and updating in terms of styling, wigs and makeup. An abstract mannequin is more timeless and as it does not date can be used for longer, it is more flexible and will work in a broader range of window schemes. Sometimes too, with the increasing diversity of the audience in terms of appearance and personal styling it has been more difficult to created an idealized reflection of the person looking in.

7) What should a retailer/brand take into account when specifying a new range of mannequins for their windows/in-store displays?

Mannequins are very much in vogue today.Fashion is not just about clothes anymore;its about the hair,make up and accessories-the complete look.What better tool than a good mannequin to get a fashion statement across to your audience.Purchasing a range of mannequins for a store will provide a range of options to help promote any fashion collection.Whether just one or a whole collection is required, consideration should be given to what they will be used for,where they will be used and if the poses will be suitable for the clothing they will be wearing (eg a commercial easy to dress range of mannequins which have simple poses will give more flexibility and will adapt to the ever changing fashion trends.A dramaticly posed mannequin may work well in a heavily stylised enviroment)

A range should be selected carefully so that the mannequins can be used individually or grouped to create a family This might include a selection of standing ,sitting, lying and leaning mannequins.Most mannequins are designed so they can be positioned in an aesthetically pleasing way.They are often developed to interact with each other.Badly positioned or grouped mannequins can have a detrimental effect on the creative effect of any display.

The mannequin is more than just a devise for displaying merchandise, it is a key representation of the brand. Consumers looking at window displays will spend the majority of their time looking at the mannequin and as such they are a vital part of creating and identifying the brands message. Colour, finish, styling and poses play a vital role in representing the vision of the brand, from elegant and stylized for an exclusive fashion label, to young urban and full of attitude for a high street player. Distinctive finishes, unique head designs and special detailing can all assist in creating a defining appearance at relatively low expense, or alternatively extravagant and distinctive poses can be chosen to create dramatic window schemes.

Whilst considering the brand message more practical issues should also be considered. Realistic mannequins with wigs and make up require skilled attention to ensure a high quality appearance, whereas headless mannequins are relatively easy to maintain and create a consistent window display. So a lot will depend on whether the store has skilled visual merchandisers who will be able to dress and style mannequins as well as continue the upkeep so necessary to keep the displays looking relevant and sharp.  Careful thought should also be given to the choice of finish, with gloss finishes being resistant to marks and damage, as oppose to matt finishes which can easily become marked through constant use although we have designed new “nano” technology for a few extra pounds per mannequin prevents this.

8) What generally happens to them once the retailer has finished with them?

Many retailers use our renovation service to refresh their mannequins and distribute older mannequins to their smaller stores.There is also a healthy second hand maket which means large brands tend to pass on mannequins to smaller  independent retailers and charity shops.There has also been a big push in the last few years as inevitably mannequins have joined the recycling debate this is due to them being produced from fibreglass.A lot of effort has been made in the industry to clean

9)  What retailers do you regularly work with?

Debenhams, Oasis, Miss Selfridge, River Island, Next, Topman, Gap, Austin Reed, Primark,

10) Has the company launched any new ranges recently and what can we expect to see from SFD in 201

The new Boutique Female and Male range from Eurodisplay was recently launched and is already in the windows of a major high street retailer. At the VM & Display show this year we launched a range of beposke head designs and our in house designers are constantly working on new ideas for mannequins and visual display. For Euroshop 2011 we are working closely with our partners Eurodisplay on 6 new ranges of figures and accessories and we are also working on 3 brand new bespoke ranges of our own to be launched early next year. Watch this space for some very exciting developments.

SFD Retail Week Interiors Awards

Last week SFD were thrilled to be invited to the Retail Week Interiors Awards for the first time . The best of the retail design and shopfitting industry were recognized with a coveted Retail Week Interiors award at the glamourous awards ceremony on Tuesday the 28^th September.The awards showcased the tremendous efforts and achievments of inspired retail designers who consistently strive for excellence and innovation. As we all know shoppers are not known for their patience and nothing  stays the same in retail for long.So for the retailers that were shortlisted as well as won awards on the night it was a great testament to their vision and commitment to producing something new and different for their store interiors.

 SFD were there, shortlisted  for our innovative and cutting edge store design and build for the first life style Iconic department store in Dubai.  We were up against extremely tough competion in a particularly strong category that contained no less than 10 finalists including some incredible stores in far flung corners of the world such as Sao Paulo Brazil,Madrid,Oslo  and New York. Also included in the same catagory was “My Narodni” department store in Prague to which SFD too had supplied all the visual interior design and mannequins for.

 However although we did not win this time ,making it to the short list was a triumph in itself for both SFD and Landmark group. The Iconic store is a brilliant example of the power of building relationships between cutomers and the brand Iconic is the true definition of a destination store where customers will go to buy much more than the product.They go for the experience ,the event and just the enjoyment of shopping. Delivering  such highly creative work has well and truly paid off for SFD as recognized by our success in being included in these prestigious awards.

The awards turned out to be a fantastic night bringing together 650 retail proffesionals.Comedian Alan Cochranes hosted the ceremony and guests enjoyed the post awards disco until the early hours (not me I was unusually tucked up in bed by 11 o clock !) Competion was fierce on the night and the crowded and heated atmosphere at the London Park Lane reflected the keen rivalry between the competing retailers design consutancies and shopfitters as they vied for the priviledge of walking away with a retail I teriors award.

Entries this year exceeded expectations in terms of quality and quantity.Big winners on the night were Levis who won a well deserved 3 awards for their amazing store on Regent Street.Pets at home also won an award for their store on Oxford Street for which retail doesn’t much more niche !  JD sports Cardiff( to whom we supply all the visual merchandising) won Interior of the year and Dobbies garden world in Aberdeen also won 2 awards notably for retail destination of the year.

SFD were thrilled to be representing the Landmark group at this prestigious event and were also happy for the opportunity to undertake this project in conjunction with Dalzeil and pow and look forward to attending again next year and winning !!

SFD are currently working on a number of projects nationally and internationally bringing to life the innovative cutting edge store enviroments which the various brands we work with demand.

Welcome to my new social media setup, I look forward to engaging with you and hope you enjoy my insights into inspired retail environments.