Today I am celebrating my 3 year anniversary of consulting for Queenspark, South Africa’s retailer of affordable luxury.  Finding a visual communication strategy for this brand was one of my most challenging, but most rewarding experiences.  You so often hear fashion retailers talking about  advertising campaigns to attract a younger, or a more fashionable or my best, a more aspirational customer.  At Queenspark we celebrate a more mature fashio  identity and rather focus on ways to give our consumers a fashion offer true to our winning recipe of elegance and luxury at an affordable price.

But what will ladies fashion be without florals, flowers, ditsies or the trending BLOOMing.  Summer’15 was again a perfect opportunity to introduce florals to support Queenspark’s summer collection.  I had so many ideas but to do a window with a limited budget, for 56 stores, with an easy implementation pack and no fancy architectural prop can be tricky.

Luckily I have access to the very talented designer, Candice Gericke, who truly understands the power of visual merchandising.  She  makes sense of all my ideas and together we can pull it into a focused campaign. She is also the queen of identifying affordable props that can be made in South Africa.

It all started when she discovered the painting of all paintings.  A Dutch still life from the 17th century – by Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-84) from the Rijksmuseum.

The colour combinations and the elegance of the flower composition  on the dramatic dark background was the perfect combination for our campaign.  Not only did it offer a good generic window solution but also something different for our stills photography back drop.

Plinth covers with a contrasting print, 2 big fabric flowers, a window decal and a bright floor cover was rolled out to all stores.

It created the perfect level of fashion attitude combined with elegance and femininity.

The print campaign – Caroline McClelland:

and the behind the scenes for all the action:

Thank you Jan!  We love your blooms!