18 November, 2013

Brompton Cross: the revival

J Crew-Brompton-Cross-2

All of a sudden, Brompton Cross is back on my radar. The Conran Shop is flourishing again (seriously, you can do all your holiday shopping there in one mammoth swoop), Joseph is getting better and better and there’s an influx of international fashion arriving.

Acne and Jil Sander Navy appeared rather quietly not long ago, J Crew’s upper-end collections have recently arrived in Draycott Avenue (somewhat overshadowed by the pizzazz of Regent Street) and Carven opened the same week. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Brands, News, Retail concepts 3.1 Phillip Lim, Acne, Carven, J Crew, Jil Sander, Joseph, retail news, The Conran Shop

16 November, 2013

Fornasetti’s fragranced windows

Flora-Di-Fornasetti-Ortensia-Selfridges
Olfactory marketing is becoming more important as retailers try to appeal to all our senses. I love this idea from Fornasetti and Selfridges. If you pass their Christmas window – a hilly snowscape scene featuring a gigantic version of the Ortensia candle – you get a blast of Flora De Fornasetti emitted onto the street. Too fabulous!

Disneyrollergirl 2 Comments Brands, Retail concepts Fornasetti, fragrance, Selfridges, window displays

15 November, 2013

Guest post: J Crew ups the ante in London with trio of flagship stores

J-Crew-London-window

It’s finally here and DRG contributor Alison Bishop has given it a thorough going over. Here’s the verdict on J Crew, London-style…

It’s hard to find a brand that does classic preppy style with an insouciant mix of androgyny better than J Crew. And now it’s finally arrived in London with a trio of ‘flagship’ or ‘jewel box’ stores.

We first heard the news that J Crew had settled on Regent Street for its all-singing-all-dancing London debut about a year ago (what’s good enough for Burberry is good enough for J Crew, as the latter snapped up the former’s old home on London’s hottest tourist retail hotspot). (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 1 Comment Brands, Business of fashion, Retail concepts, Trends J Crew, retail, retail concepts

12 November, 2013

Winser London: progress report

Winser-London-Disneyrollergirl

Back in February, I ran a piece on the newly-launched Winser London. An online-to-offline fashion start-up founded by Kim Winser (former CEO of Pringle Of Scotland and Aquascutum), it specialises in luxed-up working wardrobe essentials at a friendlier price point than you’d expect. Supplementing the online offer are pop-up shops, so far in Gerrards Cross and Harvey Nichols. Nine months on, I caught up with Winser to find out how the first year of trading is going, what the challenges have been and what’s next for the brand… (more…)