Retail concepts

Yayoi Kusama covers June Wallpaper magazine



You can keep Jessica Alba for Marie Claire and Cameron Diaz for Harper’s Bazaar, I’m more interested in Yayoi Kusama on the cover of Wallpaper (and she designed it too). My problem with actresses and pop stars on the cover of mags is that each celeb has done so many covers with the required !!EXCLUSIVE!! interview that they literally have nothing of interest left to say. Everything of consequence has been said already. Artists on the other hand tend to be less publicity hungry (obviously there are exceptions) so rarely give interviews and they have a more specific outlook on life which means that when they do, they actually have something worth saying.

If you haven’t yet seen the Kusama exhibition at Tate Modern, do hurry. It ends on 5th June when it then moves to New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art on 12th July. And then on the 15th, we’ll finally see the long-awaited Louis-Vuitton-Yayoi-Kusama ready-to-wear collaboration – with windows in all LV’s stores worldwide showing VM displays created by Kusama of course (think red and white polka dotted eels writhing under the sea). It’s in the diary…

The limited-edition cover by Kusama is available to Wallpaper subscribers and on newsstands in Japan.



Merchants In London at The Shop At Bluebird



I’m a big believer in the idea of collaboration, not competition and that’s part of the ethos behind Merchants on Long, Africa’s first concept store where designers work together to promote the best of African luxury design. (more…)



Shop report: Hermes Paris flagship



Part of my recent trip to Paris with Hermes involved a visit to the new(ish) flagship store. Situated in a former 1930s swimming pool, it felt tres strange to be standing on the floor of the pool surrounded by original tiles! The store is vast and includes a cafe, a florist, a bookshop and lots of home wares. (more…)



The blue shirt: the great equaliser




Thursday evening saw the launch of Acne’s Snowdon Blue book/shirt/exhibition project. On show until 13th May at the Acne store (13 Dover Street, W1) is an inspiring display of Lord Snowdon’s portrait photography, each subject a vision in blue. A clever, organic concept, it all started six months ago when Snowdon’s daughter (and head of his archive), Frances von Hofmannsthal took her idea for a Snowdon Blue book to Acne’s Jonny Johansson. (more…)