TopShop: Buyers as Art Critics

The showcase is like an unsaid fairy tale - it begins, carries away, but does not tell everything to the end. Therefore, window dressing is an art that balances between the material world and the fantasy world. Precisely on the principle of artistic and commercial balance, Shoes Report magazine at the third CPM shop window competition - “Best Showcase of the Year” of 40 works, gave its sympathy to the creative team that designed the TopShop store. The competition was held during the Moscow CPM exhibition at the end of February. Tatiana Chernysheva talked to Olga Zheltoukhova, head of the TopShop / TopMan brand merchandising department, about what a big part of the work Topshop was doing.

For TopShop, the current contest is the second. In 2008, the company received a prize for "The Best Art Showcase of the Year." According to Olga, this year the main task of the storefront was to draw attention to the TopShop shoe line. Especially for the competition, nothing was done, the option of a real showcase was used. It is this order - first a working idea, then a competition - Olga considers it right.

The central idea of ​​the magazine's award-winning display case was a combination of TopShop paper sketches of shoes and real models for sale. “Buyers become critics, evaluating and comparing sketches and finished shoes. The role of the critic is so pleasant that it was impossible to refuse to use it for our purposes, ”explains Olga Zheltoukhova.

The concept of the showcase is based on contrasts of color and texture. Colors are black, white and gold. Textures - a luxurious carved baguette ornament was combined with minimalistic shoe coasters, matte walls and a high pile of carpet. “It was not easy for us to compositionally balance the sketches framed in baguettes of different sizes. In addition, it was important to visually highlight real shoes to the forefront, Olga emphasizes. - For this, lighting was directed to the golden coasters. Thus, we muffled the sparkle of baguettes a little. ”

Working with color, merchandisers based on black and white sketches. The simple use of black and white colors to the creative TopShop team seemed boring, they wanted to present the sketches as works of art, framing them in carved classic baguettes of gold color. However, if this option went “to work”, then the attention of buyers would be focused only on these “pictures”, and shoes would go unnoticed. “I had to balance the gold frames with another big golden spot in the form of shoe racks. Against a black background, it looks very impressive, ”says Olga.

“At the time of window dressing, her budget should not have exceeded 60 000 rubles. But we already bought some of the baguettes earlier for the design of another area of ​​the store, so we fit into the budget, using them again, ”says Olga.

TopShop / TopMan seasonal display cases are strictly subject to standards - all decorations for decoration come from the UK. This ensures the unity of the design of stores in all countries. But still a little freedom for creativity remains - in choosing sets of clothes for mannequins and in the design of the "second" showcases, if there are any in stores.

Naturally, the idea of ​​window dressing directly depends on what the new collection will be. Olga Zheltoukhova receives information about the new collection during business trips to the UK, where prototypes of future models are shown to a team of designers and merchandisers. “Already from them one can judge the trends of the next season, this is what gives rise to ideas for the design of the following windows,” Olga explains.

What will be the showcase of the TopShop autumn collection is not yet known. Perhaps merchandisers will emphasize accessories or will again draw buyers' attention to the shoe line. “It is possible that just in the fall there will be a presentation of our new Personal shopper service, and it will be necessary to come up with an idea for its promotion. Details are not disclosed now, ”TopShop's chief merchandiser shares the secret.

During the competition, the goal of “showing oneself” is always supplemented by the second - “looking at others”. Assessing the showcases put up for the contest, it is possible to draw conclusions about the development of showcases in Russia as a whole. “In my opinion, the windows of TSUM are an example of window dressing at the art level. They proved it, becoming the best in the premium segment. Every time I admire their magnificent work. There were, of course, contestant windows, looking at which the thought involuntarily arose: how did people decide to send this to the competition? In my opinion, it is too early to talk about showcase as a holistic system in Russia. In our market, most brands are foreign and work on franchising, respectively, bring ideas and trends to window dressing in their country. Russian brands are just starting to develop. The “oldest” ones are a little over ten years old. Recently, new Russian brands have appeared, but their number is so small, and their windows are so polar that we can’t talk about trends.

With the phrase "English showcases" I get clear associations: vintage, handmade, a combination of seemingly incompatible colors, unexpected materials that are not usually used for window dressing. In a word - shocking. Scandinavian, Japanese and Spanish showcases give me the same stable associations. Unfortunately, the Russian windows have not yet acquired "their own face." Let's hope that in the future this will change, ”says Olga.

Why do some specialists from the window display a beautiful picture that calls to go to the store, while others have a set of scattered things and something else incomprehensible in the background? What knowledge and qualities should a designer have to successfully cope with his work?

According to Olga, in order to work as a showcase, it is not necessary to learn this on purpose. She is convinced that almost any person with a good art or design education and experience in retail can become one. The main thing is to have a good sense of color, composition, taste and understand the basic principles of retail stores. Olga herself is the best example of this: she studied at an art school from childhood, then received the specialty of a clothing designer, worked for two years as the manager of several stores of different brands and four years as the main merchandiser.

Each post in its own way influenced its idea of ​​window dressing. The generalized experience includes five main principles of window dressing:

- compliance of the shop window with the brand concept (the shop window should show for whom this store is, what is sold in it, at what price);

- interesting idea;

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- color scheme;

- compositional solution;

- purity and accuracy in the details.

“To make a good impression, the showcase must be perfect. In addition, you can not mislead the buyer, that is, the store should be a continuation of the window. And if, thanks to the storefront, the target audience comes to the store, then everything was done correctly and the money spent on the design was not in vain, ”Olga concludes.

For your information:

The central idea of ​​the magazine's award-winning display case was a combination of TopShop paper sketches of shoes and real models for sale. The concept of the showcase is based on contrasts of color and texture. Colors are black, white and gold. Textures - a luxurious carved baguette ornament was combined with minimalist shoe coasters, matte walls and a high pile of carpet

The cost of window dressing

Baguettes - 54 000 rub.

Stands for shoes - 37 000 rub.

The carpet was bought for 5400 rubles.

Paint - 1800 rub.

The film "shoes" and its installation - 5000 rub. Total - 103 200 rub.