Retail concepts

Pop Life



I just made it to the Pop Life exhibition at the Tate Modern before it ends on Sunday. Some brilliant work in there but truthfully I was mostly excited by the Warhol and Haring rooms. The YBA stuff just isn’t visually exciting to me and I don’t really care about their ‘message’. Plus I guess I grew up with the excitement of Warhol and Haring so they mean more to me emotionally.

There was a reconstruction of Haring’s famous Pop Shop with – genius! – a real life shop within it, as in, a person behind a counter selling Haring merchandise and bringing the concept to life. Keen to participate in the art imitating life imitating art scenario, I made a point of buying my Keith Haring watches from the Pop-Shop-as-Art-Installation instead of the bog standard Tate bookshop downstairs. How very post-post modern of me.
I also adored the Warhol TV clips (Haring and Scharf… together!) although was sad not to see the Curiosity Killed the Cat video that Warhol directed – now that was a work of art. *Sigh*… if Andy Warhol was alive today you just know he would have the best blog of them all.

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On retro fashion and rave tunes




I went to this pop-up shop at the Wonder Room in Selfridges yesterday. The presentation was a bit sterile (you should’ve asked me to make a moodboard wall for you Selfridges!) but I did enjoy looking at the vintage magazines and a particularly nostalgia-inducing stripy Westwood suit from Rellik. The plaid and denim shirts from Beyond Retro ticked the grunge box but weren’t anything special. More my bag was a Hacienda Classics CD set, which made me go all tingly-spined and misty-eyed thinking of this. I may have to go back and buy it.

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Is it a shop or a magazine? Or both?




The trend for magazines and newspapers to partner with retail is on the up. US Vogue started the whole thing off with Vogue.TV in 2008, an online entertainment network that viewers can shop as they watch and where you can even buy straight from the ads (although the site now seems somewhat neglected).

Newspapers are also increasingly linking their online fashion coverage to etailers where readers can buy featured fashion items straight from the page thanks to innovations like LynkU.com which operates Guardian Fashion Store. Another Magazine recently opened Another Shop in collaboration with Colette selling original limited edition fashion items by favoured brands and designers.

The latest news is that Purple magazine has launched Purple Boutique with an exclusive Olympia le Tan minaudière. Le Tan’s book-shaped Liberty-print lined clutches caught my eye at the Browns press day. For Purple Boutique, a design has been created using the cover of John Wyllie’s 1950s novel Johnny Purple as inspiration.


With Net-a-Porter producing its regular online magazine and other etailers adding to their unique editorial content, the lines between magazines and retailers are becoming increasingly blurred. Where will this go?

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Liberty + Merci = perfect match



If you were overwhelmed by all the Liberty print hook-ups in 2009 then tough titty, there’s even more in store for 2010. At the SS10 preview we saw Liberty print watch-straps and these pretty-as-you-like Liberty print Repettos – watch them fly faster than the Nikes…
Even better than that is the news that Liberty will launch a collection in collaboration with French concept store Merci. Merci’s owner Marie-France Cohen has magicked up a homeware and fashion collection that plays heavily on Liberty’s Carnaby Street location which also ties in with Carnaby Street’s 50-year celebrations. The range will be sold in Merci in Paris as well as a pop-up Merci store in Liberty. Best get over your floral fear fast…

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