Sporting A Fab Window Display

With the opening ceremony only 48 hours away and the sun beaming down on London we took to the streets to see how our local retailers were marking the occasion.

However, it seems that in complete contrast with the the Royal wedding of last year and recent Jubilee celebrations, retailers appear to be falling shy of celebrating the 2012 London Games, put off by LOCOG’s copyright infringements.

There are some entering into the spirit of the Games with fun window displays, but not many. And for a few of those that have made the effort we’ve certainly heard about the back-lash for retailers not quite complying with the rules and regs.

In May, a florist was told to take down five rings and a torch, all made from tissue paper, because they were an ‘unauthorised use’ of the Olympic logo. And last year cake shop owners who wanted to depict the 2012 games logos in icing and marzipan at an Olympic-themed annual festival organised by the British Sugarcraft Guild dropped their plans in the face of court proceedings.

Our question; is this a bad case of over excited London 2012 organisers restraining the good will and national pride of our retailers (and maybe going that bit too far to protect the London 2012 and Olympic brands). Or should we just follow the guidelines and take the opportunity to get creative on our high streets and malls like a minority of others have managed to. Maybe the rules simply are necessary to protect sponsors?

Some lovely examples from this mornings ramble through Richmond include JOY with their use of hula hoops, medals and patriotic homewares. Ted Baker also sported medals and included creative window graphics, a stadium audience and podium places taking centre stage. Crew added to the festivities with their graphic medals and union flag colour scheme as they highlighted their support for the GB sailing, rowing and Boccia squads!

One store which we all like the look of here at Barber is Browns on South Molton Street who’ve taken a simple combination of materials and props to create a striking and totally on theme display. Definitively our favourite so far.

Now, there is also a store down in Surbiton which has found a different, if not slightly controversial way round all the commotion and put themselves well and truly in the media spotlight. The menswear window display has been attracting so much attention that TV crews from countries such as Korea and Japan are now covering the story. Their display pulls fun at the Olympic rules that stop unauthorised retailers and individuals from using the Olympic rings or even mentioning certain phrases related to the Games. The display on the windows has five coloured interlocking squares with ‘Lodnon 2102 Oimplycs’ printed above. Fun and creative or just a case of being darn awkward for the sake of it!