A Galliano Christmas

John Galliano was requested to turn his design talents to creating a 20ft high Christmas tree to feature in the lobby of London's exclusive hotel, Claridge's. 

'The Dior Tree', takes its inspiration from icy snow scenes, mixed with a tropical twist. It features sparkling leaves and orchids in silver, white and blue, as well as crystal , giving the impression of the tree being frozen. Perched among the branches are a handmade leopard, several parrots and a dragonfly.

“I am thrilled that Dior is collaborating with Claridge’s this Christmas,“ said John Galliano. “I hope to bring a twist to the traditional tree.”

The Dior tree was launched on Tuesday night (December 1st) at a cocktail reception, which featured a display of 20 vintage gowns from the Christian Dior archive, hand-picked by Galliano.

Supermarket Sweep

An article on the channel 4 website, describes both the overt and covert signals to customers, designed into the layouts of supermarkets. 

"It’s no coincidence that the sweets are right by the till in supermarkets, nor that the one thing you really came for is at the far corner, past the pet food you don’t need."

Supermarkets interiors are designed to control our movement around the stores. I know that this is something we must take into consideration in my work with fixture placements, key items being in the best sightlines and visual displays reflecting and enticing the customer to the stock. 

All Saints Spitalfields

The cult British fashion brand All Saints has some amazing clothes but the thing that I really love about them is their branding and shopfits. It completely compliments and reinforces the values of the product.

In some of their stores, (such as one of my local Glasgow stores above) hanging cruciforms are lit up acting as a rock'n'roll centerpiece reflecting the edgie, grunge fashion on their scaffolding fixtures. During the Summer I visited the flagship store in Spitalfields - round the corner from Spitalfields market in the now trendy part of East London. I instantly recognised the open-plan converted loft type space; exposed brickwork and aged wood flooring. But the displays were a lot more exciting and inventive than I had seen in Glasgow, with butcher meat hooks and industrial sized hanging items and mannequins from the ceiling as well as distressed 'vintage' style pieces spread out throughout the shop.

Although quite expensive (All Saints say their clothes are High Fashion at an affordable price), traditional artisan techniques are still used to make their unique clothes. At the moment I just admire but when I have a bit more money I shall be a regular shopper.

Another downside is that although their flash website is gorgeously designed to reflect the brand and its customers, it's not the best to navigate through. In doing this, I couldn't find any information about their ethics and history or any pictures of their stores on the site. They possibly need to work on getting this up to the same standard as their fashion and shop interiors.