An alternative view

To contrast what I have found in my research whilst working at a smaller, independent boutique, I wanted to find out how visual merchandising was used within bigger stores. Therefore I interviewed one of my friends / peers who has recently done her placement at Tommy Hilfiger in the visual merchandising department. 

How important do you feel visual merchandising is within a bigger brand?

when interviewing a vm from chanel she said vm was the biggest and most important department within the company however this differs to most companies, vm is usually not considered very highly people just think its window dressing however it drives sales and ensures sales are coming in due to floor positioning, store layout and product displays

Do you think that the way the shop has been designed /  set out attracts more customers and therefore sales?

yes, the layout of the store is important as tables/fixtures will be put in certain places to make the customer walk around the store in a certain way. also whilst on my placement i found out the product statements sold best, and hanging product sold better than folded product. The most season appropriate and best selling collection will be put in prime selling location

Where are the ideas for VM in bigger stores drawn from?

all vm ideas for Tommy Hilfiger in Europe comes from the head office in Amsterdam where a book of guidelines will be made, containing mannequin looks, window display designs and wall fixture layouts. this will then be sent to all stores for the vm's to follow strictly, so it means there is not much creativity and freedom

Would you say they were concept based?

they ideas are all based around the collection which usually follow a story, so this season there was a surf prep summer collection, so the window display had surf boards, and a vw beetle covered in shells, then the store display had surf boards for shelves and shack backdrop. so yes they are all based around concepts

How often is the VM set up changed in store?

set up instore is changed when the new collections come in, it is also refreshed and moved around when sales may be down so collection not doing so well need to be moved and re merchandised. mannequins are changed every 2/3 weeks. ad windows only change when there is a big promotional offer, or seasonal

How many people are involved with the visual merchandising within a bigger brand?

within the UK head office, there is a vm manager, 5 vm coordinators which look after different areas of the country, e.g north, midlands, south and stand alone stores. and there are 2 instore vm's who work in the 2 flagship stores and they both have an assistant vm helping them

Tim Walker

Tim Walker isn't just a photographer. He is a story teller. He brings to life tales that we can only imagine in our dreams. He creates images that take us back to our childhood, makes us believe again. I personally am a huge fan of his work, the eccentricity of it, the beauty and the magic that he creates through his imagery. Tim Walker is a great example of Fashion Narrative. In his Story Teller Interview he explains how is ambitions as a young photographer were to tell stories through still imagery, and the fantasy within fashion photography allowed him to do this. Story telling allows a person to express their personal views and generate characters which people can relate to. As Tim Walker says in this interview, he believes that sometimes normal fashion photography can be cold and lifeless, almost inhuman. I completely agree with him. Although some fashion photos are beautiful to look at and allow you to really appreciate the garments, that's all there is. There is no back story, no narrative to make you think, to really inspire you. Whereas I believe Tim Walker's work achieves all of this. He manages to capture the beauty of the clothes on the model but also create another world in which we can loose ourselves. This is what fashion narrative is all about in my opinion. Intriguing the audience, making them want more, making them believe in the unbelievable. 

Tim Walker Story Teller Interview:

http://timwalkerphotography.com/moving_image.php?media_ID=790


Just a few of my favorite Tim Walker Photographs which I take great inspiration from: 

http://timwalkerphotography.com/moving_image.php?media_ID=609

Disney

So after my amaazzzinnnggg trip to Florida where I got to make my childhood dreams come true and visit Disney World, we decided to take inspiration for a magical window display at What Alice Found. We decided to take some of the most popular Disney princesses, and create our own vintage interpretations. We dug out a Disney Soundtrack to get us in the mood and created our own mini Disney scene in Wonderland! People have loved the display! It proves that customers love to see things that they recognize and the use of narrative within fashion is really effective! 

Snow White's little vintage animal friends! 

Our Princesses! 

Meet Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel and Pocahontas! 

Minnie Mouse! 

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

Minnie Mouse window

Ariel's Grotto! 

Theo's making an appearance! 

Here's a few snaps from my holiday too! 

Vintage Nostalgia

Last weekend we filled the car to the brim with vintage goodies and traveled to Salisbury for The Vintage Nostalgia Festival. Unlike previous events we had attended, this was a three day event, with people coming from all over with a real interest and knowledge of vintage. Within the first few hours of being there, before we had even set up our space we had done brilliantly, selling enough to cover the stall rate already! This just goes to show that having the right type of people around makes such a difference. Although at the Southampton Market there was a great footfall, it wasn't necessary the correct consumer type for the What Alice Found Brand. 

   We ended up with a really great space, sharing with a vintage VW van company (in which we camped in at night which was a new experience!) We decided to make our stall look like a mini version of the shop, so this meant turning our gazebo into a mini Wonderland. We went a little bit crazy with the flowers and even made our own changing room which people loved!! 

Our pretty DIY changing room! 

Flower Power

Vintage goodies

We were pretty busy the whole weekend / we were too busy enjoying the rare sunshine so I feel like I definitely didn't take advantage of all the amazing vintage style wandering around! I planned to do some street style on our last day but it just so happened that everyone disappeared really early so I only got a couple but look how great this customers look in their vintage get ups! 

Vintage Couples were turning heads! 

Loved this all red combination! 

I loved this ladies vintage sunglasses! 

Looking great in bright sunflower print! 

I even joined in and got my hair done at The Vintage Hair Lounge! 

Overall it was a really fun weekend and a success for What Alice Found too! It's fair to say that being surrounded by people who genuinely love and know about the vintage trade makes for a much better selling opportunity! We have two more festivals planned for the summer so keep an eye out for more blogs about these, can't wait! 

xxx

Industry Interview

What made you decide to start your own business?

I wanted to put all my passions, skills and qualifications into my own creative business as I found it hard to find the sort of job I wanted in the industry and tend to work better as my own boss. I like a challenge and wanted to have an adventure! I figured life is too short not to give things a try… 

What made you want to get involved with the vintage market?

Ever since I was little I was drawn towards the past, loved fancy dress and preferred the unique, eccentric nature of vintage. I also love the feeling of ‘hunting’ for vintage treasures and giving things a new lease of life. Vintage is such fun to play with and can be interpreted in new ways over and over again  

Why did you choose to use the story of Alice in Wonderland as a theme for your brand?

It was a book I loved as a child and someone once told me I reminded them of Alice, wanting adventure and being ‘curious’ in life! I thought it was the perfect backdrop to a vintage shop, as it appeals to everyone – women, men, children, adults. The idea of a visual ‘wonderland’ was a concept I liked for my boutique, as there was so much scope for visual merchandising and the notion that when you come through the door it feels totally different… 

What is it you enjoy most about your job?

I love that items I source from all over the country are loved by my customers and given a new owner, and the fact that from day to know you don’t know what vintage fashion is going to appear! It’s an ever changing job and I love that it lets me be creative and expressive in so many ways, from styling to visual merchandising and window displays.

How do you feel the vintage market stands against high street brands?

I think it used to be seen as ‘the other end’ of the high street, but now they very much compliment each other. Platforms like ASOS marketplace and many style blogs demonstrate how to wear old and new pieces together. Vintage is a great alternative for shoppers who love current trends who want to own the original versions so they don’t have the same as everybody else. A lot of vintage is also much better made with quality compared to the high street.

How important do you think visual merchandising is within an independent shop?

Hugely important! I think if you want to capture peoples imagination and get your brand and their shopping experience to stay in their mind so they come back your visual styling has to stand out and be really effective. It’s your chance as a shop to make in impression, and luckily you have no head office telling how or what to promote!

How important do you think social media is for an independent brand to succeed?

Massively important. Our social media presence is very popular and is at times busier than our actual shop premises! its crucial in finding out what exactly people are looking to buy, what’s popular, and helps identify who our target customer profiles are. It has helped define our styling, makes us instantly recognizable at events and helps build awareness that sets us aside from every other vintage brand

Where do you see ‘What Alice Found’ in 5 years?

I hope to have several smaller outlets in the South of England, an ongoing popular online shop and doing more styling to showcase our vintage.

Describe your company in three words

Eclectic, inspirational and fun
 

Market Day

Today I traveled down to Southampton with Nicki for a Market  on the high street selling vintage, art, furniture and other bits and bob. We were in luck and the sun was shining gloriously for us, apart from the crazy wind blowing our mannequins and hats all over the place, it was the perfect day for an outdoors market. After going to a couple of events like this I have found the best part is the people you meet and get talking too. Today we were housed next door to a brilliantly camp and eccentric bearded man who  entertained us with his life stories throughout the day. It's also really interesting to talk to other companies and see how they are getting on with business. Today was a tough one, as although it was really busy on the high street, not many people were actually taking an interest in the stalls or buying anything! This just proves that it is not just about footfall but having the right consumers within that. Vintage is targeted at a specific group of people and if these kind of people aren't out and about then it's not great for brand on events like this. However, after feeling pretty defeated after a long day chasing after rouge hats and not selling much we really picked up at the end of the day as more younger people seemed to appear. It was a Sunday after all and I know better than most that you do not get up until the late afternoon unless you really have to. So although it took a while to pick up, it turned out to be a kinda successful day!? Next weekend we are heading off to the Vintage Nostalgia Festival for the weekend which I am super exited for so keep a look out for photos and news about that coming soon.

xxx VJ 

It's a Success!

So this week we had our first sales on our new ASOS Marketplace Boutique and I am sooo happy! The Boutique has kind of become my baby so to see it lifting off is really great and makes me feel more confident in my own work. As well as the sales the boutique made it onto the ASOS Marketplace Blog!!! Not only did they pick us to feature but they used my photograph as the cover! The photograph they used was one of my personal favorites  from our 'Girly Trend' shoot. See the blog post HERE.
I was also able to write another blog post for the Boutique Blog, talking about our take on the bright statement colours everywhere at the moment. This was the shoot I did with Rosie, taking our inspiration from a great vintage toy, LEGO! See the blog post HERE. 

I also got the opportunity to attend a vintage fair in Winchester and a vintage event in a local Hotel in Bournemouth. It was really interesting to see how vintage events worked and get to meet other owners and buyers with a love of vintage! From talking to people at the vintage fair it was interesting to see that a lot of people didn't actually have shops, they did most of their selling online. This seems to be the more popular way of selling vintage these days, but is it really the best way forward??