Andy polaris,display, apolarisview,charity,Visual ,merchandising ,Stylist, Marketing ,Musician ,
Andy Polaris: look up from your smartphone!

ONE MAN’S ADVENTURES IN DISPLAY

Looking through the windows… I’m here to create a reason to look up from your smartphone… to enter shops who with my help can be transformed into an inviting place to visit and spend.

For five years I was creating windows for Oxfam in Dalston which were featured in a BBC video online and received great feedback from customers and the shop’s 4,000 Twitter followers. A significant difference working in the charity sector is that we don’t have fancy budgets to spend on display, as commercial retailers do. Consequently, Oxfam windows are entirely dependent on the most promotable merchandise recently donated to the shop – and these donations become my sources of inspiration. This keeps me on the balls of my feet, and responding to what’s in the breeze.

Also available as stylist and personal shopper.

My instagram: andypolaris

Contact by email on apolarisview [a t] gmail.com

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MY LONDON FOR BBC RADIO LONDON
Swinging 80s, Andy Polaris, pop music, BBC Radio London,interview, Gary Crowley,
Buddies from the Swinging 80s: DJ Gary Crowley with me Andy P at BBC Radio London, 2017

Dropped into BBC Radio London in August 2017 at Gary Crowley’s invitation to guest in his segment “My London”. This was not the first time I had recorded a show with Gary as back in the day we did a two-hour plug and play session on Capital. Gary was one of the few cheerleaders for Animal Nightlife (along with the other Radio London DJ Tony Blackburn) and we did live promotional events for both DJs in the Eighties when Mr Solitaire was slowly climbing the charts. (See link way down below.) Back in the Seventies, I spent weeks following Siouxsie and the Banshees round the country to catch her gigs. The women singers like Poly Styrene, the Slits and Siouxsie were way ahead of the guys. The guys were doing more clichéd macho stuff. The women were doing more arty things.

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LOCAL RADIO INTERVIEW

Listen again to Andy on Hoxton Radio talking about East London fashion trends on 19 August 2015 – starting at about 24 mins in:

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Andy Polaris,display, apolarisview,charity,Visual , merchandising ,Stylist, Marketing ,Musician ,BBC video

BBC MAGAZINE CHRISTMAS VIDEO

View the BBC report (above) comparing Christmas 2013 window displays
in East London and West

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AN APPRECIATION FROM ANDREW HORTON, TRADING DIRECTOR, OXFAM GB

Oxfam, Dalston, trading, charity,Andy has volunteered at the Oxfam Dalston shop in recent years, donating free time to raise funds to help alleviate poverty and suffering.

During this time, Andy has effectively been the creative volunteer for the shop, producing a never-ending range of imaginatively themed windows, that have developed a cult following amongst the local fashionistas. With no budget Andy has produced eclectic window displays that compare with the best. In fact a couple of Christmases a go a TV report compared his extravagant display with that in Harvey Nichols – praise indeed.

We are proud to have Andy as a member of our Dalston team and I have no doubt that his window displays have attracted many more customers and thousands of pounds through our tills.

Andrew Horton
October 2015

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FLASHBACK IN TIME

Just in case anyone’s thinking they know my face, yes, I did front a band called Animal Nightlife who had four chart hits and several incarnations between 1983 and 1985, reflecting the soul, R&B and jazz fashion of the day. There’s more about us on this page.

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Watch this space