Vivienne Westwood, London

If there's one brand we can count on to make a political statement, its this one.  In fact you would be very hard pushed to find any other brand that would make this kind of stand and we love that about them.  Most brands on the high street tend to play everything so safe and look boringly generic, attempting to capture anyone they can and draw them into their stores.  The great thing about what the guys do here is that they have not forgotten their roots.  Long live Viv.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

As you can tell we are still struggling to bring you daily updates here although we guess it will be several weeks more before we are able to get back to some regular posting however we will continue to try.  This brand always produces some great schemes, particularly political-led ones in their relatively small windows however currently they appear to be more focused on some rather more upbeat with reference to the finer things in life.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

Oh its good to be back in this old city and naturally our first stop is the Great British institution that is Vivienne Westwood.  It seems like we have been away for months and months although actually its only a few weeks and so back to some sanity finally.  Living out of a suitcase is fun for a while but its so wonderful to be here in London.  Let it Rock.  Indeed.  While there is a lot of Sale still on across the city there are at least a few pockets of wonderful things happening and we will share these as we progress through the year.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

We do love a bit of Viv' in the wardrobe even though the only ones who seem to be wearing this stuff these days are tourists although of course the brand is never shy about highlighting a good cause.  Windows complete with Parachute and the strap-line reminding us not to 'get killed'.  Cheery stuff this.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright Bill Prentice

There's nothing like this time of year in London as it always looks quite magical with the lights of Regent street, Oxford street and Bond street and some of the amazing windows out there right now.  As always the team at Vivienne Westwood have delivered another incredible scheme too in conjunction with Make it London, Starscape, Onward Display and Ecotricity with their Biblical schemes complete with Supernova and constellation backdrops.  Do swing by these stores along Conduit street if you can as they really need to be seen and experienced in the 'flesh'.

Vivienne Westwood, London

With references to their Climate Revolution campaign Vivienne Westwood is rocking what looks like a sustainable option for their windows along Conduit Street.  A wooden tree from which the products are placed fill the space here and we guess good on VW for her tireless campaigning to do whats right.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

Printed cubes in delicious patterns with a usual hint of rebellion from this phenomenal designer is the latest installation at their Conduit street store.  One cube in each of the windows has been illuminated with flashing lights; which we've just about managed to capture the letter 'V' in the image below. 

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Vivienne Westwood, London

We haven't been passed Vivenne Westwood for a while and what a corker of a scheme right now.  With their Mirror The World strap line and, fantastic props and gravity defying bust form whats not to like at this luxury brand?  We only wish the service here matched the excellence of their windows however.  Lets just clarify this for you.  Bought something from here recently?  It broke?  Don't expect this brand to fix it for you.  Unlike most other luxury brands who will fix the stitching on your fabulous watch strap or mend your accessories this store will send you elsewhere when your precious purchases fall apart.  Not such a luxury service from such a premium brand sadly.  If this has changed then do let us know, we have a draw full of 'bits' from this brand which need fixing.  The windows look great though.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

We adore this brands store along Conduit street with its ever so slightly crunchy floorboards.  Rocking the Mad Hatters tea party this store is looking superb.  We featured the Mans store earlier in the week if you remember with its gas masked mannequins so the concept behind this scheme couldn't be further away; we love this.  The same brand on the same street and yet two completely poles apart schemes.  We don't find this very often so its a real treat to view.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

Never a brand to shy away from direct schemes, Vivienne Westwood at their Conduit street store is rocking the Gas mask and cut out look.  Considering that the brand have such a narrow window space they do manage to squeeze in some really interesting narratives which are always a pleasure to view.  There is a slightly sinister edge to this scheme although this makes everything so much more interesting we think.

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Vivienne Westwood, London

While these windows are not the most exciting scheme in the world, we've included these simply because the merchandise looked so incredible.  This feather 'jacket' which our photograph doesn't do justice looked absolutely stunning in these windows that we absolutely had to include it.  We were drawn in from across the street to take a closer look and in this instance the product overtakes the presentation of it.

Vivienne Westwood, London

We love this scheme at Vivienne Westwood right now.  Stacked televisions or images of them can be seen at quite a few stores around town right now.  Vintage ones are particularly fun, rather then the glossy flat screened variety.  We had a quick whizz around this store the other day too.  The atmosphere is wonderful and quite an experience, although staff attitude is rather on the completely unfriendly side to say the least - borderline rude, we left without buying anything.  Still, we always like the product and sales staff come and go. 

Vivienne Westwood, London

I have often wondered what kind of minds produce for this brand? While my immediate thoughts of the mind of Dame Viv' would be quite chaotic, the reverse is actually probably true. OK well, I've always shuddered a little that the merchandise is rather 'borrowed' from History, so I am not particularly enthralled by it, although how these things are put together is quite another thing. I am a huge fan of the chaotic nature that I perceive this brand to have. The window schemes, while not the most lavish themselves, are always produced so well (although I don't particularly like the way that 'they' dress the trousers on the bust forms), the bust forms themselves are really great fun. It is refreshing to see retailers use some of their signature designs with which to cover these forms. If you don't know any of these stores, do go and take a look. They are fun and witty and while there is probably no great narrative behind their schemes, they do look like they might have.

Vivienne Westwood, London (MAN)

The newly opened 'Man' store from Vivenne Westwood at the Regent st. end of Conduit St. here in London, launched recently with its Spring / Summer 2010 collection based on Hollywood in the 1920's. The 1920's saw the release of films by icons such as Douglas Fairbanks in The Mark of Zorro and the Thief of Baghdad and Errol Flynn with his legendary parties on his yacht, Sirocco. This scheme, it seems is influenced by those Hollywood male leads from the society of the time with new adventures, excessive dinners and the beginning of Ocean travel. It is an interesting move by Westwood to open a store almost directly opposite one of her others however, the interiors of these spaces are also usually beautifully produced, and certainly on my list of places to visit and pay homage to the grand old Dame herself.

Vivienne Westwood, London

One of my favourite stores in London, has to be the Vivienne Westwood store here along Conduit St. Not that I shop here that often you understand. The cost of these pieces would feed a family of five for a month and I just cant justify the expense to myself, although I do like to have a look at least - well thats free. This store rarely change their bust forms (which incidently are made by my dear friends at Proportion>London). However, it was a pleasure to see the team experiment a little using old logs, a dog basket, plastic funnel, bits of old rope and other 'found' ephemera on which to hang the merchandise. This is a refreshing change of direction happening here in these tiny spaces which works quite well. Perhaps because of the nature of the merchandise. After all, I cant see this happening at 'Primarni'. Whether you're a fan of Westwood or not, I am pleased that we do at least have some British designers left who are brave enough to cater for the niche market and for that I am rather thankful.

Sale: Vivienne Westwood, London

I am hoping that this will be the final Sale window that I will need to include this season. This is a quite an uninspiring time of year, its cold and miserable and although I am excited about seeing the new seasons schemes soon, I wont be sorry to see the back of Sale time. If you happen to be along the Conduit st. here in London do drop by the Vivienne Westwood store. Westwood's stores are usually beautifully produced and ooze depth of quality (even if the product itself doesn't always). Anyway, here the team have used black vinyl on the fenestration with swathes of fabric forming the backdrop. The bust forms, I believe are by my lovely friends at Proportion-London which always look amazing. What is interesting here are the use of lenticulars - 3D moving images. Of course, one has to move around the image for it to change and a camera can only capture one at a time. Anyway, lets look forward to Spring.

Vivienne Westwood

I have been looking at this scheme at Vivienne Westwood here in London, several times and I am not quite sure what to say about it apart from describing it. The backdrop and 'plinths' are made from cut polystyrene and sprayed in the tones seen here. The bust forms from Proportion London with their articulated arms always work so well. The lighting has been perfectly considered and as always the merchandise is superb. Not a pioneering scheme, more of a gap filler perhaps, although it is doing what it says on the tin and maybe that's OK too.

Vivienne Westwood, Conduit Street, London

I don't often write about Vivienne Westwood windows as nothing significantly changes. However, as I walked my city usual walk in my 'flaneur' mode, I came across this little gem along Conduit Street in London. The windows here, contain bust forms which I believe are by Proportion London (the link to them is on the right hand side of this page) in a stripey fabric. Unusually, the windows contain these rosette 'like' structures which act as a kind of backdrop to the figures and merchandise, with an almost confetti like design vinyl on the glass. It is not clear what the story is here other than an abstract concept, however needless to say I did feel compelled to record these windows as ones which have become quite significant in the overall scheme and were therefore a delight to view and worth sharing.

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