Easter without the Chocolate!

07-04-2008 12:13 # add your comment


This Easter our window has been created by Louisa Gray, who is currently in her final year at Central Saint Martins doing an MA in illustration.
Louisa’s work is inspired by her childhood and by the seaside. In her own words: ‘It’s very playful.’ So, when designing Number 22’s window, she has opted for a handcrafted and hand drawn approach using bright colours and strong almost childlike shapes. ‘The concept behind the window is to reflect this time of year, which is fun and bright.  I wanted to create a light-hearted and spring-like quality reminiscent of a garden or a fairground - although I realise it’s raining outside!’ she says with a smile.

Her idea was to have an ‘Easter bunny’ central figure dressed in a red dress with matching shoes.  ‘The shoes are actually men’s red patents,’ she says, ‘but they are so amazing and original that I think they work well with the whole look.’ The background is made of shapes which include birds and windmills in bright and fluorescent colours. You can’t miss it.
When Louisa graduates she is thinking of going into editorial illustration or window displays.
‘Dressing windows is a great platform for new designers, and it opens your work to a whole new audience,’ says Louisa. ‘I love to see my art in a working context and to make a statement’.
 











Category : Window Watch

I S***R by Hummel

07-04-2008 12:08 # add your comment
To celebrate the launch of the ‘I S***R by Hummel’ collaboration, Number 22 has invited Craig Lancaster to dress the store’s window. We spoke to him to find out the inspiration behind it...
 


 

 Craig Lancaster works as Art Director for Show Media, a small ad agency based in Old Street, London.  He also works - on a consultancy basis - with Dust PR, the PR company behind the collaboration, who approached him to dress it.
When I asked him about his concept he told me that he found inspiration in his local pub, the Faltering Fullback in Finsbury Park. ‘In the pub,’ says Lancaster, ‘there is a fake leg hanging from the ceiling with what looks like broken floorboards surrounding it. It’s meant to look like someone has fallen through from upstairs, it doesn’t but that’s how it all came about. I love the idea of placing a huge pair of legs hanging down in the window and past them all the people in the shop about to be crushed; I guess that's my sense of humour!’



The central image used was an existing image that was available from Dust, and the rest of the collection is displayed on the window sill. ‘The aim of this window display,’ says Lancaster,’ is to attract the passing public, but also to push the new product so that they will buy it. It needs to cover those two jobs.’

I ask Craig if he has any projects in the pipeline...’ I am putting in the finishing touches to a campaign we will shoot soon in Monaco for a new vodka brand Stolichnaya is launching.
I’m very busy but it’s an exciting time’ he says.



  

Category : Window Watch

Fly Swatting and Raining Ink

07-04-2008 11:40 # add your comment
Spanish designer Ivan Garcia came to London to learn graphic and industrial design. He currently works as visual merchandiser for Selfridges, styling the shop floor and dressing their mannequins. This month he has designed our window, so I took him out for coffee to find out all about his idea...
 




 He tells me that the concept was directly derived from his love of children’s pop-up books and the simplicity of two-dimensional work. Together with Swedish illustrator Martin Wollerstam they went into the store and chose some strong pieces from the collection from which they developed a black and white theme.
‘We wanted the clothes to stand out and to be at the centre of the design, so we stuck to using black and white,’ he explains.
The flies on the T shirt inspired me to give the main character some fly swats to hold, and when I saw the ink detail on the shirt I thought of creating a cloud of black ink ‘raining’ on top of his head.





‘For me,’ says Garcia, ‘having a sense of humour is very important when working on personal projects, and commercial installations involve the public -whether they like it or not - so I wanted to create something fun that everybody could relate to.’
So what is Ivan’s next step? He tells me that he loves London and has many projects in the pipeline but would love to move back to Spain one day possibly Madrid or Barcelona.
In the meantime next time you walk down Carnaby Street make sure to take a look at our window. It’s guaranteed to make you smile...
 




Category : Window Watch

Be My Valentine?

07-04-2008 11:33 # add your comment


Our shop window this month is a big and very fashionable heart, ready for Valentine’s Day and LFW.  It was created by London-based artists Chrissie Abbott and Angela Won-Yin Mak, both of whom trained at the LCC and have been talking about collaborating on a project ever since!
I ask them how they found the experience: ’we’ve talked a bit about collaborating but this is the first time we actually have! It was really enjoyable, and we would love to do it again,’ says Angela.
We then talked about the brief and how they approached it: ‘Our brief was to decorate the window for London Fashion Week and Valentine’s Day. Wanting to sidestep all manner of red hearts and teddy bear tat, we started doodling and thinking about Serge Gainsbourg records, Art Deco/Nouveau typography and flowers and colours, old ornate birdcages, psychedelic band posters, etc. And the Bon Jovi lyrics were a twist on the generic schmaltzy romance theme. ‘

I’m compelled to ask them, of course, if they are Bon Jovi fans. It turns out that whilst Angela is partial to a rock ballad, Chrissie is a complete fan. In her own words, ‘he is a legend.’

So what does the future hold for the girls? They’d like to rule the world and dress a few more windows together. As for the clothes, they LOVE the red patent shoe boots.

 


 


Category : Window Watch

Trick or Treat?

07-04-2008 11:30 # add your comment


 Liam Gleeson, creator of our Halloween window, is a self-confessed Michael J Fox fan. ‘I grew up watching Back to the Future and The Secret of My Success, so when I was approached to dress up a window with a Halloween theme, I immediately thought of Teen Wolf. It’s my tribute to him!’
As we walk to a cafe to have a chat, I comment on the fact that he is wearing a pair of black S***R trainers. ‘I love them,’ he tells me. ‘I own another 4 pairs of S***R shoes.’
The window is based on the scene in the film where Fox is surfing on a van. Liam’s attention to detail is clear in his choice of font – the exact font used in the film’s logo – and the choice of trainers: ‘I used the Die for S***R collaboration trainers on the wolf because they had a bat on them. It’s Halloween but without the pumpkins.’
London-based Liam trained in LCC where he read typography and communication design. He currently works at Notion magazine as art and fashion director. ‘In our next edition,’ says Gleeson, ‘we are giving out our Hipster’s Handbook which includes an interview with S***R’s brand director Jorge Sampaio. I might be able to get you a copy!’ he says with a grin.






Category : Window Watch