Absolutely loved this shop - crazy cool window display that was rammed with various cuddly toys and two mannequins exquisitely dressed from head to toe. The staff were incredibly nice, answering all questions, showing their amazing collection of jewelry and hand painted crockery. The target market for this shop would be early 20s to 30s, of reasonable wealth. I didn't think the clothing was particularly over priced, the more expensive items were the extraordinary knit wear and particular dresses. The interior of the shop was a little minimal, modern, clean cut but with a touch of a homely feel to it with the old furniture, soft lighting and the window display that made it look a little like your bedroom when you were little (stuffed full of your favorite toys and teddies).
laterrrr....
So, whilst in Notting Hill...found another Wolf&Badger, and nearly keeled over with anticipation. The shop was completely different to the Wolf&Badger store on Dover Street. The window display was just like any normal shop, a million miles away from the D.S store, it was immaculate, minimalistic and edgy, very plain female and a male mannequins stood in the window wearing simple but beautiful clothing. The lighting produces a feel of clean and calm to the room, with the huge wall of glass at the shop entrance. Built in Boxes are on each wall, with either hanging space or shelves, each with spotlights to illuminate the pieces inside, boxed stands with glass casings for the exquisite jewellery are placed in the middle of the room to divide it up in to sections. Each box or cabinet is rented by a designer for how many months they would like, so they can have their work showcased, its like a gallery and a shop, which I find quite interesting.
The staff were lovely and really helpful, telling me about what designers they have on show, how they are so different from the Dover Street and that they are considering changing it to be the same as the Notting Hill (I told her I loved the Dover Street store and that the Notting Hill one should be made like that!) and how you can rent a box or cabinet. The Majority of the designers were in there third or fourth collections, with the exception of about two that were in their second, there was a real range of different designers such as Piano NeckTie, Mark Fast, Ashtiani, Jena Theo, Math, Violet Darkling, Marina Black and many more, the pieces were incredible, pretty much every box I went to I found something I wanted-was clearly my dreamland (apart from the price tags, HA!) The target market for Wolf&Badger is I suspect from the age of about early 20s to late 30s with prices ranging from about £25 up to around £2000. The downstairs of the shop is a little different from the upstairs, in fact its just pretty dark! The spotlights in the boxes are a real necessity down there, but they really do show off the pieces fantastically.
There are few mens wear boxes, womens wear seems to be a priority.
BROWNS FOCUS
Great window display with minimally placed graphic illustrations of fashion icons such as Anna Wintour. The interior is amazing, I loved how dark and ALMOST chilled out it was. I didn't spent a large amount of my time upstairs due to downstairs hosting Vans, Dr Martins, Henry Holland and Ashish. The target audience for this shop would most likely be rich young women looking for the trending looks from new 'n' coming designers. The store is very up market and can make you feel slightly out of place and if you're like me, worried about touching certain garments in case your little grubby student hands make it fall apart.
Some of the brand stocked here are Alexander McQueen Peter Pilotto, Yves Saint Laurent, Barbour, Givenchy and many more.
ACNE
Fell in love with pretty much everything in Acne, from the jumpers, shirts and trousers to the amazing staff that make you feel so welcome! The interior of Acne is minimalistic, it's skeleton black rails and glass cabinets make it feel a little empty, but with added warm colouring from the lighting and the bright yellow piano, (it's top sprawled with magazines and books) it gives off a more relaxed image as you can imagine a pianist playing along whilst you leisurely browse the clothing. I'm assuming the kind of people who shop in here are those who look for clean cut designs, block colouring and a relaxed but classic style.
BLUEBIRD
As you go through the entrance of bluebird you start to feel like your in a little village or market, they have a grocery stall as you walk into the cobbled courtyard, wooden benches, old fashioned railings and street lamps with a stretch of an AstroTurfed summer seating area to your right with tables, umbrellas and small bar with a striped canopy over top.Inside the BlueBird shop its just like a small department store, they had a huge amount of different designers, magazines, crockery, records, stationary, shoes, cosmetics, and just in case you felt a little peckish after there is also a patisserie and a cafe/restaurant on either side in different buildings, they pretty much have everything! Each section seemed like it had a different theme or had some weird or quirky object hidden within the displays.
They use grand pianos, glass wear cabinets or old chests of draws to display items on, some of the surfaces were crammed full of things and some had items minimally placed to create a more limited and exclusive status to each piece. Compared to the womenswear there was little menswear but they still had quite a collection of different designers, such as Acne, Comme Des Garcons, Marni, Meadham Kirchhoff, Dodd, Marc by Marc Jacob, WoolRich, Casely Hayford and Hentsch Man.
The thing is about this shop is that you'll see something and you will think, does anyone actually buy that? Does anyone need those anymore? Do they just stock it because it looks ultra cool? with its ridiculously outlandish colouring or it's crazy print. I think this is the kind of shop that will stock things they know won't sell all that well, but make them look cool and give a kind of status to the shop that make people think it's hip and original.
URBANOUTFITTERS
I've lost count of how many times I've been to an UrbanOutfitters, it's hand down one of my favorite shops. More often than not it'll have whatever I need, from a casual dress to a formal dress, heels, shirts, jumpers, mugs, candles, plates, cheese graters (with Jesus' face on it), a whole lot of vintage, watches, bedding, music, cameras, tables and even bikes, this list could go on for quite some time!
The UrbanOutfitters on Oxford Street is huge, as you walk in you are greeted by a member of staff, who will no doubt be very attractive and very well dressed! The ground floor is always rammed full of stuff, they seem to try to put a little taste of everything they sell all there! Also with a huge corner full of art books, cameras, CDs and records.
The massive glass window for the shop front lights the room a little better, but I think the main purpose of it is that it allows a passersby to be captured into the Urban maze. You can tell what kind of shop they are just by a glance, like when you walk into a entrance hall of someone's house and you can instantly tell what kind of person they are.
UO stock a huge amount of different labels, some of it is quite expensive for just a high street store, such as the boutique section, but you can always find something within your price range. I think the age range is about 17-late/mid 20s, but UO does have a kind of hipster/indie kid following, it's pretty much the place to go to find a quirky knitted jumper or find some mug with a mustache on it.
Some of the labels they carry are Sparkle and Fade, BDG, Carhartt, Cheap Monday, Dr Martins, Evil Twin, House of Holland, O&O, Underground, Wildfox, Junk Food, Vivienne Westwood, Johnathon Saunders, Lazy Oaf and many many more.
The shop stretches up another 2 floors which stocks all the rest of the womenswear and home wear, the basement is where all the menswear is. Again this shop seems more focused on stocking womenswear rather than menswear, this seems to be a recurring factor.
I like the layout of this UrbanOutfitters, but it just seems like organised cluster to me, there is just things everywhere you turn, with no space to even think about what you're looking for, the music is absolutely blasted out, both of which can make it quite a stressful experience. The fitting rooms have also now been moved to the top floor, which is a massive inconvenience when you find something on the ground-floor and just want to try it out really quick before you buy it, its quite a trek up all those stairs.
DOVER STREET MARKET
Concept and Direction by Rei KAWAKUBO
"I want to create a kind of market where various
creators from
various fields gather together and
encounter each other in an ongoing
atmosphere
of beautiful chaos: the mixing up and coming
together of
different kindred souls who all share
a strong personal vision."
The layout for DSM is a little higgledy piggledy, with some rooms almost made into a maze with scaffolding and wooden huts placed randomly. I like how each corner you turn you'll find something completely different, due to the huge amount of things they sell, which really doesn't hinder your visit. Its not cluttered at all, it has a relaxed environment, some rooms having sofas and rugs that make it more appealing. One floor even has a cafe, where you can relax inbetween shopping.
It is strange first experience, its brightly lit, with white walls and a deadly silent atmosphere. The staff are helpful but also have an air of rudeness to them, you can sometimes get the feeling as though you shouldn't be there. The target audience for Dover Street Market is for the upper class and very wealthy, with prices going into four figures.
OXFAM BOUTIQUE
Oxfam Boutique still looks like a charity shop, maybe just a little less cluttered and without most of the stock being hideous items that no one actually wants. Its small and even with two other customers in there at the same time can cause a bit of trouble when trying to look around. They stocked quite a range of different garments, all being designer vintage, doing both mens and womenwear, although having quite a small corner for menswear. I see this shop being for the occasional younger audience but on average for the older women seeking items from the past. The pricing on most of the stock is rather expensive, maybe on somethings slightly overpriced.
TOPSHOP
It is ridiculously packed every day of the week, having opening hours of 9:00am till 9:00pm, you really have to plan your way around each floor, otherwise you'll get lost in the vast amount of clothing, bags and jewelery that just make your head spin!
MATCHES
I visited two Matches in Notting Hill, they were both very different in both size and atmosphere. I preferred the bigger of the two, it has two huge rooms on both floors, filled with high-end clothing and shoes by names such as Acne, Erdem, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, MaxMara, Rag and Bone, Lavin, Paul Smith, Carven and loads more. They stock huge designers, keeping up to date with the latest fashion straight off the catwalk, this making the target audience wealthy men and women looking for the latest key pieces. The layout was tidy, clean cut and easy to navigate around. On each rail there will only be one piece of each garment, this makes it look more exclusive, not so cluttered and this really sets it apart from high street stores such as Topshop and UrbanOutfitters. The staff were friendly and always on hand to help. In the second Matches across the road called Matches Spy its very different, its more casual, and it also only sells womenswear, such as Acne, Heidi Klein and Theory. The shop is tiny, the bright pink carpet really doesn't help to create a feeling of space, with shelves and rails stacked up, it feels very crammed with the extra of having three staff members all stood at the front door, one of which will follow you round whilst you browse, making the experience even more stuffy.
BEYOND RETRO
Beyond vintage is the place to go if you love the vintage style, it has everything from corsets to couture, pencil skirts to punk and everything in between, chronicling a century of magnificent style. With the added extra that is the Beyond Retro Label, a range of clothing made from ideas from both staff and customers, it is a reinterpretation of vintage clothing and fabric made into on trend pieces that fit in with current styles. The east London shop is absolutely rammed full, you have to have a good look around to make sure you don't miss anything, things are put in corners, high up shelves and on hangers just to get everything in. The target audience for this shop would obviously be vintage lovers, the pricing is around average, its not too expensive, with the exception of a few things such as fur coats, jackets and the occasional vintage designer dress.
