March 2015

Paul Smith Mothers day Pop Up shop

Paul Smith shop sign on Floral Street London

Paul Smith, Floral Street.

March was a super exciting month for Petal to the Metal as we were invited to take up temporary residence at Paul Smith on Floral Street in Covent Garden as part of a Mothers Day promotion. I have loved visiting this iconic shop since I first moved to London, three shops which all interconnect to create one beautiful shopping experience, completely unique to the London high street. Our residency at Floral Street was made up of two elements, a Mothers Day Pop Up shop and a Paul Smith collection inspired Window installation.

Petal to the Metal Pop-Up shop – We were given the most perfect location in the store with a beautiful wooden and glass counter to work off, display cabinets, quirky oil paintings and of course our new vintage Petal to the Metal mirror. We felt very lucky to have such an amazing home and very quickly settled into life in Floral Street! The promotion itself was set up as a ‘Gift with Purchase’ for all customers spending over a designated amount throughout the weekend. Each “bunch” had a retail value of £35.00 so it was a substantial gift that was being offered.

Petal to the Metal pop up shop at Paul Smith, Floral Street London

Working hard in my new shop!

The Flowers – Pretty bunches of seasonal flowers in a range of bright Spring colours from pinks to purple, orange, yellow, lime green, blues and of course classic white. We used Tulips, Hyacinth, Anenomes and English Narcissi from the Scilly isles. Each ‘bunch’ was wrapped in Paul Smith tissue and ribbon and presented in Paul Smith bags.

Petal to the Metal pop up shop with bunches of spring flowers

Spring flowers ready to go

Buckets of Spring Flowers at Petal to the Metal Pop up shop in Paul Smith London

Buckets filled with different colours of Tulip and Hyacinth.

Petal to the Metal hand tied bunches of flowers delivered in London

Pretty bunches bound with string

Petal to the Metal flowers for pop up shop at Paul Smith in London

The finished article!

Window installation – The second part of our weekend involved us creating an impressive window display for the main Floral Street window. The brief was to reflect the SS15 mainline collection, pinks, purples and orange tones with prints of tropical leaves, palms cacti and succulents. Bright, fun and totally tropical!

Mainline menswear collection SS15

We created a living wall rich in colour, shape and texture using Kentia palms, gorgeous trailing Scandapsis, masses of Echiveria succulent plants which come as a collection of chic grey/pink/green tones, green African Aloe plants with clusters of deep purple leafed Calathea sitting alongside mottled orange Croton plants. As a finishing touch we added groups of deep purple and cerise pink Vanda orchids to give the window an explosion of colour. The whole set was joined together using a selection of bun moss and carpet moss which I thought worked a beautifully!

Petal to the Metal Window installation for Paul Smith Floral Street London

Our Floral Street window

Petal to the Metal window installation at Paul Smith in London with Calathea plants and Boston Ferns

Boston Ferns and Calanthea plants

Petal to the Metal window display at Paul Smith Floral Street London with Pink Vanda orchids and Echeveria plants

Cerise pink Vanda orchids, Echivera Succulents and Bun Moss.

Petal to the Metal window display with African Allow Plants and bun moss in Paul Smith central London

African Aloe plants with Bun MossI was so thrilled with the way the window turned out, it completely transformed the feel of the shop and created the all important “Wow” factor as you entered the shop.

So that was Mother’s Day and March, a huge thank you to the whole team at Paul Smith who were just amazing, lovely and really supportive in giving us this opportunity to attempt something different and fun!

I hope you enjoyed the read and I look forward to sharing more with you next month.

Paul x