After leaving the Jill Sander store, i hopped just around the corner to 50-51 Conduit Street, staying in the area where most big designers have a shop of two, with Vivienne Westwood and Burberry just along the way, i entered what seemed to be another world to the one i had just been in.
This was thanks to the intrepid imagination and love for all things fun offered by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.
As you are walking up to the store you are instantly hit by his bold and colourful shop exterior, with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac scrawled across the top of the shop in a very sporadic fashion, in multi coloured font, some upper, some lower case, with letters in different colours and fonts from one another, which seems to typify the child like quality in Castelbajac's work. Where he feels the need to make clothes out of 'The Muppets' dolls by sewing them together, and presenting a show, as an animation, made completely from Lego.
I love the location of the store, it's one of the largest on the street, and it is situated on a corner, so as your walking along you don't expect it to keep on going. It's quite the treat!
With the windows decorated with a Red and Black leopard print all over, take the fun from the inside of the store and the theme of this season and translate it to the look of the outside of the store.
With mannequins surrounding the glass front like a Castelbajac army, they have powerful stances, and are completely over styled from head to toe.
As i enter the store i am kindly welcomed by two young men working there, and instantly the atmosphere feel more relaxed.
These are the kind of guys i expect to be wearing Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, young men and women, girls and boys even.
Those who are cool and have the kind of attitude needed to pull of the clothes.
Walking along the rails the price tags are reading slightly lover than expected, with T-Shirts setting you back between £150.00-£200.00, Jumpers between £200.00-£400.00 and Dresses going up to £500.00.
The Castelbajac philosophy seems to be about giving a luxury product, at a lower cost.
He seems to be kicking out the idea that celebrities should be the only ones seen in his clothes and wants his pieces to be affordable to the young who idolize them.
The average Jean-Charles de Castelbajac customer therefore seems to be a slightly younger one, with a cool and laid back attitude, who perhaps doesn't know who they are yet, but is experimenting with fashion and is having a hell of a lot of fun doing so.
This is most certainly reflected in the store as it seems like more of a place to hang out, than make sensible shopping choices.
The layout of the store is slightly chaotic and has no continuity to it, there's metal rails dotted all over the place, with all the clothes being hung from bright Orange coat hangers, clashing with most of the garments. The till point is reminiscent of a Rubik's Cube which lights up and changes colour.
The walls are a wash of primary colours and are adorned with posters celebrating both Pop and Youth Culture with numerous cartoon characters making appearances. It's as though the story of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's life is on display with many photo's of himself with friends in the industry also decorating the shop.
The clothes are positioned sideways on rails with clashing colours and prints seeping through, which i feel is a clever use of visual merchandising, as you then just want to dive in and see what you'll find in between all of the chaos.
The Music is blasting out M.I.A adding more cool points to the proceedings.
There is Home wear, Books, crazy army and leopard print carpets and pieces of artwork on sale. This store is not just about picking out something to wear, your almost buying into a lifestyle and definately buying into the brand.
It feels as though you could walk out a completely different person to the one you were when you walked in.
It reminds me of the BIBA generation, where you could walk into a store and the experience of just being there was equally as exciting as the clothes.
I've certainly not walked into a shop and felt that for a long time, and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is therefore offering something unique and special to all who want to come and play!
