Within a jewelled cupcake’s throw from Selfridges an emporium of class and style opened its three doors to the fine people of Duke Street. Jigsaw solution.
No idle fascination this 2500 square metres throws a curved ball at the conventions of category collections with Selfridges claiming jeans from £11 to £11,000 in a range of over 11,000 pieces.
Denim journeys unfold past acrobatic mannequins and parades of pillars bedecked in blue. Our denim fabric focus, our fibre fascination is satisfied in the special space of the “Fit Studio,” the designate “Denim Taylor.” Denim specialists guide the traveller through the myriad of cuts, fits and fashion washes, ensuring every curve is flattered, every nerve un-shattered by the burden of choice.
For those with individual taste and dreams of denim devolution the Denim Taylor offers the perfect “nip” and “tuck” and the promise of a creation from scratch to satisfy the itch of even the most demanding denim devotee.
Obsessive in detail the manufacturer maintains its personalised proposition through the option of hand-painted pocket designs from its iconic seagull to a variety of signature signs.
Inspired by the denim decoration of 1950s America where cotton was in short supply and paint creativity the only opportunity to customise your legwear, the vintage feel and personal nature of each product is complete as the individual cracking and distressing of each design makes every denim a unique representation of the Evisu brand.
Priority position passes to the replica kit of the competing nations in the king of cups. Centre stage to Azzurri blue, Italian kit supported by sports tops and casual Ts. Left of centre, Senegal and Ghana add colour and pace from the emerging African climes, whilst the Latin latex of Uruguay adds balance and symmetry of speed with a cool blue show from South American skies.
Beyond the competitive displays the store is emblazoned in pink and blue, across feature displays, merchandise schemes and a play area with a two- toned table football temptation enticing all to compete in an atmosphere of fun and friendship where the sides are neutral and sport for all is the only winner.
Under the umbrella of Jigsaw, three concepts shelter from the storms of a post-recession cloudburst, where three heads, three concepts and three propositions are seemingly better than one. Central to the physical store is the familiar Jigsaw collection, in unfamiliar surroundings, stripped bare from its heritage of art-nouveau adoration, with straight lines, order and angles amidst the changeable moods of concrete, tiles and wood.
The open space swallows ladies men’s and kids with an appetite for more in the shape of the bluebird store, migrating from Chelsea with an eclectic mix of contemporary styles in a landscape of brickwork and neon.
The piece de resistance, in the face of unstoppable change, is the Fernandez & Hall deli where Duke Street fashionistas and bloggers pass pleasant conversations between the serenity of the Jigsaw small talk and the roar of Oxford Street, outside.
One year on, and with an extension looming the Primark band-wagon shows little sign of slowing, and why should it. The Oxford Street second store proving to be a watershed moment bringing tears to the eyes of competitors across Europe.
The design marked a more contemporary move from video walls, walk-through entrance tunnels with wall to wall graphics, the continued evolution away from impractical table displays to hanging garments and a variety of display developments inspired by the relatively new visual merchandising department.
And so the empire grows across now established markets in Spain and Portugal and through the still largely unexplored but potentially massively profitable cities of Germany and continental Europe with plans to cross the Atlantic. A watershed in deed!
For Penneys in Ireland read Primark for the rest of us, but the fashion, fun and fabulous prices are familar to all. However here Penneys show another facet with the structural work not only creating a striking escalator and lift well but also used to open up original ironwork and glass roofing that add unexpected character and charm to an operator admired for its ruthless commercialism.