Ferrari store and its design identity

Yesterday evening a long film about Ferrari family was broadcasted on italian television. That's why today I pay attention to Ferrari Store in Milan designed by Massimo Iosa Ghini.

It can be defined as a immaginative shop. The wiggly curves and the shiny surfaces remind of the soft lines of the red Ferrari as you enter the shop. Indeed, the designer claims: “I used the sensation of dinamicity of the cars, releating to the concept of speed of futurist movement".

It is an innovative commercial space and the largest of the stores currently in existence. There are five display windows and the store is over 800m², of which 600m² is given over to sales. On the five floors, visitors can find countless articles of memorabilia and the entire ‘Replica’ clothing range of track apparel and F1 accessories. Floor -1 is dedicated to clothing that takes Gran Turismo as its inspiration while floor -2 is the children’s zone where games and even an F1 simulator can be found. Books, scale models and original parts of Gran Turismo and Formula 1 cars are situated on the first floor. Luxury goods are on the second floor.

Not only do we talk about a jewel-car, but also about one of the most interesting case of design identity.

An interactive museum takes place thanks to ipertech, memories keeper, where the audience feels through historical videos, b/w photos, models. As Ghini continues: " Ferrari store aims to be the meeting point of the story and Ferrari's myth, of the luxury and racing world.

The project of Ghini includes megascreens, new technologies, an environment on light movements in order to put all the attention of the red Ferrari.

The Ferrari Store is equipped with the latest technology which allows visitors to be fully immersed in the world of Formula 1 and to participate directly in the company’s most famous events. Plasma screens (including one of 5m x 1m) and a state-of-the-art audio-visual system captivates the public in a sound and vision experience that truly gives the impression of being at trackside.

Changes in fashion biz in 2008

Italian Xmas: less presents, more quality

Italian are going to make less present to relatives but pay more attention to quality. This is what emerges through a research elaborated by Future Concept Lab for American Express.

Despite the previous year, the Italian have declared that they are going to spend their money wisely. Basically, they are going to buy clothing (68,2%), secondly on books, cds and dvds (49,3%), then on food (25,2%).

The family remains the fulcrum of italian Xmas, so that over 73% of interviewees will spend the festivities at home. Moreover, the 57% has declared that is fundamental having friends to share important moments with, while the 53% is convinced that it is possible to be happy with few. If we look at the passions of italian, those pay attention to environment (58,7%) , culture (54,8%) and tradition(52,2%). To be considered is the attention to pleasant and healthy food that is a key point for 43,7%.

Xmas fashion trees

The Cité de l'Architecture on Paris' Trocadero is housing Christmas trees by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster, Sonia Rykiel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermès and more…46 pieces will all be auctioned off for the Sol en Si association (A charity for children affected by AIDS).

Milan welcome the largest Diesel boutique

After Tokyo-Ginza and Hong Kong-Queens Road, Milan welcome the third Diesel Planet, an huge store of 1500 meter square on 3 levels that shows all the collections and lines of the brand. Everyone can see it at the cross of Piazza San Babila and Corso Vittorio Emanuele. The opening of this belongs to a wider project to make Diesel preminent in the fashion capital, thanks the other stores in Corso Venezia, in Galleria San Carlo e Corso di Porta Ticinese.

Some architectural particularities: a cristal, curved wall of 7 m high and 35 m long, spreads from one side to the other, while a spiral staircase its the central reference. At the entrance of the shop, an enourmous wall of denim Diesel welcome the clients. On it, over 150 models are displayed indifferent colour, 5000 types in total.

To find out the jeans that fits you, the store provides you with a magic mirror that gives you a 360° view of your silhouette. Moreover, a pc chooses for you the perfect cut and wash. Besides those, a wi-fi connection allows you to shop in the on-line boutique.

Each level detains its own olfatory station, studied to stimulate senses in function of the display. There is also a bookshop that sells the best edition of fashion and design by Tashen, which has edited"XXX of Diesel Communication", while a vintage corner will offer all the cult products of Diesel after 70's. And because music continues to occupy a preminent position in Diesel world, a dj consolle will host dj-stars during perfomance live.

Budget of one year of Made in Milan

Budget of one year of Made in Milan, the brand that unites associations, comitees, events and fairs in Lombardia.

The first success its the strong collaboration in an effective team work: 12 fairs and events in 10 days, during the fashion week from 25t February 2009: from Milano Moda Donna and Milanovendemoda, to Touch-Neozone-Cloudnine, as Giovanni Bozzetti, president of Comitato Lombardia for fashion reports.

The 1929:When fashion takes after the crisis

What do you get when you mix racks of designer clothing with hot vegetable soup? A new SoHo boutique named The 1929 - after the Depression - and a place where fashionistas and the down-and-out soon could be rubbing shoulders.The street level store on MottSt. is decked out with racks of snazzy dresses, pants and tops by independent designers.The basement level has been transformed into an art and performance space by night and a spot where hungry shoppers, or even passersby, can pick up a free bowl of soup and coffee during the day.

"The store is inspired by the Great Depression," said store manager Aaron Genuth, 25, one of three friends who created the business. "Everybody's worried about money, but with [President-elect Barack] Obama getting in, there's definitely a spirit of collaboration, of optimism. "There's a feeling that people getting together can make things better on a local level, like we are doing here, and in a greater sense for the whole country," Genuth said.

The store is one of a growing number of "popup retailers" moving into vacant storage spaces around the city on short-term leases. It opened near Mott and Broome Sts. on Black Friday and has a contract through next month. After that, the owners will have to find a new location. They also plan to expand their empire online.

"Fashion has always been something for the rich," said designer Levi Okunov, who is also a partner in The 1929. "Who said it can't be for the masses? We want people to come here, have a bowl of soup, try on some clothing and maybe check out the artwork downstairs. "It's not only a clothing store, but a collective space of people's energies."

Fashion system is on the watch

Italian fashion system asks for an help the Government. Particularly, it wants to meet immediatly the Prime Minister to tackle the falls of the harsh crisis.

In the meantime, the business representatives and major figures of italian production have signed a document which proposed some measures to sustain both internal consumption of fashion products, both the productivity and even the defence and valorization of italian fims and the protection of internationl trade.

Miu Miu Defies the Recession With Spiffy New Store

Miu Miu's third Manhattan outpost opened on 57th Street today. Shiny, golden, three floors, and 4,860 square feet, it symbolizes everything the economy is not. Over the last three years Miu Miu's sales have seen a 30 percent annual boost. They plan to open even more stores across the U.S. in cities including Las Vegas; Costa Mesa, California; and Bal Harbour, Florida. The third floor of the 57th Street store will be devoted to special events revolving around art, culture, and fashion. The first exhibit currently on display called "Modern Portrait Gallery" consists of renditions of Miu Miu ad campaigns starring celebrities like Kirsten Dunst and Lindsay Lohan (and maybe soon Katie Holmes). View the slideshow to see more of the store and its delicious dresses, shoes, and bags and, most important, escape the recession along with Miu Miu.

Are private sales a way to face the crisis?

The haute couture dealing is usually preroragative of the iper-richs or the celebs who received free high fashion clothes from maisons in exchange of advertisement. Nowadays, the luxury appears accessible also for common human beings thanks to the discounted prices because of the crisis.

Due to outlets, mark-ups are under pressure and a lot of haute couture brands, like Gaultier, had to undersell before Xmas time. From Paris to Milan, through NY and London, a lot of sales has been made by most maisons. Insted of the public sales on windows shops that might ruin corporate image and the formula "quality=high price", they preferred to be more discrete with the "private sales".

Private sales are usually reserved to devoted customers who receive an invitation via email, and are applied to a restrict display of products. This year, some journalists of Reuters found out that this is not completely true. In fact, some clients could enter the private sales also without invitation and buy the whole collections at Prada, Gaultier and Jimmy Choo. Although a lot of spokeman have a no-comment opinion about, actually it happens in this way. Are the big brands planning a fund-raising programme during the crisis?

Onitzuka Vending Machine

Selling clothing via vending machines is really taking off. Uniqlo started this idea a few years ago, and now brands like Onitsuka Tiger are jumping on the trend.

It’s first sneaker vending machine opened near Carnaby Street in London. The machine carries up to 24 pairs of Onitsuka Tigers Mexico 66 in 6 different shoe sizes (UK 5,6,7,8,9 and 10).
If you plan on buying a pair, be sure you know your shoe size, because you can’t try before you buy and there’s no refunds!

Milan invests in Fashion&ICT with a national prize

"Milan hosts the National Prize for Innovation 2008 with a concrete commitment. In fact, the Town Council invests in 3 great infrastructure of research, incubator and projects." that was what the major Letizia Moratti said at the presentation of the final at the department of Design, Arts, Communication and Fashion of Politecnico University of Milan. Particularly, the initiative sustains the best entrepreneurial ideas and research with an high-tech content. Basically, the contest will be developed in Business Cases organized by 42 italian universities to decide which projects are the most interesting.

Subsequently, the major explained the efforts made to improve fashion sector and studies. Firstly, it has been created a consortium among Bocconi, Politecnico, Iulm and Cattolica universities and National Fashion Chamber. For what concerns the City of Taste, the study has been realised by State University and the Tecnological Padan Park. Secondly, it has been constituited a network of incubator of young high-tech enterprises. Thirdly, it comes the projects. One of them is the wi-fi connection in Milan from the downtown to San Siro zone in order to give a range of services to inhabitants like the ones bout security, parking places.

Bluestore in Oporto

About one year ago, I went for the first time in Oporto, Portugal. This cute city in the north of the country reserves a lot of surprises. Although most of us might think that this poor meditteranean nation can't offer too much in terms of design, this is not true. Since it joined the UE, a lot has been made thanks to the contribution of UE. For example, look at this video of a mobile shop downtown.

Strength in Emotional Design

Great design materializes emotion, evoking a connection between people, brands and experiences. It's the things we don’t see that are the most essential to creating a great design. The emotions we feel, moods we embrace, atmosphere we savor, and environments in which we exist play a large role in inspiring a design vision that becomes a great product.

The design process is deeply integrated with engineering, brand and strategy, working seamlessly to develop industrial design solutions that lead to success for firms. Through research, testing and targeted design, it has to be removed the subjectivity from the product development process and address important, yet often overlooked human factors.

Everything is in order to provide high value to strategic product development and design-driven, inspiring products. These ones pays testament to the ability to create products that fulfill human needs and solve business problems.

The best design is not a commodity, and will never be. It can’t be canned, duplicated or outsourced. It is an amalgamation of discipline and imagination, a marriage of skill and bravado. It possesses the strength to alter moods, change perceptions, and evoke attitude. In the end, design is the tangible manifestation of a strategy.

55DSL TemporART opening

Fashion, music and design. Those are the ingredients of the mix that was present on the 6th december in Galleria Corso San Carlo where Diesel opened 55DSL TemporarART Store, a new spacce where the creative team of Andrea Rosso reveals its creativity.

A big party, continued at Magazzini Generali, started this new project where the concept becomes a new experience: divided in 2 sections, one white and one black, 55 DSL TemporART Store has been studied on two parallel levels where the continuum will be the collection 55DSL.

Andrea Rosso, music and design enthusiatic, will give the possibility to a lot of young artists to show their own talent thanks to the personalization of the space that will be an important novity shop window. The first artist was T.O.D.O.S., a spanish collective of Madrid.

55DSL TemporART
Galleria San Carlo

Milan

oh bej, oh bej

photos by Giulia Agostini

The Oh Bej! Oh bej! fair is the traditional outdoor market that takes place each year on the 7th December for one week around Castello Sforzesco in Milan.

It first appeared in 1288 in honour of Saint Ambrogio, but the origins belongs to the arrival of Giannetto Castiglione, Gran Maestro of the order of the Saints Maurizio and Lazzaro. He was in charge under Pope Pio IV to turn on the faith in the city of Milan. When he entered the city walls on the 7th December, he handed out presents to gain the love of the inhabitans, until he reached the Duomo.

From that point on, the market presents each year clothes, old toys and mainly food.

H&M changes the face of the store in Milan

The swedish pap brand H&M has relied on the fellow countrywoman Lovisa Burfitt to renew the store in Milan in a art gallery presence.

Lovisa Burfitt is well-known for its T-shirts, available only at Palais of Tokyo, in the No Good Store and in the boutique Joseph of Paris. She has received only a unique order from H&M: to free the flow of her imagination and of her design talent. As a result, 50 panels represent the fashion world which H&M has transformed in wallpapers and displayed on the different points of the office.

After seeing the success of the change, the swedish brand decided to do the same in Tokyo. Besides this success, she already knows some similar ones: in Stockolm, she decorated the wall of East restaurant and Hotel Scandic.

Camerino café+Levi's, Music+Fashion

What happens when music and fashion meet each other? That's what has made up Levi's in collaboration with Camerino Café (Radio 105). Everyday, you can entry the shop in Corso Buenos Aires, Milan, and become the main character of the show.

Yesterday, the project were opened with a live of the emergent and talentous Bugo.

http://www.camerinocafe.com/

Original Levi's store
Corso Buenos Aires 14/A

Diesel 'Liquid Space' Holographic Fashion Show

During the last runways, Diesel wowed the style crowds with an impressive multimedia show. Using CGI technology, projected motion graphics of models and creatures from the deep created the illusion that they were moving together down the runway along with live models.

The show, entitled "Liquid Space," played with concepts of metamorphosis as strange hybrid forms of man, machine and sea creature appeared to float through space. Weaving their way around the actual models, these creatures transformed into animated models wearing the collection and then the clothes dissolved into millions of glittering fishes. The format and style of the traditional fashion show has been played with by many designers, but with this show Diesel moved into a new creative realm, combining fashion and 3D animation technology in front of a live audience.

The grand master of Diesel’s famously attention-grabbing imagery is Creative Director Wilbert Das and special effects were created by the Spanish CGI animation studio Dvein along with Danish multi-media production agency Vizoo.

Gas and Vice party

Another big party for a brand that speaks to youth. Gas Jeans prepared the big happening at Ied Moda Lab on the 29th November in collaboration con Vice Magazine. Everyone met at 6 p.m. in Gas store in Corso di Porta Ticinese but few managed to clutch the invitation.

Not a meaningless cup of cofee

Strangely, the most feautureless objects condense marketing symbols. For example, this is a simple snapshoot I took yeasterday randomly in a McDonald's in Milan where a friend of mine was waiting for me. As you see, it is only a cofee paper-cup with tre common symbol: a cofee seed, an heart and a cup. If you look twice, your brain immediatly connects these three normally meaningless elements to the pleasure of drinking an hot cofee while outside is raining or snowing or with a cheerful company.

Once upon a time, Saint Exupery said that essential is invisible to the eyes. This time, I have to disagree with the Little Prince.

photo by Giulia Agostini: I love this photo I took in a vain afternoon in Milan because I consider it to be a part of the visual culture which we live in. Unfortunately, the pic could appear a little over-exposed, but I had to enlighten it a bit digitally the original one, otherwise it was impossible to catch some details because of the uploading on a blog- the snap looked too dark. First of all, I worked out an evolution in my tecnique with my simple (but not less good) Sony dsc-t200, Zeiss lens, 8mpx.For example, the focus is on the three symbols that were my subjects. Then, I found the perfect light that pays attention to the cup and gives the right shadows. It seems as if the shadow of the cup says to you that there's something behind the object and, actually, that's what I meant to do. Furthermore, the symbols and the cup suggest that you should be in a meeting moment, full of people, like a cofee bar is, while the object stands alone in its material and inhuman solitude. If the cofee cup is functional to the social human life, its existence depends on that one without having its own. Strangely, without human feelings and social needs, it has no meaning, no reason to exist, no function, no life. Even more strangely, the cup of cofee stands there on the table in front of us to remind us of our social life and its function as means to assolve it. Do we really need that a dumb paper-cup reminds us of it? Does it mean that we are forgetting the meaning of having a rest and taking a cofee with a good friend? Are we moving towards the cup? Is our life becoming the life of a half-drinked, steaming cofeecup in a multinational company bar?

Shelf Appeal

Eight coffee makers— one decision. On a daily basis, the average person faces thousands of choices in the marketplace, and this reality shows no signs of relenting. Product design can make or break the bottom line.

The store shelf is a product’s last chance to trigger a purchase. It is the moment of truth. Years of experience have taught us that consumer’s purchase decisions are motivated by things more complex than what they can verbalize. It’s their subconscious evaluation of the sensory stimulus they receive there— the look, feel, sound and the associations surrounding the product and brand.

Conducting custom tailored research that delves into consumers’ underlying values and aspirations uncovers insights that lead to superior products. Constant consideration of these factors is what allows designers to create and deliver products that sell over their competition.

We design products that are not only easy to use or priced right but emit an emotional appeal in the context of the retail environment to stand out from the competitive set on the shelf. We never pass up the chance to make the best first impression possible at that moment of truth.

"80% of what people see is behind their eyes." — Dan Buchner, Vice President Innovation and Design

The Adidas van

What is the new concept store for Adidas? The new Volkswagen van. In other words, the new concept consists on a shop on movement suitable for a street target. Basically, the little truck crossed the streets of Sao Paulo among skaters, young folks who are charmed by the Adidas van along the streets.

What catch their attention is the graphic. The matter of the fact is that the van is painted by the skate legend Marck Gonzales that evokes the Brazilian murals. Those ones are characterized by plain colours in blue with the strips of Adidas.

The interiors are contrasting. While the exteriors are colourful, those are minimal, decorated with a limited and street collection and with some LCD screens that pass on videos of incredibile skate performances.

Who knows if this new trend which is launched by Adidas will be followed by other brands, if the Adidas will continue to be on the road.

The charitable, fashionable matrioskas

Matrioskas as models for Cavali, Versace, Prada are now shown in Moscow. This is the last fashion of charity.

The 10th anniversary of Vogue Russia has been the occasion for that social commitment. Particularly, it consists on an auction of tens matrioskas created and dressep up with dyed dresses and accessores, like glasses, by the top luxury maisons. Also Naomi Campbell took part at the event with her new lover, Vladislav Doronin, co-owner of 'Capital Group that gifted her a dool of 23 thousend euros by YSL to celebrate her first pubblic presence in Moscow with him. Surprisinly, the one which has recorded the highest bid was the one of Valentin Iudashkin for 100.000 dollars. The total takings amounts to 1 milior euros.

Fast fashion doesn't feel the crisis

Fast-fashion keeps up to fashion in Italy despite the financial crisis. While the luxury world seems to colapse, 120 firms, 5500 workers, 2,5 miliard euros sales guarantee optimism in the fast fashion sector. This is the revolt of fast fashion, or, to be more precise, the brands that draw on the seasonal fashion trends, re-editing items and accessories with an high production and distribution speed.

Now, a research conducted by Diomedea in BolognaFiere teels the truth about this sector. This one consists on firms that covers the 20% of the everyday national consumption for 5 miliard. Moreover, Italy is in the first place in Europe with Spain with a 70% distribution on italian soil.

Particularly, they have gained and enstablished a good reputation. Although at the beginning they were considered like cribbers, nowadays they're the ones that claim what is fashion or not. In addition, their streght is the flessibility of the production and the provision that makes them more resistent to the crisis and the markets' fluctuation.

The Xmas pack of LV

Xmas gives a chance to Louis Vuitton to show its brand new in the Big Apple. This is a big pack and consists on the flaship-shop on the Fifth Avenue wrapped with the Monogram Multicolor by Takashi Murakami. Indeed, Daniel Lalonde, president of the american brench of the brand, explains: " The purpose is to realise something unique and highly representative during Xmas time. Decorating our building with the classic Monogram in 33 different colours has seemed to us a perfect combination of tradition and enterteiment".

Panpepato

The love for arts, the passion for the new, details and handcrafts born Panpepato three years ago. Particularly, two girls, Giulia and Martina, two ex-PR and fundraiser, opened this cute shop in via Solari 2/A, Milan, with a laboratory inside. Although some object are imported, the vast majority of the products sold come from 18 italian craftswomen. Those guarantee the best in terms of quality also of the material.

Only natural and historical materials are used. For example, glass, silk, wool, pottery, linen and cachemire create wonderful old-fashion bags, modern garment for children and women, accessories and elements of furniture. Like this, clothes from Asia turn into western items and are displayed with Italian products.

Panpepato
Via solari 2/A
Milano
http://www.panpepato.com/
Monday from 3 pm to 7.30 pm, Tuersday-Saturday from 10am to 2pm and from 3pm to 19.30 pm.

'08ML: indipendent publishing festival in Milan

Today and tomorrow, indipendent publishing festival 08ML is held in Triennale Bovisa from 4pm to 2 am.

It is a good occasion for your reading curiosity. Not only can you buy book on sale by 42 medium and little firm, but also you can chat and get to know the authors. Among the latest fashions, there is the Verdenero series that will introduce the new book of Lucarelli, Navi a perdere.

The festival wants to double the success of the previous and first edition. Like that one, it will be free and the spaces are three times bigger. Deliciously, the Triennale Bistrot will provide the attedants with a opulent buffet. Moreover, dj sets will be joined by live music, while the children will be delighted by animations inspired by the books'theme. In the exteriors, a videoinstallation will be projected and show quotations from the paperbacks displayed.

Thanks to the association "Spazio aperto servizio", there will be place also for the solidarity.

Eastpak by Eley Kishimoto: party again!!!

Eastpak had to celebrated (another) extraordinary cobranding with Eley Kishimoto with a great music party. On Thursday the 20th of November, Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto landed in Milan to do it. This couple in their private life and design one have already worked for LV, Marc Jabobs, Alexander McQueen, Jil Sander e Cacharel. Here, they are to show their four fruits for Eastpak.

Online customers search excellence

What the Customer Focus Study Reviewed

The study consisted of visiting a retailer’s website and answering a series of Yes/No questions about the availability of 69 different factors that reflect a focus on customer experience. These factors were weighted based on our 10 years of optimizing retail website experiences and totaled to arrive at an eventual score for each site. The features we asked our shoppers and analysts to address include:

• Quality and detail of images
• Product copy description answering the shopper’s implicit questions
• Whether the retailer offers customer reviews
• How the retailer met the shopper’s gift buying needs
• Ease and simplicity of checkout
• Retailer’s ability to address the shopper’s concerns
• Ease and clarity of retailer return policies
• Providing of shipping and tax totals early in the checkout process
• Offering multiple payment options
• Offering estimated delivery times and showing in-stock availability for items
• Offering in-store pick-up where physical stores exist

We specifically asked the mystery shoppers to ignore:

• price points
• the ease in locating the products;
• the efficacy of the brand in conveying confidence;
• the impact of overall design on credibility and sales;
• the entire customer experience from search to purchase fulfillment

Rather than evaluating the entire customer experience, this study provides a benchmark for retail sites based on more objective criteria. Therefore, our 2007 Retail Customer Experience Study provides a thumbnail view of how businesses speak to the needs of their customers. There’s much work still to be done and plenty of opportunity for improvement. The top-rated site in this study scored only 67 out of a possible 100. Even the top-rated company has plenty of room to grow before it has thoroughly delighted its customers and improved its bottom line. Given the results of our study, Future Now further believes that companies which lavish attention on improving customer focus will reap more sales and experience superior customer-retention rates in the long term .

The Results: 2007 Online Retail Study for Customer Focused Excellence Congratulations to the top fifteen retailers for their efforts at providing visitors a customer-centric experience. The Overall Leaders:
SmartBargains.com 67
BestBuy.com 63
Compactappliance.com 63
BlueNile 63
EasternMountainSport 63
BackCountry.com 63
TigerDirect.com 63
CDUniverse.com 63
Ebags.com 63
Staples.com 63
AmericanMusical.com 62
Landsend.com 62
Crutchfield.com 62
Walmart.com 62
Walgreens.com 62

*Moved from 11th to 2nd since launching customer-generated reviews. Average score for all retailers = 43 (± 11)

The Leaders by Category: Apparel / Fashion: eBags.com, Landsend.com, Lids.com, Bluefly.com, LLBean.com Electronics: BestBuy.com,TigerDirect.com, Crutchfield.com Food: SurLaTable.com, Cooking.com, Berries.com Jewelry: BlueNile.com, Ice.com, Diamond.com Children / Toys: OneStepAhead.com, KBToys.com, BabyAge.com Housewares / Kitchen: CompactAppliance.com, BedBathandBeyond.com,SurLaTable.com Office: Staples.com, OfficeDepot.com, OfficeMax.com Mass Merchants: SmartBargains.com, Walmart.com, Target.com

Selected highlights learned from the study: * 58% offer gift certificates.* 24% do not allow customers to enlarge the product image.* 37% offer multiple image views of products.* 33% offer customer reviews.* 38% of sites have difficult to read fonts. (This is especially telling considering that, this year, our average age of reviewer was younger than ever before. Only 14% allow customers to change the default font size while viewing their website.)* 43% offer free shipping.* 61% do not offer any information on the product page regarding in-stock availability* 52% of retailers have physical stores; only 10% of all retailers offer in-store pickup of orders.* 74% offer estimated delivery times.* 42% provide shipping cost early in the checkout process. 35% have a checkout process with more than 4 steps.* (Only) 58% correctly answer an e-mail question within 24 hours.* 20% offer pay-by-check, 10% offer Google Checkout, 20% accept PayPal and 18% offer Bill Me Later.

This study reflects significant factors that customers have come to expect. Having worked with online retailers for the past decade to observe how customers buy at retail websites, Future Now knows that customers notice the little things. In the long run, customers vote with their dollars for companies that have an intense focus on satisfying their needs.

Wave75

photos by Wave 75 staff
Wave 75 can appear like the common story of a group of friend with a bright idea. In fact, it is: everything started from some surfers that needed to communicate their passion outside their crew. Like this, Wave 75 was born 2 years ago with a brand new shop in via San Vittore 11, Milan.

The one brand store is focused on surf. Therefore, streetwear is the guideline like sweaters, t-shirt, coats and the space is decorated with so simple objects like surfboards, photoframes, particular lamps that clients can feel at home.

The customer satisfaction is high and getting higher. Thanks to the attention to the new and to the quality of the fabrics, Wave75 offers the best of the best to its clients. Even though it has been opened recently, there is a good feedback and customers are pretty always back.

Also press is paying attention increasly to it. Not only am I writing about it, but also it has been reviewed on a lot of specialised magazines like Surfer, Baco Magazine, pop-mags like Vivimilano, Corriere della Sera, and fashionmags like Sfilate.it and Modaonline.it. Moreover, it organises a lot of parties in its store (for example, the one on 4th of November 2008) to gain visibility. Currently, it is going to have some surf contests in Tuscany.

Why don't join them if the wheater is good?

info@wave75.com
http://www.wave75.com/

Is financial crisis the wayback to the grey scale?

Attending Paris fashion week while the world’s economy goes into freefall is a disorientating experience. There’s nothing like watching the talking heads on CNN getting increasingly apocalyptic about the state of your finances, only to turn the TV off to rush to a fashion show featuring dresses and shoes with four-figure price tags. Of course, clothes take months to design and produce, so the styles that were on the runways last week were designed way before “credit crunch” sounded like anything more than a cute piece of alliteration. In that sense, you can’t really blame the designers for being as free as ever with the gilt and the gold.

As fashion is used to do, it has got a whiff of the crisis. That's why in the lastest shows disapperead the costly flights of fancy that have characterized the runways for the past few years: the tulip skirts, the enormous handbags, the heavy detailing, the frills and ribbons. Instead, they’ll return to tailoring in safe colors—blue, gray, and black—because customers will need to be convinced of the durability of any of the few purchases they make. You can say a lot of things about a metallic tulip skirt with frayed edges, but “durable” is probably not on the list.

Then again, that line of reasoning is probably too simplistic. Designers will likely opt for even more ostentation, because they know that the real money is with people who won’t be affected by this financial downturn at all. Fashion houses will be aiming for the new markets—Russia, China, India, the Middle East, and South America—and the enormous wealth therein. The lower end of the upper market (i.e., those who live in the West) will be the ones cutting back. The people who are buying up Francis Bacons and sailing round on super yachts (mentioning no names. Oh, just one, then—Roman Abramovich) will continue to shop without concern. This newly emerging demographic don’t just not worry about price tags, they don’t even look at price tags. So what we’ll see on the runways will be a microcosm of the world itself: the plain will get plainer and the ornate will get even more ornate.

Digital signage

Digital signage seems to have been my favourite topic recently. Precisely, digital signage is an adverisement form well known also in Italy, whose content are projected on electronic and digital screens in public spaces.

The features of digital signage consists on:
1. not to have to change phisically the billboards
2. to get a message across in specific places at a specific time

Economical aspects:
This kind of adv offers a better price/quality ratio than traditional printed billboards. Even it's malleability enables the transformation of advertisement posts in different applications in a little time.

The content ranges from the simple text to static images, and to videos with or without sounds, too. Some networks of digital signage are similar to a Tv channel with a infotrateinement profile. Moreover, it is possible to create multimedia contents on LCD with an high quality image.

The messages can be controlled remotely by a software in a pc by a team that can modify easily through the Internet.

Alberta Ferretti's flagship store in LA

The inauguration of the new flagship shop of Alberta Ferretti in LA wasn't to lose. At te 8626 of Melrose Avenue, all Hollywood was there. In that occasion, friends and devoted to the brand had the possibility to appreaciate the new pap of Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy, as well as the last accessories' line.

The interiors of the boutique show a new concept of the brand. For instance, the architects' studio Sybarite from London has created a spacious, luminous and sophisticated store according to the brand image: 420 m where the white predominates, in contrast with the living colours of the collections that float in the space hanging from magnetic hangers.

Besides the already existent lines, Alberta Ferretti Girls has been launched and it is reserved for girls from 5 to 12 y.o. Moreover, in the next two years, AF plans to open a middle-east network in Doha, Jeddha, Dubai, New Delhi e Beyrouth. AF: another example of italian fashion spreading all over the world!

Magnetic Clothes Hangers

Hangers haven’t changed significantly their shape in the course of time. Indeed, the morphology is really static and consolidated, although a lot of designers concern about making hangers original and catchy.

One of them is Daniel TO. This man has elaborated the Magnetic Clothes Hangers, which are the first ones to be magnetic. Particularly, this incredibly innovative idea is handy for the shops thanks to its design. In other words, the simple and essential system avoids the use of the traditional pole, which the hangers hang down. Like this, it allows extreme freedom of movement and configurations with a simple metallic bracket to which all the hangers are attached.

The vertical development of this tool could be interesting. If it were possible to tilt the hook in order to hang the hangers also on walls, it might make this object even more suitable for fashion retails.

How a window speaks about current events

India is the star of the holiday windows at the famous label Hermès flasghip store on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. An enchanting display that's a far cry from the latest Mumbai tragic events. Director of decoration Leila Menchari's aim was to captivate passers-by with unique and exclusive pieces.

Retail Design:Inspiration for Beauty in AmorePacific

Retail design has become the new outlet for brand expression. By controlling everything from images, textures, sounds and in some cases smell, designers are taking the retail experience to a whole new level.

Korean cosmetics giant Amore Pacific approached Continuum in 2004 to design a series of changing retail environments for 'The AMORE Gallery,' their flagship store in the ritzy Apgujung-dong neighborhood of Seoul. The spacious, glass-fronted location provided a unique opportunity to bring the core elements of Amore Pacific's brand -- a contemporary, Asian-inspired balance of natural purity and cutting-edge science -- to an immersive environment where consumers can relax while trying out products or indulging in spa treatments.

To give the Gallery a fashion-forward relevancy that would be refreshing and inviting to passers-by, Continuum (the design studio) developed changing themes throughout the year based on the four seasons. For winter, spring, summer and fall, Continuum's designers recreated store-front graphics, display cases, wall graphics, lighting, banners and sculptured elements anew, infusing the colors and images at every level with Amore's unique naturally-inspired, contemporary look. Continuum also designed and developed the displays for a special exhibition and the Pink Ribbon 2005 campaign to benefit Breast Cancer.

Our eye-catching designs increased foot traffic and word-of-mouth, as the attractive Amore storefront became a landmark known for its modern and engaging displays.

Fiat: another example of interactive windows

Diesel's interractive windows

Diesel Creative Team, in collaboration with Nanika from London Think & Make It of Milan, two agencies which work on ‘interactive art', has transformed in digital installations the windows of Diesel store in Piazza S.Babila.

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A simple idea for a great effect. Basically a camera shoots the actions of the passers and reproduces them in a deforming, artistic way. Two big screens in the square reproduce the situation and the passers become the main character of the work of art.

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This attention to new technologies and artistic expression will caracterise the mega-store Diesel in Milan and its 1300 mq.

From Anila farm to Anila shop

Young Italian accessories label Anila has called upon English designer Joanna Sykes for its summer 2009 collection.

How to transform an adv into a bag by Girbaud

An exclusive François Girbaud interview about ecology and inventiveness. An example : Marithé and François Girbaud's bag made from advertising posters.

Save your logo

Nowadays, fashion and nature are closely related. Besides the animalier textures used for the dresses, a crocodile means LaCoste, a puma reminds you of a sweaty T-shirt, a dear of Abercombie&Fitch, for example.

According to this trend, the Global Environment Facility has launched the campaign "Save your logo" in order to stimulate the firms to save the animal which inspires their brands. Fortunately, for the prestige of the enterprise and for the future of those furry animal, some good results have been seen.

Be Frozen

Another example of flash mob: frozen. Thousands of people meets in a square and they stop (froze) for some minutes. Then, their life go on in the same ordinary way.

Here is an example in Milan.

Continuum and Amplifon to create retail experience

Since the 1983 Continuum is one of the world leading firm in the product innovation. Particularly, the name sanctions the new concept of design like an evolving connection among different disciplines that take part in the product development.

One of the key character in this firm is Valentina Ziliani, the strategy practice leader. Before working for Continuum, she did a 7 years experience in Lego Concept Lab. Now, she is in charge of discovering new connection among design, brand and business. According to her, those are to be thought as an unique value system that meets the needs of the people.

Another important employee is Fabio Di Liberto, the Product Innovation practice leader. Before arriving in Continuum, he worked for FutureBrand in New York where he used to define brand strategies even for multinational companies like Pepsi, GM, Gillette.

Recently, Continuum and they have been committed to Amplifon. In this case, they had to create a retail experience in order to unify the image of the firm all over the world and meet the customers'needs. That's wh they decided to immerge themselves in the reality of who enter a shop for deafs. For example, they made a survey among in different European countries. First of all, they have interviewed families, then observed the paths that people used to follow inside the stores.

Everything has been made in order to reduce the medical enviroment in favour of a more retail one. Not only does the shop have to answer to the requests of people, but also it has to offer a variety of products. That’s why the space has been designed as a storybook firstly, like an amount of perceptions and interactions. Then, the staff skills, interactive technologies, communications and the layout have been defined in a spacious, relaxing atmosphere. Finally, the furnish design has been created in order to facilitate the experience.

Everything has been projected in a tight collaboration between Continuum and Amplifon. For instance, Valentina and Fabio collaborated with Haluk Terzioglu, (chief Marketing executive) and with Daniela Pighini, (New Business Development) in Amplifon. In addition, they also considered the Team di Saatchi & Saatchi of London which was working with Amplifon to the new brand identity e campaign at the same time of the Continuum project.

Surprinsingly, Valentina and Fabio stated that the main contribution arrived from the social research. Particularly, they have verified the connection among the experience, the purchase and the aestethic of the store thanks to Milward Brown that tested this fact in Verona.

What has been mostly challenging for them was to find and communicate to the Amplifon executives the right innovation level: no technological excesses that might catch unprepared the elderly nor could be of difficult application on a graeat scale, catchy for the young folks.

Pierre Cardin fashion show

After almost ten years, Pierre Cardin decided to host a fashion show once again but at the Palais Bulles in the South of France.

YSL new scent for its shop

Paris's hottest new shopping destination is not a newly launched boutique, but a store that has been open for over 25 years. The Yves Saint Laurent Saint-Sulpice store on Paris's Left Bank has debuted a new interior, a collaboration between creative director Stefano Pilati and architects Alain Moatti and Henri Riviere.

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First opened in 1979, the store has seen a complete reinvention, described by YSL as 'functional luxe,' where even the scent of the air has been considered for the ultimate luxurious shopping experience. Taking a departure from the minimal landscape that characterises many modern-day designer boutiques, Pilati instead turned to an iconic YSL reference: Opium.

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Innovative touches include the use of ductal concrete; an environmentally friendly option, which reduces carbon emissions, and energy efficient lighting, add to the ecologically sensitive

project.

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A stunning setting to show off Pilati's designs, the store should be on the radar for any style conscious visitor to the city, whether to buy, or simply to marvel.

Two Apple store. One amazing exprience.

DigitalRev Store experience

Volemosebbene smart mob

The difference betwwen flash and smart mob is the organisation. That's why smart mobs are more used by advertising agencies than the uncontrollable flash mob.

Behind the scenes of the smart mob in Rome, there's Tim. It took place in Campo de Fiori and everyone had to gift something to others in the previous to S.Valentine's day. Tim offered 1000 wrapped pack and the luckiest 6 won a mobile.

The day was symbolical. Not only do people have to love eachother because of San Valentine's day, but in everyday day of their life.

Flash Mob in Shangai

Flash mob examples

The first recorded use of the term flash mob was in 2003 in a blog entry posted in the aftermath of Wasik's event. The term was inspired by the earlier term smart mob. Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English defines flash mob as “a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse.” The press has also used the term flash mob to refer a practice being used in China where groups of shoppers arrange online to meet at a store at the same time in order to drive a collective bargain with the store owner.

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Two are the most notable flash mobs: Pillow fight and Geocaching. Worldwide Pillow Fight Day (or International Pillow Fight Day) was a pillow fight flash mob that took place on March 22, 2008. Over 25 cities around the globe participated in the first "international flash mob", which was the world's largest flash mob to date. According to The Wall Street Journal, over 5,000 participants participated in New York City, overtaking London's 2006 Silent Disco gathering as the largest recorded flash mob. Word spread via social networking sites, including Facebook, Myspace, Wikipedia, private blogs, public forums, and personal websites. Participating cities included Beirut, Boston. Budapest, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dublin, Houston, Innsbruck, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Monterrey, New York City, Paris, Pécs, Shanghai, San Francisco, Stockholm, Sydney, Vancouver, Washington, D.C., Zurich.

The increasingly popular hobby of geocaching developed a twice/year event in 2007 called "World Wide Flash Mob", held in the spring and the fall. Players active in geocaching are encouraged to develop events that produce a quick flash mob complete with an event booth and group photo that instanly disperses after 15 minutes. A unique aspect is that these flash mob events occur simultaneously around the world at the same day and time (1:00-1:15 PM Eastern time and simultaneously in other times zones, i.e. in London it would be held at 6:00-6:15pm, in San Francisco it would be held at 10:00-10:15am, etc.).The next such event is scheduled to happen on November 8, 2008. As an example, four such simultaneous events are planned within the New York Metropolitan Area, in Valhalla, in Babylon, NY, in Edison, NJ, and in London, UK.

A brief history of Flash Mob

A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse.

Flash mobs, to use a terrible pun, were quite literally a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon. Created by a man known only by "Bill" in summer of 2003, they spread globally with rapid pace and died out almost completely by the winter of that same year. In the summer of 2005, flash mobs officially "sold out" so-to-speak, with Ford's "flash concerts" that promoted their latest model, the Fusion. This past March, Harper's magazine reflected upon the flash mob phenomenon and simultaneously revealed its inventor: Bill Wasik, who just happens to be the senior editor at Harper's.

The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather. Wasik avoided such problems during the second flash mob. To begin the experiment, Wasik sent a simple email on May 27, 2003 to about 60 friends and acquaintances. The email was vague, forwarded to himself by himself from an unused email address. It asked people to synchronize their watches and meet in a given location in New York. To avoid looking staged, he asked people to approach from different directions based on their birth month. Further instructions were to be given at the site by a random person via a slip of paper. The first mob failed due to the police receiving knowledge about it, but the second, which took place in the rug department of Macy's, was a success. About 200 people came into Macy's and informed clerks that they were looking for a love rug for their commune that they all lived in and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group. Wired News wrote about it two days later, and the flash mob spread rapidly to other cities. Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about fifteen seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip. The New York Times, in an effort to have a leg up on the story that other newspapers didn't, predicted (correctly) a backlash to the flash mob sensation. Wasik suspected as much, although the Times had impeccable timing on the story.

Wasik revealed that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, an attempt to make fun of hipster culture, and above all a social experiment designed to demonstrate the joining urge of human beings. He planned the lifespan of the flash mob in its entirety, from the first flash mob to its backlash, downfall, and subsequent commercialization. While the content of the flash mobs themselves was apolitical (the ones Wasik organized, at least, although they were definitely transformed into political protest by some), the lifespan of the flash mob speaks volumes about digital networking, the nature of the human herding instinct, and the commercialization of everything.

Get caught in a flashmob!

Sometime you can see a lot of people doing weird things on the streets in Milan. Surprisingly, you might be caught in a flashmob event.

While this mass event started spontaneously, nowadays it has became increasly a new marketing technique to launch new products.

The Flea Circus

Although waking up early on sundays morning is hard, the Flea Circus in via Malaga was worth it on the 5th of October.

The one in via Malaga was not the common second-hand flea market. Indeed, a lot of brand new brands (sorry for the pun) have been introduced, a lot of weird people got there and a lot of strange things happened. Despite some features of Oktober festival like sausages and low price beer, the organisers have done their best to make the party have a reasonable profile, like some installations and good products. Basically, have a good time is the soul of the party.

Mainly, the same people were there...only few out of a weird contest, the normal ones that you usually meet downtown. I wish one day also them would appreciate this rustic moments, hopefully as soon as possible. By that time, young folks'll have got grey and tired to create these amazing and different parties open to everyone.

Customer experience vs e-commerce

In relation to the previous post, here there are some more considerations about e-commerce vs real retail.

With all the investments and improvements within the last five years in redesigns, usability, analytics, multivariate testing, and the increases in broadband speed and availability, one might have expected significant improvements in bottom line. Yet, according to Shop.org, conversion rates are still hovering around 2.5%. Customers aren’t delighted.

Research by companies like Bazaarvoice, however, paints a different picture of the current “leveling off” in the e-business world. Their results indicate the problem doesn’t lie in the allure of the offline shopping experience, but in the failure of online stores to present a customer-focused shopping environment. In our experience, many of these sites also fall short of customer-focused excellence because they fail to effectively integrate with their offline counterparts.

Sam Decker, CMO of Bazaarvoice said, “According to customers, what were once ecommerce nice-to-haves are now table stakes. Easy checkout, product search and the right policies are as important as multi-channel integration and authentic user-generated content, such as ratings and reviews.The way customers research, shop and buy has evolved . Studies underscore the need for retailers to do the same and reconsider priorities.”

How much money do retailers leave on the desk?

A study conducted in 2007 clearly shows that online retailers are not capitalizing on the customer experience and are overly focused on innovation while ignoring the basics.

U.S. online retail sales will more than double over the next six years, reaching $316 billion by 2010, according to a new report from Forrester Research — they expect e-commerce will grow to account for 12 percent of total retail sales in 2010, up from nearly 7 percent in 2004.

Industry observers report that, since the advent of the Internet, online sales have increased overall by about 25% annually (“Online Sales Lose Steam,” The New York Times - June 17, 2007). But they also note that sales are leveling off as customers return to brick-and-mortar venues for a more satisfying shopping experience.

A similar Forrester study in April 2006 revealed that only 26% of online consumers were simply satisfied with their shopping experience. This suggests a whopping 74% — three-quarters of online shoppers — weren’t even satisfied. And what of the remaining 26%? They weren’t delighted. They were merely “satisfied.” In other words, the shopping experience was, at best, adequate. Are retailers in a race to see who can be the “most adequate”?

Diesel XXX party

Last night, Diesel had a party for its XXX

birthday. As this jeans' brand has always tried to rock the life of its customers, it wanted to do it again all over the world. Indeed, in 17 cities of the globe a multidisciplinar party was held.

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Acrobats, great djs, Vodka Absolut as a sponsor...everything for free, or maybe not. Basically, you had only to catch the invitation. How to do? Buy a special edition item in Diesel's shop, and you'll have it. So, are you sure to have taken part in a free event?

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By the way, free or not, who cares when you're part of thousands people, dancing in the shadows and above you there are flying people doing stunts instead of the poor ceiling of Studio 2000 in via Mecenate (Milan)?

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Nobody can forget the asthonishing party of last year in Bassano del Grappa (the base of Diesel) with Moby playing in the park. Nobody could never forget also the last night experience.

Well done again, Diesel!

Diesel XXX party in Hong Kong

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Diesel XXX party in Milan @Studio 2000

When a music genius meets a fashion empire

The Blason jewellery collection is designed by Pharrell Williams in collaboration with Camille Miceli for Louis Vuitton. This collection is a variation on four themes, in which the rhythm and energy of the new continent harmonize with the spirit of historic Europe.

waiting for DieselXXXparty: FlashMob

Waiting for the Diesel XXX party, let's rock the grey square in front of the Dom and the cold autumn.

Retail Design

Practically a lot has been said about retail experience in Milan,

but only a few theorically.

So, let's hear some experts discussing about retail design.

Annamaria Allegro is discovering Denmark's style

photos by Giulia Agostini

A wonderful blonde girl called Annamaria Allegro started bravely her own fashion business in 1989 after a long learning-by-doing experience.
Her shop distinguishes for a refined style thanks to her research of new brands not too much out of the way. Indeed, she sells mainly names that perform on the runways but not too much known as the ones whose commercials can be found on every magazine. Now, she is focussing on Denmark and the incredibly range of new designers that offers with new upcoming brands like St. Martin and Snob.
Customers extends from the affectionate to the “only to have look” ones. Despite the little displays and the narrow space, everyone feels to have found an akin taste in Annamaria’s choice. That’s why they are always back.

Annamaria Allegro

Via Col di Lana

Milano

Kiehl's case study

In 2006 Kielh's skin care store opened in Corso di Porta Ticinese its experience shop, even though his history started in 1851 in Manhattan as a pharmacy. From then on, it has spread all over the world through the commercial network of L'Oreal-luxury division. And 2 years ago, it arrived here in Milan with its first space in Italy.

Although the brand now belongs to this commercial one, Kielh's has never forget his qualitative tradition and productive ethic. Indeed, a heightened sensibility for social matters distinguishes this brand, like childhood and the manteinance of ancient city areas. That's why it celebrates the first italian shop with a charity project dedicated to children of OBM (Children's Hospital of Milan "V.Buzzi") and a photographic exhibit on the history of Corso di Porta Ticinese zone. Moreover, a lounge area and a cofee bar have been introduced to welcome everyone. To make the matter even better, a historical tram of 1928 will show all the city to the customers for free.

Kiehl's

Corso di Porta Ticinese

Milan