Chanel at Harrods (London, UK)

Anyone who's spent the last two weeks in London, might have caught the Chanel takeover at Harrods, which saw the luxury label occupy the department store's front facing windows, as well as over 20,000 sq ft of retail space. If you missed the extravaganza, fear not, because I'm finally posting a recap of this installation here.

Part of the Chanel windows at Harrods.

The first part of the collaboration consisted of some very elaborate windows, which brought Chanel's FW11/12 collection to life. The forest fairytale theme came complete with an army of woodland animals (all taxidermy and thus very real) and iconic Chanel bling housed in smaller display units. All of this would have probably been best viewed at night, but hopefully you'll get the idea from the images below.

A small selection of the Chanel windows. All animals featured in the windows died of natural causes.

The fun continued inside, where parts of the ground floor were transformed into a Chanel pop-up boutique, where the magical forest theme continued. In addition to the regular treasures, such as the 2.55 bags, perfumes and jewelry, shoppers also had a chance to buy exclusive cosmetic items and the special edition green shopping bag.

Mannequins in the magical forest (left) and some very coveted trinkets (right).

The second part of the pop-up focused on bags and perfume.

The iconic lion's head adorned all the walls (left) and the famous Harrods bag interpreted by Chanel (right).

The most impressive part of the event however, was the third-floor installation Une Promenade - "a contemporary excursion into the enchanted world of Chanel". Like Alice stepping through the looking glass, visitors could explore the universe of Coco and Karl in an almost surreal setting.

Passing through a curtain of giant pearl strands, I found myself in a camellia garden adorned with various Chanel items, including rubber wellies near the grass and high-end jewelry in glass cases.

The next room saw me literally step into a 2.55 bag, where the walls were lined with supple red leather and a wall of videos showed each step of the creative process involved in crafting the purses.

By contrast, the children's bedroom was whimsical and bright, filled with toys that included the famed Harrods teddy bear - decked out in Chanel of course.

The adjoining Haute Couture room was a reconstruction of Coco's apartment on 31 rue Cambon and came complete with giant dress boxes, mirrored walls and mannequins wearing the exquisite gowns.

Entering the world of Karl Lagerfeld, I was greeted by his Studio 7L (which is also a book store in Paris)... and a cut-out Karl.

For a dose of pop-art, the next space dedicated to the iconic No.5 perfume included art work and a giant bottle with an interior screen displaying some of the more memorable TV commercials.

Ever thought the 2.55 bag could be a tad bigger? The next installation featured a larger-than-life quilted bag, embellished with famous Chanel symbols and a jacket to match.

Finally, the tweed room was dedicated to Chanel's jacket fabric of choice, which lined the walls and floor of the area. The wall art featured chalk sketches of the current jacket models.

While the Chanel special is no longer on, you can of course still shop the luxury label at Harrods and various other stores around the world. But the question remains... what will they do with the giant quilted bag and all the cute Chanel dolls? I'll have to find out...

Louis Vuitton's Balloons & Dunes (London, UK)

I first noticed these Louis Vuitton windows during the recent FNO in London and as always - despite my ambivalent feelings towards the brand - instantly fell in love with the assortment of hot air balloons on display. Combined with the sand dunes and classic monogram trunks, the very enviable mannequins seem to be embarking on an exotic journey. If only I could travel like this...

Note how some balloons are toting bags - very cute.

Mini trunks / beauty cases.

Overview of all the windows - featuring more balloons on the second floor.

For more window shopping, you can now also follow Haute World on Twitter!

Window Shopping at Prada (London, UK / Paris, France)

This is just a quick post, but hopefully it should provide enough eye candy to brighten your day. And one can rarely go wrong when it comes to Prada. Whenever I pass the brand's flagship on Bond Street, I always find myself snapping a photo or two, so I thought I'd share some of the images I've taken so far.

Sporty chic during SS10.

Staying cool in minimalist white (SS11).

Beautiful display featuring a few bags and the baroque sunglasses.

Traveling in style.

Going bold red in the most recent display.

Strangely, I always failed to do the same in Paris, where the boutique windows were always dominated by an army of mannequins. Many people I know find them creepy - and the fun usually continues inside...

Taken in SS11, Prada Paris. The New York and Milan boutiques feature even more mannequins.

It seems to be a Prada thing to apply so much of the visual merchandising within the retail space as well - something you usually only see in department stores. What are your thoughts: the more the merrier or mannequin overload?

For more window shopping and boutique hopping, you can now also find me on Twitter.

Louis Vuitton's Zebra Madness (London, UK)

Back in January, I briefly featured the Louis Vuitton windows of the Paris flagship, which showed two very active zebras having fun with a few of the company's signature handbags. A few days ago, passing London's Bond Street boutique, I had a sense of déjà vu when I sighted not just two, but six life-sized zebras in total. And that's not counting the army of mini zebras in the smaller windows.

I've always wondered how certain flagships of larger brands share their props. Chanel has identical windows throughout the world during the same time frame, but the likes of Lanvin and now Louis Vuitton seem to have touring visual merchandise. In which case, if you have a Vuitton boutique in your neck of the woods, watch out - the zebras may be stopping by in the near future (if they haven't already).

The three zebras in the first section of windows. Note that the mannequin has a matching outfit - very appropriate.

The herd of mini zebras in the mid-section, surrounding a necklace.

A zebra and his scarves. The second storey shows the rest of the display.

A zebra on the second floor, dangling a purse.

The final zebra performs an impressive balancing act (again, continued on the second floor).

The entire display in the second section of windows.

The two smaller windows around the corner, featuring more mini zebras - and bags.

Mulberry: 40th Anniversary Book & Windows (London, UK)

When I first passed the Mulberry flagship on Bond Street two weeks ago, I was a bit surprised to see the overly busy windows: it basically looked like a visual merchandiser had raided a prop store and decided to randomly fill the space with everything he or she could find. What I soon realized, thanks to a speech bubble and a few familiar items on display, was that this was Mulberry's way of celebrating their 40th anniversary and also advertising their celebratory book to mark this occasion. The seemingly random elements of the store windows were actually props from previous displays - all jammed into one giant hotchpotch of a showcase. In a way, Mulberry created a store window version of a scrapbook or collage, culled from past campaigns and displays.

Top image & this image show the two main Mulberry windows in all their glory.

Though what I saw initially made my head spin, once you focused on specific sections - the charm of Mulberry windows past revealed itself...

Merry-go-round horses from last year's SS10 windows.

Sparkly panthers from FW10 wedged between giant apples.

Cute cut-outs of illustrated girls, surrounded by large Scrabble pieces and image collages of teddy bears.

Sparkly scorpions on a giant apple and around pink flowers, which were part of the current SS11 windows.

So pretty - Mulberry balloons!

Of course, the actual Mulberry 40th anniversary book is the real highlight. Conceived and designed by the London-based studio Construct, the book holds an impressive 480 pages, has an embossed full-color cover, is bound in linen, has two silk book markers and comes with a set of stickers and picture cards. Mulberry's history, dating back to 1971 is recounted in the introduction, while the predominant portion is dedicated to captionless photographs of the brand's factory, shops, fashion shows, behind-the-scenes footage and towards the back - obligatory shots of their iconic bags, such as the Bayswater or the Alexa. According to Mulberry's brand director: "Rather than a dry historical round up of the past, the book is a glimpse inside our world, a fly-on-the-wall, warts and all journey through the past two years of the brand's life. It shows our public and private life, the highs and lows and the extraordinary Mulberry 'family' that work so hard to make it all seem so effortless."

Two photos from the book: a hilarious shot of a giant Bayswater balloon trying to hail a cab (top) and stamps used to emboss the Mulberry logo on bags (bottom). Both images via The Guardian.

A look at the beautiful packaging and details of the book, which comes with stickers, picture cards and full-color double page photographs (images via Creative Review UK).

If you love the Mulberry brand or simply have a weakness for beautiful coffee table books, you can pick up your copy (for £55) at select Mulberry stores or online via their website. I'd also suggest visiting their homepage if you wish to see more of the book: a cute video allows you to virtually flick through some of the pages.