EMMA CROYDON

Whilst shopping in Soho during the New York trip I knew I couldn't miss the opportunity to visit the Fenty store, an original brand by famous pop star Rihanna, popular and successful for it's broad inclusivity of skin-tones, gender and size. When I walked into the store the first thing I noticed were the photographs of the lingerie on large canvas' on the wall to my right. What attracted my attention was the sizes of the models and their variety, the range of different skin colours, and the art direction. In my favourite photograph (shown below) is a plus-size, black model with short hair, laying confidently across a table in a beautiful blue Fenty lingerie set in a matching vibrant blue lipstick. Rihanna has completely subverted the industries stereotypical 6ft blonde white stick-thin models to make her brand authentic, inclusive and confidence-boosting for all women whilst also challenging the boundaries of the lingerie industry, putting other brands to shame. Although...

My favourite exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was definitely the jewelry exhibition. The exhibition is designed to make us realise the variety of jewelry forms created over the years of it's existence, what jewellery is and how we can wear it. It mainly focuses on the historical perspective of jewellery, traversing space and time. Jewellery is one of the most personal and universal forms of art and the Met's collection holds together around 230 different draw-dropping pieces such as headdresses, crowns, ear ornaments, brooches, belts, rings, necklaces and bracelets shown along with sculptures, paintings, prints and photographs that emphasize and enrich the many stories and changes of jewellery from the past and present. What amazed me the most about the pieces were the extreme degree of detail attention and precision, and the historical element of the display intrigued me. My favourite piece was a stunning and unique silver-plated aluminium jaw-piece w...

Grand Central Station is a commuter rail terminal located on 42nd street and Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan and is one of the world's top ten most visited tourist attractions, and I was lucky enough to visit it this week to admire the incredible building. As someone who is interested in the arts of architecture and interior design, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and explored the building in detail. The largest working train station in the United states is famous for it's beautiful exterior and interior design and is must on the bucket list if you ever visit the City of New York. Inside you really capture a natural glimpse of everyday life of the people from around the country and all over the world. The huge building has both meticulous details and monumental spaces, and it is described as one of the most majestic buildings of this time period. When I walked in I immediately sensed the grand feel of the station and it didn't quite feel real that I was in the actual Gran...

One of my favourite retail experiences whilst in New York was definitely Nike's flagship store. The house of innovation has six different floors, each offering you a different shopping experience. The store is different to a regular Nike store experience because it is more personal, varied and interactive, and the actual physical store itself is not comparable to any other Nike store I have been to. The store is equipped with a full customization wing which customers are able to design their own pair of trainers, choosing from a large variety of laces, Nike tick styles, etc. The overall feel of the store is futuristic and a barcode technology is offered to customers to allow them to scan products and check sizing and colour stock availability in store; a modern, new and efficient retail service method. All staff are super welcoming and friendly and provide you with good service. Being so impressed by the store and the unforgettable experience it gave me I felt a strong urge to buy ...

Being one of the fashion capitals of the world, New York is plastered in the best retailers that exist. Whilst on my everyday journeys around the city over the past week I have taken photographs of the shop window displays that stood out to me the most for their creativity, compositions, themes, visual messages, strategies and so on. Below are some of the images I have taken of interesting displays which I can use as inspiration and primary research for future projects, or my current summative brief project in which I am currently looking at window displays as an advertisement method... (Stores: Dior, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, Macy's, Fendi).

Whilst in Soho in New York we came across a shop I have never heard of before; ‘Mansur Gavriel’. What intrigued us and made us gravitate towards the store entrance whilst browsing down the street was the beautiful all-pink aesthetic with rosey shades covering the store inside. We were immediately impressed and in-love when we walked in. The store had a luxury and precious touch to it and it was extremely enticing. Marsur Gavriel presents high quality, Italian products with high attention to detail, colour and material. The products are designed in New York City and all produced in Italy, and are mainly pink, white and cream to match the stores unique, block-colour appearance. The store had a strong, fresh leather smell lurking around the space which added to the overall luxury feel. Only founded in 2012, I definitely think that this store should gain more attention and I am excited to see how it progresses in the future. Not only does it offer high-quality and chic products, it ...

Today in New York I visited the colour factory which consists of a series of sixteen consecutive rooms which each give you a vibrant, educational and fun experience. Along the way, a variety of treats and gifts such as sweets, funky flavoured drinks, macaroons and key-chains are given to you which added a sweet touch to the experience. The interactive exhibition is located in Soho and was designed and launched by event planner Jordan Ferney to help visitors explore and understand the fun and importance of colour. The rooms showcase immersive artwork from local writers, musicians and poets. My favourite rooms included the baby-blue ball pit and the black and white maze room which asks you a series of questions about your personality at each turn and leads you to a room exhibiting the colour which best represents your character. The colour I was given was a misty blue, perhaps suggesting that I am a mysterious and calm person. At the beginning of the exhibition everyone is handed a QR co...

During my visit to New York City I visited the National September 11 Memorial, located at the World Trade Centre site, the former location of the Twin towers that were destroyed during the attacks, in order to pay my respect for the attacks in 2001. The visit was extremely emotional and surreal, and I found it a first-time experience as I have never been so intensely emotionally influenced by a space as such before.  The memorial consists of two large square holes in the ground which have been transformed into beautiful and peaceful fountains, which mark the actual perimeters of the spaces where the buildings were positioned before the awful attack occurred. Around the squares are metal plaques engraved with the full names of those who sadly lost their lives during the attack. The most touching aspect of the experience was seeing names of those whose birthdays it would have been that day, shown by roses placed into their engraved names. Many people stood around the space ...

Today during my first full day of the New York trip I visited the Louis Vuitton flagship store to see the new 12-story installation in the flesh after being intrigued by several Instagram posts of the incredible piece. Virgil Abloh, American fashion designer and artist director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection, is one of my favourite designers and designed the installation which displays the 12-story psychedelic figure which gives off a holographic appearance and is designed to look like an oversized mannequin. It's vibrant multi-colour aesthetic which is inspired by the classic famous film 'The Wizard of Oz' refers to the brands debut Spring/Summer 2019 collection. The oversized figure creates an optical illusion that is seen inside the store and extends out onto New York's 5th avenue. Virgil also painted an 'X' with 'Virgil 2019' underneath  across the street to show street viewers the correct perspective to view the installation, as it sit...

After eating ridiculous amounts over the Christmas period I decided to switch from my daily sugary tea or coffee to an alternative option - green tea. The reason I chose this alternative is because green tea is known for being an incredible detox drink; it improves your brain function, boosts your metabolism to help with weight loss and enhances your performance, can reduce your risk of getting cancer, can help cure illnesses such as depression, kills bacteria in the mouth and so improves your dental health, etc...the list goes on! (and, it's zero calories - perfect for a post-Christmas diet). I used to drink green tea every now and then, but was never a massive fan or regular drinker... however, I have found a range of green tea I have been drinking regularly over the past week, which is a product I am excited about and want to share for both it's quality and marketing.   When searching the shelves of Tesco for a box of the tea bags I was immediately attracted to Cli...