Dover street market

Dover street market

This was the last store on our shop trip out which due to several reasons I have not written up like the rest and as specified in the brief. After visiting Selfridges and liberty’s I was able to build up an image of what to kind of expect when looking at these designer brands and in some ways the garments where displayed like they are in those two stores but to me the setting of the Dover street market products/atmosphere left me a little cold.

Atmosphere

the atmosphere when I walked into the store was very cold with no kind of welcoming from the staff or anyone really around to ask about the collections/designers on display. Everything to me was very warehouse like with a very dull and bland colour pallet that I imaging was used to create a sophisticated refined look to not take away attention from the actual garments/designers name but instead to me gave the whole collection (the setting and the clothes within it) a unfinished uncared for feeling. The racks they were placed on also portrayed this uncared feeling due to the way that they were just raw metal with no comfort within them (if you care for something you want to look after it so protect it from anything sharp or that could be damaging like raw metal, you want to wrap it up in something safe and display it will the care you feel it needs and this store looks like it has just thrown its pieces out in disregard making it feel that the designer is very arrogant and impassionate about their own work so why would they give a stuff about you – the buyer of there collections.) the atmosphere in liberties and especially Selfridges was so much nicer with the collections displayed within their own sections with the name of the designer above some having carpets within their design section, there were always people around that would engage you in conversation about the product and they just seemed more interested in myself and less snotty about their work/ the collections they were supporting/ trying to sell.

Retail theatre

the retail theatre of the place was as I have mentioned above was very warehouse like due to the unfinished looking setting the raw materials on display and the general look of the place. In some collections such as the one on the bottom left hand side the retail theatre was to create this lived in messy looking setting in which to display his collection in, which just doesn’t work for me at all as it reminds me of a charity shop with old unwanted clothes hanging off the hangers and thrown on tables and the floor and therefore even if there was something that I did like I would be reluctant to buy the piece due to this association. The garments in the other two stores where all very neatly placed on their hangers with a clean clear display that didn’t even feature a table to throw things onto, this retail theatre of everything having a certain place with no music and a light airy atmosphere created this very refined and sophisticated theatre that to me says that it doesn’t need all the props that Dover Street needs to be able to attract attention but instead its the designers themselves and nothing else that is important giving it a completely different quality to the store itself and a more designer exclusive cared for feeling to it, completely the opposite to this warehouse like setting and retail theatre that is Dover Street Market.

Why I don’t fit into the store

Looking at the clothes and designers there they all to me felt very structural and more focused on the fashion side of the industry and inparticular pattern cutting techniques which is where I am not focused on, instead of being fashion orientated I am more print and design based with my collection being more towards the textile sector of the market instead. My work is very feminine and I would want it set in a environment that is very bright and light not somewhere that like Dover Street Market where the warehouse look is in and the main colouration is black and grey, to place my collection within this setting it would completely change my collections message and feel to it for the worst. They are just not compatible at all my style is very feminine floral where the items in this store are very industrial to me. They look like they are in the factor and have not moved/ sold as they have been rejected from the beautiful bright fashion textile industry which is never a good quality to place on your own work you want to sell.

Location

The location of the Dover Street Market is away from the main hub of the fashion stores with it not being near Oxford street but a tube trip away meaning that it is excluded from all the other fashion houses. The way that the store is away from the others could have created a more exclusive feeling as it stands as more of an individual away from the rest but instead to me was just an inconvenience as I had to travel all the way there only to not be inspired at all. I would want my collection to be in the centre of attention so it makes sense to have it in a store in the heart of the industry; therefore I found the location of this store not suitable for me and also other designers who may have the same feelings as I have.

Conclusion

In conclusion my trip out to all of these stores where a success as they got my thinking about what kind of place I would like my own collection to feature in and the place that I would diffidently do not want to be portrayed in. Dover Street Market had nothing that related and represent my own kind of feminine beautiful style and so when I went to visit the store I was really lost and uninspired and therefore I really didn’t want to look around at the clothes so I didn’t really see if there was something fantastic as it just blurred together in this warehouse of grey. I feel if the setting was different or if one designer placed there collection in a much bolder feminine interesting setting then I would be more intrigued and would stay and look at the clothes in more detail making it more visually appealing to me and many others due to the way that the first impression would be more positive. My favourite store so far is Selfridges as it has all the qualities I like to be linked to my collection, it has a light airy openness while still having their designers sectioned off in clear exclusive quarters. But they also work all together with a connection to all the other designers (as its not completely boxes within itself and closed off completely) making a more acceptable warm quality to everything on the floor and a friendlier retail theatre that I feel more comfortable shopping within and therefore I would feel ok to go back to over and over again, where I would feel completely out of place in somewhere like Dover Street as it is nothing like my personal style in both my design work and my dress sense.