…..to Fashionista heaven…..

….. Milan….. the chicest city in the world!

….. and a trip to Milan surely means a visit to Corso Como….. the chicest street in the world….. and of course that includes a visit to the sprawling shop and art gallery at number 10….. the chicest shop therein. It’s owned by Carla Sozzani, the super-thin blonde sister of Franca Sozzani who edits Vogue (yep, you guessed it: the chicest publication in the world).

This huge space is home to a superbly curated selection of product design, art, and of course cutting-edge men’s and women’s fashion and accessories…… think Paris’s Colette with added dolce-vita class.

And to make the trip even more glamorous….. I will try to book a room in the three-bedroom boutique hotel, with the imaginatively named Three Rooms, that Sozzani also owns.

10corsocomo.com

No….. I don’t think so…..

I just adore the décor that Louis Vuitton has just installed at their giant luxury space on Bond st. in London.

I am in awe……how incredible are these windows? Life sized Ostriches with wonderfully elongated necks fill the huge space (some across two floors) and carry the latest gorgeous Ostrich skin merchandise in jeweled tones.

Ostrich eggs, some are whole and others are hatched….. revealing the most desirable shoes.

Lots of humor in these window presentations….. and this concept has given me renewed hope (that future window presentations will become more exciting - there are too many boring presentations out there).

You must go and see this new decor for yourself. Even if you don’t buy LV products and your budget is more H&M….. at least looking is free …… and I guarantee that you will love it.

….. and Cartier in May?

Well, I got a last minute invitation to the opening of the new Louis Vuitton store, which , of course I had to decline (yeah right).

Anyway, I was in London, and while I was there, I popped by Cartier at the end of Sloane, to view their latest scope….. and these guys do know how to create the most incredible stuff….. and in May, they used real flowers for their décor inside…….and on the outside too.

Absolutely wonderfully….. but what happened….. the general public came along and tried to steal the stuff….. clearly, it’s the thieving west over there in London….. well hallo, come on UK….. these poor decorators properly already fight to get there schemes in place….. you should be ashamed for trying to undermine such forward thinking creativity.

….. so naturally I was drooling over this store!

The Jeff De Bruges store along South Molton st. in London oozes sophistication and really does make me want to stuff my face with chocolate…..

Although, their websites English translates is hilariously:

Sugared Almonds are described as ‘Pills’ & jellied fruit as ‘fruit paste’ (sounds appetizing….. right?).

The store itself is painted in a delicious dark chocolate tone and the product packaged beautifully. This really is sophisticated stuff and worthy of checking out, if you happen to be in London.

…..my favorite chocolatier is still Mariebelle in New York….. but J.D.B has certainly secured a place on my personal top 10.

….. in a store window or a pair of shoes?

I have a couple friends who can stand for hours in front of a shop window….. some time they find themselves virtually licking the glass in attempt to get the shoes out and down on their feet.

That’s how I feel about ‘Home’ stuff. I have a wonderful Italian dining table in my kitchen, everything Iittala has designed of cutlery and kitchenware and absolutely gorgeous upholstered furniture that I sink into at the end of a hard day….. why work if one can’t enjoy sinking into gorgeous furniture and enjoying fabulous food?

Whenever I travel to NYC I spend hours at ABC….. just licking everything in wonder and desire. OK, to be honest my budget is more Crate and Barrel, but one can at least aspire to beautiful things……

I love the Paul Smith Home store in London. It is way out of my price range of cause, but at least looking is free….. but if you can spare £2.900,- for a lovely shell covered dolls house (marked down from £4.200,-) or a ‘Love’ silk wall hanging for only £1.515,- then swing by….. just let me know where this stuff is going, so I can swing by to your house and lick the glass there too.

…..and I celebrated this happy event, with a quick little trip to London last week…..more specifically, a trip to Selfridges. Have you been to Selfridges?

….. whether you want, desire, worship, envy, lust or yearn, Selfridges is the place to be.

This store goes from strength to even stronger, and I can’t help but love it more and more and be drawn in to spend all my money there.

But lucky for me, looking is free….. but the way these guys present their merchandise does make it so desirable, that I can’t help but want, desire, (OK, not worship), envy and lust, almost everything they sell. The atmosphere is electric, the experience is fun and the merchandise is so delicious….. I may need to have another fix very soon to feed my shopping dependency…… I’m just kidding of course, but do go and check them out next time you are in London….. go and be seduced.

….. Etisalat store (seen in mall of Dubai)

….. and I felt compelled to show it to you, as it’s a great example of a beautifully designed and contemporary communications store.

Of course we have all seen numerous of incredible Apple stores dotted around the globe….. but this store really did draw me in (Apple stores don’t tend to).

I wasn’t familiar with this local brand, who describe themselves as “enabling people to reach each other”…… ok, there is the usual marketing bla that goes with just about every brand, but this really is done well.

You can’t subscribe to this brand (if you don’t live in UAE), although they say of themselves that they “are increasingly present in international markets”.

I guess we will need to keep an eye on them.

Via: The Dubai mall

….. I can’t help but love this retail mecca.

The new Louis Vuitton along Bond st. is blingy, sparkly and right there in your face….. with our lovely mannequins and figures with the signature brand logo….. It’s show time!

The building itself is almost as a light in darkness in the dull London weather….. and the use of Gold would make the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul pale with envy. A life sized Giraffe, neon lighting, shoes doing-the-walking and beautiful merchandise in bell jars….. the list just goes on and on…..if you happen to be in London, this is definitely a must see.

My favourite bit? The reflection in their old tiny store opposite, declaring….”it’s behind you……” I love the so utterly British reference here.

Via Del Corso is this Levis store. I love this brand….. and I was quite impressed with this store (especially with their decoration).

Levis have used these enormous wooden cable drums where normally a large industrial cable would have been wrapped, but they have replaced it with checked ribbon. The drums are also used as fixtures and as podiums, on which they placed their mannequins. The mannequins themselves is in a lovely Matt Black finish.

…..and as icing on the cake, their strap line ‘Check me Out’ has been stenciled on the drums and applied to the main windows in vinyl.

I think this store is worth ‘checking’ out….. no pun intended…..

I hope you all have a great weekend

Love

Lizzy

….. Liu Jo?

….. It’s an Italian women’s wear brand that is taking Europe by storm.

I don’t like all too many people in one place….. and perhaps that is why I wasn’t super exciting to visit the Liu Jo shop along Via Del Corso (I was very surprised how incredibly busy it was, late into the evening).

….. but I loved the use of the vinyl on the windows and the backdrop in between where the figures in a Matt White finish are placed….. a little more attention to detail would have made these simple windows sublime.

http://www.liujo.it/

Happy Friday

Love Lizzy