06/10/14 - London Trail

Celine store, Mount Street - Caroline Wong (06/10/14)

Celine concessions, Selfridges - Caroline Wong (06/10/14)

Given any opportunity to go into Central London and have a wander, I will take it. Usually I stick to my usual back alleys. I like to flit around the routes I know best which are usually off the beaten track and around Soho. Only today, when faced with a list of roads and streets I had heard of but hadn't been to, I was forced to forget about my usual haunts and get exploring new places.

My favourite street was Mount Street as it is home to a number of flagship stores as well as an antique store that kindly let us look around as members of the small group I was exploring with were interested in it for their design research. Since I'm interested in applying for Fashion Buying (and Merchandising/ Management/ Branding depending on the specific course), I wanted to utilise the day as a means of getting a good look around London stores.

I ended up noting down the similarities and differences between flagship stores for brands and their smaller concession areas in large names like Selfridges and Liberty. For example, the Celine Boston and Phantom bags were sold in numerous bright colors in the flagship store whilst Selfridges only stocked the more classic colors. This is most likely due to the nature of the customers. Those heading to the Celine flagship store are interested in Celine and only Celine. Those going to Selfridges are more likely to be interested in buying a black designer handbag, whoever the designer may be.

Whilst the trip hasn't informed my project, it has helped to consolidate my knowledge of retail which I will need to write my personal statement and talk about in interviews. It was a fun day out with a notion and I especially liked going around in a group as we were able to bounce enthusiasm off of each other and look out for each other too. In the fabric stores, I think the others found it very helpful to have another 3 pairs of eyes on the lookout too.