ID'ing Our Curves at Levi's

Tape measure curtains are hanging in Levi's fall windows to promote the brand's Curve ID category. Ladies of all shapes and sizes can be measured and fitted to the right jean. We love the idea and love their windows just as much!

Pictured here are some compelling day and night photos of these effective windows - another great backdrop idea!

We're ready to go get our Curves IDed! How about you?

Levi's shines during Fashion Night Out

Fashion Night Out was Thursday September 8th and many in NYC (and around the country) were out to celebrate and support retailers. Levi's put on a good show in it's Meat Packing location.

We love these wooden skyscraper/ skyline buildings - because the scale is so great and the lighting was terrific.
Love the simple drama of this one - a good example of a the extra effort many of the retailers took.

Trendspotting at Euro Shop 2011

A few of us headed over to Dusseldorf, Germany at the end of February to check out Euroshop.

Once every 3 years, this HUGE event in the world of retail highlights all aspects of the store environment - from lightening to technology, to branding and design - this is a monster size show in both scale and scope.
Though there was MUCH to cover, and at times hard to take it all in, we did manage to see some emerging trends and will share some of those here. This is in no way a comprehensive list but rather a highlight/ snapshot/ overview.

Lighting continues to evolve and will play an important role in the evolution of retail. There were a lot of exhibitors sharing some of their ideas on this and "ambient lighting" was the clear winner.

Hand made and crafty elements continue to inspire people, perhaps in reaction to the tech revolution as well as mass production- and we saw people cooking, knitting, crocheting, cobbling shoes among other things - all mean to highlight the importance of craft and well made goods.



Repetition was another theme - were one item or object was repeated in multiples for maximum impact.

Many booths and exhibitors had large wall size chalkboards - often with the chalk smudged (a result of people walking by)- like living art.

The scale and largess of some of the booths was inspiring - many had restaurants at their core and the activity and buzz was amazing. One of those - if you build it, they will come type moments.



and finally, saw a lot of natural woods, neutral tones, folded paper, wool and felt materials, all with a very edgy, urban country theme.

Overall, it was great to see and we felt energized with loads of new ideas afterwards. Would love to speak with you more about it.

A.R.E.'s Retail Environments - Focus on Lighting

CDW Merchants was included in the November /December issue of A.R.E's magazine Retail Environments in a product focus on lighting. An industrial inspired light strip done for a recent Levi's window joined other new innovations in the world of light display.

For more information - see http://www.retailenvironments.org/

Levi's shines the light on curves

Promoting its new jeans fit for curvier figures, Levi's used light bulbs and tape measure curtains to say "hotness comes in all shapes and sizes". It's a simple campaign with a clear, direct message and the additional of large scale window writing along with marketing and props helped light up the message.

for more information http://www.levi.com/

Guess who's name is in lights....

Guess has been putting a lot of emphasis on it's visual merchandising and we are taking note!

Seen here in Seattle and Dallas, these stores are highlighting the new fits on denim as well as the brands glitzy ad campaign.

The "laundry" with it's printed hanger covers, laundry bags and bright red ironing board covers is a cute theme and cleaver way to promote Fall's great new denim line.

Plus all the dramatic lighting and signage makes for a real eye catcher.

Light the way - clothing as Lanterns

Here's an idea spotted in 2 very different locations - one was a trade show in Asia and the other was a store window in the US.

What do you think? Is it effective? Does putting a light inside a shirt make it a lantern and /or highlight the clothes - or does it turn it into something else?

what do you think?

Illuminate me.

Last Holiday Hurray!!

It's been a busy season so I decided to put up a last round of festive photos to show you what else you may have seen (or missed).

More glitter and sparkle at A/X - sometimes appearing silver, sometimes like a rainbow, strips of plexi added a bit of drama.

Love these mini sweater ornaments! (though a bit unclear of the message or tie in to store)

Oversize light bulb strands - seen here at Kate Spade but noted in many windows (see Banana Republic blog entry earlier in month)

More natural elements but this time done in gold as seen in this tall wrapped stick trees. Note the outside window boxes that add another layer to window.

A bit of whimsy - seen here at Paul Smith in these festive window vitrines but noted all over - did you get to Barney's or Bergdorf's? Love the white scroll window cling border.

Lights, Cameras, Action!

Saw these windows go up last week and liked the simple rock and roll theme conveyed through lighting, a black and white grid background and a microphone. The tag is "break into spring" with an underlying message of break into song, or break into the music business. Whatever it is, I like the black and white theme. Sometimes, in a sea of color (as we have seen recently) there is clarity in simplicity. Rock on!

Bright Colors for a Telluride Holiday

These bright colored packages really catch your attention and accentuate the clothing very well. The custom tartan ribbons match clothing patterns throughout the store to really tie the theme together with the visual presentation. The custom propping, lighting, and holiday greenery brought the background print media into the forefront of this festive set.