Monday, 21 March 2016

My Trip To London

Last Tuesday, I was lucky enough to visit London where I was able to have a mooch around and collect some primary evidence and research to support and inspire the fragrance module I am currently enduring. I managed to visit as many stores as I could in the space of 10 hours (it was a long day to say the least, but worth it of course), ranging from large department stores such as Selfridges and Liberty, down to the small niche independent stores. Below I have displayed a handful of photographs I took whilst in London, including aesthetically pleasing visual merchandise, bottle/packaging designs I liked, places I visited and anything else which caught my eye!

St Christophers Place - 'Urban Garden' floral installation created by 
Rebecca Louise Law. 
Fresh by Moschino - the only disappointment is the fact it doesn't spray
 from the pump, its simply a lid!
I love the simplicity of these flowers used within visual merchandising for 
Flower By Kenzo.
The cloudy effect of the Si limited edition liquid is something different 
and unique.
Viktor & Rolf visual merchandising for Flowerbomb, so very girly.
Jo Malone looking as aesthetically pleasing as ever.
Bonbon by Viktor & Rolf.
Guerlain.
A colour palette to die for.
The Simplistic visual merchandising of And Other Stories.
And Other Stories.
Liberty.
The most inviting flower stall outside of Liberty.
Liberty.
I love the simplistic, vintage feel of this packaging.
Killian.
Homewares by Killian.
'The finest fragrances in the world'.
Roja Dove.
Chanel N°5... of course.
Penhaligon's.
These bows were placed outside of Penhaligons to be used as fragrance blotters.
The sweetest bottle designs.
Frederic Malle.
Ormonde Jayne. 
Alexander McQueen Window display featuring McQueen Parfum by 
famed set designer Shona Heath.
Lush.
Lush colours, Lush scents.
Arabian Oud.
Thank you for reading!

Love, Isabella x 

Photo Credits: All Own Images 
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Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Killian | Perfume Is An Art

Whilst in London yesterday I came across a small fragrance store situated in Burlington Arcade, Mayfair 'Killian', a brand I had never heard of before. The store assistant here was so helpful and talking to him really gave me an insight into the brand.

The unique selling point of the products offered by Killian is that they are functional. For example, the female fragrances are originally packaged in a case that either doubles up as a jewellery box or clutch bag and the male fragrances are originally packaged in a case which either doubles up as a cigar case or whisky flask case. I really like this idea of making the fragrance cases functional in terms of lifestyle as it seems a complete and utter shame for these beautifully crafted cases to only hold the simple use of packaging. The sales assistant explained that although free gifts within the fragrance market have been overdone, these add ons work differently for Killian. I feel this is down to the fact that the cases are just as desirable as the fragrances themselves and are not just a tacky toiletry bag that came free with your Paco Rabanne fragrance gift set, which once you get it home will quite frankly never see the light of day again.

Function plays a major role in the ethos of this brand as a whole, not only does Killian strive to make its products functional through the creation of the multipurpose cases, on my visit to the store it was explained to me that each Killian fragrance is an oil based parfum. This means that the fragrances are long-lasting, approximately lasting for around a day to a day and a half, which I know for many is a deal sealer as lugging around a bottle of fragrance which you're constantly having to reapply can become tedious.

Killian currently offers four collections within its Burlington Arcade store and each of these collections are of a different genre which include a range of fragrances, the names reflective of the the genre it belongs to. The first genre I was introduced to was 'L'Oeuvre Noire' fragrances which make up this collection include 'Prelude to Love, invitation', 'Love, don't be shy' and 'Beyond Love, Prohibited'. 'Arabian Nights' is another of the four genres, this collection includes scents all including the word 'Oud' for example 'Pure Oud' 'Rose Oud' and 'Musk Oud' this is because the fragrances found within this collection are predominantly oud based. Another of the collections is titled 'Asian Tales', fragrances which make up this genre include 'Bamboo Harmony' 'Flower of Immorality' and 'Imperial Tea'. The final of the four genres belonging to Killian is 'In The Garden Of Good And Evil' which has to be my favourite genre as I find the reference to Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden really interesting, fragrances belonging to this collection include 'Good girl gone Bad' 'Forbidden Games' and 'Playing with the Devil'.

Jewellery box
Clean and crisp bottle designs 
Clutch bag
Reference to the serpent from the Garden of Eden
This bottle is worth around £3,500! 
Killian Homewares 
I particularly like the sleekness of Killian as a brand. The products and store interior itself are very clean cut with colour palette of white, black, deep reds, silver and gold, minimalistic colours which work really well together to give a luxurious feel to the brand. If you're ever passing it's definitely a stunning store to have a mooch about in.

Previously Killian didn't use advertising as the luxurious products speak for themselves but as technology evolves, the brand has had to adapt to compete with competitors and now has a Facebook pageInstagram page and Twitter page which are worth checking out!

Love, Isabella x

Photo Credits: All Own Images 
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Wednesday, 9 March 2016

Velvet | Trend Alert

A material that has repeatedly graced the Fashion Week catwalks over the past few weeks is velvet, Stella McCartney displayed the material in the form of quilted outerwear, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi ruched pink velvet and Dolce & Gabbana took the crown for the most beautifully embellished and embroidered velvet for sure. Velvet holds strong connotations of a regal and affluent nature and therefore is often paired with colours which have similar qualities such as deep purples, blues, reds, greens and black which is demonstrated within the collections I have displayed below. I have noticed that many Autumn/Winter 2016-17 RTW collections feature embroidered or embellished velvet, including garments from the Roberto Cavalli and Fendi collections presented below. Embellishment and embroidery also hold affluent and luxurious qualities allowing them to compliment and work well alongside velvet.
 
Valentino A/W 2016-17 RTW
Fendi A/W 20176-17 RTW

Prada A/W 2016-17 RTW
Roberto Cavalli A/W 2016-17 RTW
Dries Van Noten A/W 2016-17 RTW
Ralph Lauren A/W 2016/17 RTW
Erdem A/W 2016-17 RTW
Balmain A/W 2016-17 RTW
Velvet has not only been a popular material in the from of clothing garments within Autumn/Winter 2016-17 RTW collections, but has been hugely adopted for accessories also, from Valentino and Dries Van Noten's velvet shoes to Prada and Ralph Lauren's velvet bags. The texture of velvet makes it the ultimate Autumn/Winter material, and I expect could quite possibly become the material of the party season 2016.

Love, Isabella x

Photo Credits: Vogue.com
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Friday, 4 March 2016

Ruffles & Frills | Trend Alert

Another trend which caught my eye within Ready-To-Wear collections across the recent Fashion Weeks is ruffles. Bally delivered with block colour ruffled dresses, an abundance of ruffled silk dazzled the JW Anderson runway and Francesco Scognamiglio provided us with he greatest of the ruffled neck line. Below I have displayed a handful of the many Autumn/Winter 2016-17 collections featuring ruffles. My favourite of the below collections has to be Gucci's, I love how the rich, bold colour palette heightens and enhances the bold ruffles. I feel that the connotations of wealth and royalty associated with ruffles partners perfectly with this strong, striking colour palette. I also particularly like the reference to complimentary colours Lanvin has made, one of the garments from the designers Autumn/Winter 2016-17 collection features ruffles with orange on one side of the material and blue on the other which I feel works really effectively.

Fendi A/W 2016-17 RTW
Balmain A/W 2016-17 RTW
Gucci A/W 2016-17 RTW
Simone Rocha A/W 2016/-7 RTW
Marchesa A/W 2016-17 RTW
Giambattista Valli A/W 2016-17 RTW
Saint Laurant A/W 2016-17 RTW
Lanvin A/W 2016-17 RTW























I know for many ruffles seem far too sickly and Disney princess-esque to ever make their way into your winter wardrobe, but it seems this may well be a trend set to invade high street stores during the Autumn/Winter 2016/17 season.

Love, Isabella x
Photo Credits: Vogue.com
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