We went on a journey around Regent's Street, Saville Row and a couple more important streets around London to visit fashion stores and try to experience it. I started my journey at Liberty's, the architecture is absolutely amazing, the lifts have a very old aspect of wood and gold details -quite different from the Gatsby like lift from Selfridges - the store is divided by womenswear, menswear, stationary and fabrics. I was able to grab a couple of lookbooks from a couple of brands. They don't have a lot and the salesperson explained to me they only keep it for press days, after that, it's rubbish.
Something interesting about Liberty is the mannequins are arranged in a way that relates to the brand they are showing. It's a bit obvious but, they way they do it at Liberty goes deeper and a bit more creative than stores like Selfridges or even Dover Street Market in all its glory and creativity. My journey took me to New Bond street and all the fancy stores they have it - Armani, Chanel, Burberry. The most intimidating of all? Chanel, they treat you in a way that -even though being polite - still keep you out of the very exclusive Chanel world. They know their costumers and what they want, so they probably knew I wasn't in the circle. Even though having a Liberty bag in hand made me look richer (if you have money for Liberty, you certainly can afford Chanel) and I could see that not only at Chanel but also Armani and Coach. The most welcoming and comfortable store? Burberry, the whole almost two hours spent there, it was comfortable, relaxing, the staff is extremely helpful and always happy to help you. I tried on two coats, obviously without having any money to afford them, but still they made me feel like someone who could afford it and just choose not to buy.
Dover Street Market is the store to look for inspiration, the place is filled with interesting cages, birds, toilet and things that would made you think and reevaluate the purpose of a fashion store and how to style it. But, it can be a bit too extreme if you're not used to that kind of conceptual art. Liberty's is in the middle, you can find the deep comercial aspect but still, they play around to make things interesting and innovative. Selfridges, on the other hand is much more commercial, a part from the windows, you can't see many artistic things inside the store, and sometimes even the most expensive and luxurious dress can look cheap and simple. Saville Row is fabulous for it's story, but completely pointless if you have no idea what happened there and still happens.
