About Me

“ Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. ”

    Oscar Wilde.

A bit about Visual Merchandising 101

I set up this blog at the end of 2012, yet I did not not start posting until the beginning of 2013.The Gallery is my work, my on line portfolio so to speak.

The main posts are made up of all the notes and knowledge that I have picked up since 2006 and still am. As well as revues for shops and business that I have visited. There is also a collection of My Designs .

What was my first Job?

I started working when I was 16 in a receiving theatre, as one of the technical stage technician, setting up the touring shows, getting them out and working during them, usually operating the follow spot. It was exsasting but a great time in my life.

After five years there I left to be a Assistant Stage Manager for a company during tours and pantos'. In-between shows with this company i worked on shows in the London's west end , covering holidays and sickness.

How did I get started in Visual Merchandising?

It was purely by chance that ended up working as a visual merchandiser. my contract ended on the tour that i was on, after a few weeks out of work I got a Christmas temp job.  When my temp contract  ended I was offered a permeant 20 hour contract. After a month I was offered the job of visual merchandiser. The next year i was training to be a department manager and visual merchandising manager. 

What do I enjoy about visual merchandising?

I love being creative, I am always drawing or writing. Caring a sketchbook and not pad in my bag. So creating shop displays and windows, as well as laying out the merchandise is just as rewarding to me as drawing and paining.

A lot of the time companies restick the creative of the visual merchandisers within their stores, making them stick to maniquine dressing guid lines and display table guide lines. In a way I can understand this as it give structure and similarity to all shops. Yet you have to remember that all shops with in the company are graded depending on size, sales s well as if they are a flag ship store, model store, or just a standard store. So when looking at the VM guide lines its always good to have a look at the large store and grade 1 stores. and working out how to recreate what they have, with the fixtures and stock you have. done wright it can win over the management.

Creating something out of nothing is always a fun creative and a challenge.