Service, product, environment: getting the (Inter)mix right

Recently when interviewing retail and trend guru Yasmin Sewell, who made her name at Browns and Liberty, I asked her what the most important aspect of being a successful fashion retailer was. Without missing a beat she replied: "service".

She then went on to say that while the boutiques and department stores in London were more inspirational than anywhere else, in terms of product and interiors, the service was often lacking (she made an exception for London super-indie Matches, whose service was excellent she said). In New York, however, the opposite was the case. The stores may not be as beautiful but the service was spot on: "I'd love to bring all the store staff over from New York to work in London as an experiment," she said. Turnover, she believed, would go through the roof.

On a visit to New York last week, I got to experience New York service first hand and it was obvious what Sewell meant. In no store, be it a department store, chain or boutique, was I ignored and no sooner had I started to drape products across my arm than someone offered to whisk them away and "start a room". Assistants always told me their name, offered to find me additional sizes and styles and - a personal bugbear - at no point was I told that I could only try on 4 items at a time.

In general, when it came to the store environments and windows, Sewell was right, the stores aren't as exciting as, say Liberty or Selfridges. Many stores buy the same collections in the same way too, which can be a bit dull. But one stood out for me as ticking all the boxes in that holy trinity of product, environment and service and that was multi-brand store Intermix.

On a very wet Manhatten day I stumbled into the Soho store on Prince Street and, staring at the packed rails of colourful clothes, I was equally excited and tempted to leave all at once.

All I wanted was some quality long-length Ts and tops and one of the joys of Intermix is the mix. It merchandises uber luxe brands with affordable labels, formal with casual and mixes up the moods and colours, which, when you're in the mood, can make for a fun and exciting browsing experience. Trouble was, I wasn't in the mood. I knew what I wanted and I didn't want the distraction of anything else.

Spotting me looking slightly wet and weary an assistant came and asked me what I was looking for, upon hearing my direction she whisked me round the store picking up everything she thought fit the bill and rejected things on my behalf if she didn't "love it" enough. "It can be overwhelming if you don't know the store and stock," she empathised, "but we do and that's what we're here for".

Mere minutes later I was in a spacious changing room with about 15 pieces, including a nude tank as a try-on base - her suggestion. After the first four products didn't work I felt a wave of guilt wash over me and felt the need to justify why I'd rejected them, but she stopped me in my tracks "no need to explain, just keep trying on and I'll take these away". There was no hard sell. Just help.

Fortunately further down the try-on rail I had more success with two Ts from ALC, a peasant blouse from Joie (someone please bring this brand to the UK!) and the nude base layer (Splendid) was so great, I decided to keep that too. It wasn't a bad haul and in the past week I've worn them all.

I don't know about bringing over the staff of Intermix to work in London for an experiment, I'd want to see them here permanently - along with the store.

Edito-retail: more stores turn publisher to boost sales

News reaches us today that landmark London department store Liberty is the latest retailer to launch a customer magazine to complement its retail and etail sales channels. They follow in the footsteps of a number of retailers and etailers to turn to good old print to engage customers.

We'll have to wait until September to see what the glossy 72pp At Liberty tome looks like but we're sure contract publisher River will deliver a publication in keeping with Liberty's eclecticly luxurious image. (Incidentally if you want to see behind the scenes of the store, check out BBC2 at 8pm tonight for Britain's Next Big Thing, which documents brands attempts to be stocked by the store - we can claim a hand in the commissioning of the programme having introduced Liberty and its MD Ed Burstell to TV production company Maverick).

This convergence of retail and media isn't new - stores have been producing customer magazines for many years now - but it is fair to say it has gathered pace lately and this can be attributed to the editorialising of retail content on etail websites.

Asos
Ever at the vanguard, etailer Asos launched its customer magazine in 2007 and last we heard was distributing around 500,0000 copies every month, which would place it in the same circulation bracket as high-circulation glossy magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan.

This move made perfect sense for Asos and somewhat closed a loop for it, since its proposition had centred on customers seeing items in the media and coming to the site to buy them there and then. Why not, then, have them read about it in your own magazine and direct them to your site when the editorial stories are followed through? Makes for a much more compelling experience and gave the etailer a new revenue stream, advertising.

Net-a-Porter
Luxury etailer Net-a-Porter was too at the forefront of presenting retail content in an editorial context so it's perhaps surprising that it took the etailer until this year to launch a magazine. But, as with all things Net does, they did it well.

Its first bi-annual magazine launched this spring with Alexa Chung on the cover and an editorial proposition and design that puts many a more established high-end fashion magazine into the shade. It too carries advertising and, interestingly, that advertising comes not just from brands stocked on the site but from other luxury brands such as Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels, suggesting this publishing exercise is destined to do more than just pay for itself.

My-wardrobe.com
Perhaps one of the most integrated print and online offers comes from etailer My-wardrobe.com, which underwent a revamp this year to celebrate its 5th birthday. The site, which pitches itself as Everyday Luxury, sits in between Asos and Netaporter in terms of market positioning and has been forging very close links with editors and magazines in recent months.

It's not unusual to see high profile editors from Grazia gracing its site offering style advice and not surprising either since Grazia's founding editor Fiona McIntosh is creative director of the site. Its Spring/Summer style guide is a permanent fixture on its site's home page and the site constantly makes reference to the guide.

Furthermore the guide itself works in tandem with My-wardrobe's App which enables readers to input a code and be taken directly to the item in question on the site. It's clever stuff and again the production values outdo those of some of the most established traditional publishers.

John Lewis
But it isn't just the new online movers and shakers who are getting into the publishing act. One of our most established and best loved retailers John Lewis has recently revamped its magazine, Edition, which is published for the retailer by John Brown.

The monthly publication, free in store, features some of the best writers from the glossies and broadsheets including The Guardian's Jess Cartner-Morley, columnist India Knight and profiler Toby Young. It's a compelling read presented in a beautiful design on high-quality paper, whioh translates into a rather compelling shopping tool too.

Independent retailers need not feel this channel isn't for them. Luxury independent Matches publishes a highly successful seasonal magazine, which it sends to its top clients and which reaps particular benefits for its website.

One of the biggest frustrations for indies is getting sufficient traffic to their etail sites; a little magazine telling them what they might find there if they made the effort could just do the trick.

YSL - man of the moment

As we approach the third anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent's death, never has his work seemed so relevant both in terms of his approach to design and retail.

The 60s and 70s are the two most referenced eras for Autumn-Winter 11/12 and happily for us, an exhibition has just opened in Paris to inspire us once more and help us immerse ourselves fully in the mood of the coming season and the work of one of the most influential fashion designers of the past 100 years.

Saint Laurent, among many things, was known as the designer who made ready-to-wear reputable and his original boutique on Paris's left bank, or Rive Gauche, was a revelation when it first opened in 1966.

Instead of a salon creating couture confections for grande dames, this boutique sold off-the-peg accessible fashion for the beautiful young women of the time such as Bianca Jagger and his life-long confidante Betty Catroux.

The look and feel of this original store has been recreated in the Rive Gauche exhibition currently taking place at the Fondation Pierre Berge - Yves Saint Laurent (5 avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris until July 17), so visitors can revel not only in his designs but in his approach to store design and VM.

White box, this isn't. Walls are painted in Saint Laurent's famous clashing colours inspired by his frequent trips to his native North Africa, while glossy pink and purple mannequins sport some of his most memorable looks including the iconic Le Smoking. Some looks could have come straight from SS11 and AW11/12's runways such as the 70s peasant blouse and flowing skirt ensemble and the perfect 60s pea-coat.

Still, we shouldn't be surprised to see these looks prevail and for Saint Laurent's work to remain so relevant. As he said himself: "Fashions fade - style is eternal."

For more information, visit: www.fondation-pb-ysl.net