Luxury department store Harrods has kicked off two months of in-store visual merchandising events with a series of installations in its Grade II listed lifts, writes John Ryan.

Dubbed Senses, each lift is devoted to one of the five senses. The final lift, created by author Bärbel Mohr, interprets the sixth sense through “cosmic ordering”.

Other celebrities of the arts to get involved are Michael Nyman, composer of the film score for The Piano, who has written a score entitled Lift Music 1 and visual artist Chris Levine, who has created an installation using lasers.

Harrods creative director Mark Briggs said: “We wanted to do something that would not just be about product, but which would deal with the sensory experience.”

Alongside the lifts, one of the external windows features a giant three-dimensional strawberry and an interactive projector has been installed at one of the entrances, creating the impression of being surrounded by a pool of water with fish in it. When shoppers walk across the water, it ripples and the fish shy away.

Senses runs until the end of March and will be followed in April by Design Icons, which includes a series of in-store lectures from designers such as Vivienne Westwood and photographer Mario Testino.

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