This past week I have been teaching the weekly Visual Merchandising Short Course for The London College of Fashion, at their new campus in Stratford, London. This course was part of UAL’s Short Course program running during the Spring break.
The short course focused upon an introduction into Window Dressing and Visual Merchandising. Where we explored current consumer trends within the retail industry and how retailers are creating the ultimate retail experience.

As part of the course program I arranged to take the students on a retail safari tour across London’s best retail examples, where students were able to recongnise the key techniques and principles we had been discussing throughout our classes. We visited the Corner Shop at Selfridges, which currently features a fun, eye catching concept of ” The Joke Shop ” Which stocks classic joke shop merchandise starting at 99p for pocket money toys and curated products from Selfridges designer friends such as Judith Leiber and Anya Hindmarch. Creating the ultimate multi sensory experience with live magic demos, surprise pranks and an immersive Manager’s Office.

We then headed up to Regent St to visit Liberty’s of London to look at the launch of the Liberty LBTY Fragrance collection within the windows and in store promotional spaces. Liberty has collaborated with a team of five artisan scents that explore the inspiration behind some of Liberty’s iconic prints. We loved the Wildsmith Skin pop up well being space which is positioned within the heart of Liberty’s, where you can book a complimentary 30 minute Radical Botany Facial.

Our next stop was Harrods to visit the exhibition windows and ground floor lounge to celebrate Harrods 175th anniversary. The Harrods Lounge is a dedicated concierge space in store to assist customers on their shopping journey and gives customers a photo opportunity to have a photo taken with the life size Harrods Anniversary Bear.

Finally, our retail safari tour ended at Anya Hindmarch’s Village Hall in Pont Street Knightsbridge. It was great to visit the current Pop Up concept, Anya Mart which created lots of retro theatre and a truly memorable retail experience for the students.

All photos copyright of VMC.