2025 Judges

VM and Display Awards 2019

More judges will be revealed soon so check back for updates

Giovanni Zaccariello
SVP Global Visual Experience at Coach

Inspired by the creative world of visual experience at a young age, Giovanni Zaccariello has spent over 20 years in the fashion industry revolutionizing visual merchandising and in store experiences and currently SVP Global Visual Experience at Coach.

Born in Italy and graduating from Oxford with a 1st Class Honors Master’s Degree in Business & Branding, Giovanni has traveled the world residing in the UK before moving to Holland and Hong Kong for various professional opportunities. During his time in Europe and Asia, Giovanni started as an intern in space and store planning with Sisley, then held numerous positions with visual merchandising at Uniqlo, Esprit, TopShop, management roles Marks & Spencer, and global leadership roles at Mexx before joining Coach in 2011 as Divisional Vice President of Visual Merchandising (Asia) based in Hong Kong.

In 2014, after 3 years in Hong Kong, Giovanni relocated to New York to lead the Global Visual Merchandising team. His level of responsibilities have consistently increased and most recently, he stepped into a new role as Vice President, Global Visual Experience where he currently leads Visual Merchandising, 3D studio (designing windows, showrooms, and pop-ups) and the Brand Events team, including the design and production of the fashion shows. Under his leadership, Coach has been nominated for several accolades including an award for Best Window Prop of the Year with Telephone in Fall of 2018 by WindowsWear and also featured in the print edition of VMSD as part of their “Best of Holiday” publication. Most recently, Giovanni led a partnership with WindowsWear to support young talent, creating a visual experience mentorship and internship program which will launch in summer of 2020.

Alongside his current professional role, Giovanni is an avid exercise enthusiast – passionate about health and fitness he spends 2 hours each day personal training, Cyc spinning, and enjoying the finest coffee shops in New York City – a place with which he has fallen in love and calls his forever home.

Howard Saunders
The Retail Futurist

The Retail Futurist, otherwise known as Howard Saunders, is a writer and speaker whose job it is to see beyond retail’s currently choppy waters.

Howard spent the first twenty five years of his career at some of London’s most renowned retail design agencies, including Fitch & Company, where he created concepts, strategies and identities for dozens of British high street brands.

Howard relocated to New York in 2012 where the energetic regeneration of Brooklyn inspired his book, Brooklynization, published in 2017.

His newfound role as champion for retail’s future in our town and city centres gave rise to the title The Retail Futurist.

Howard’s talks are hi-energy, jargon-free journeys that explore the exciting, if not terrifying,

retail landscape that lies ahead.

Ian Scott
Retail Consultant & Public Speaker

Ian is an independent consultant with 23 years experience within the retail sector. He travels extensively, visiting stores around the world, as well as writing in depth about what he discovers.

He works at a strategic level with brands and retailers, providing insights, assisting with store development and offering a consumer centric perspective. He introduced the concept of Symbiotic Retail, highlighting how all channels need to work together as one ecosystem for the benefit of the shopper.

Ian hosts Retail Safaris in major cities around the globe, including London, New York Chicago, Manchester and Berlin in 2023.

A keynote speaker, panel moderator and presenter, speaking at events including NRF, Marketing Week Live, Retail Technology Show, Retail Insight and conferences for The Grocer and Retail Gazette. He gave a TEDx talk entitled ‘Is The Physical Store Dead?’ in January 2024.

Matthew Brown
Retail Futurist, Echochamber

Matthew is the owner and founder of Echochamber; a London based creative retail intelligence agency, which travels the world tracking retail innovation and evolving consumer trends.

A regular keynote speaker at global retail conferences, Matthew can be found pounding the shopping streets of the world with his camera in hand!

Matthew has run Echochamber since 1999, developing it over the past 25 years into a specialist trend consultancy with a global client base of retailers, developers and FMCG brands.

Echochamber provides global best practice and creative insight to clients across all retail sectors, in order to help them benchmark best practice and improve their businesses, by harnessing evolving global consumer and retail trends.

Echochamber also offers Retail Safaris to the world’s best shopping cities, which are designed to energise and inspire client businesses with new possibilities.

Clients include retailers from around the world, both big and small. Echochamber has worked closely with big brands such as Marks & Spencer, IKEA for more than two decades, helping them develop new concepts and keeping them informed of the latest retail innovations.

Other clients include Tesco, Wal Mart, Nike, Adidas, FMCGs such as Unilever, Lindt and Johnson & Johnson, as well as leading global shopping mall developers such as Westfield, Majid Al Futtaim, Lend Lease and many global airport and Duty Free operators.

echochamber.com is an online magazine of global retail innovation which first went live in 1999, back in the early days of the internet. You can also find regular retail inspiration on Instagram @myechochamber and on Linkedin.

James Sheppard
Retail Design Experience Director, Portas Agency

James is the Retail Design Experience Director for Portas Agency, responsible for the creative concepting and delivery of the store experience. He joined Portas following more than two decades of experience in the Visual Merchandising in the Retail Fashion Industry. Over the span of his career he has specialised in transforming customer experiences in fashion, interiors, and department stores from high-street to high-end. James’ projects are always focused on the elevation of the visual identity of brands to contribute to business success.

James’ career started at Harvey Nichols and went on to work with Giorgio Armani, with Topshop, on their global expansion, and with Whistles. After this, James carved out his career in Australia for 7 years, working on the creation of a new VM handwriting for Australia’s largest department store, Myer and the reinvention of Australian heritage brand, Oroton before returning to the UK and starting at Portas.

Adrian Briggs
Co-founder and Creative Director Briggs Hillier

As Co-founder and Creative Director of the UK-based design studio, Briggs Hillier, Adrian Briggs is renowned for his exceptional expertise in the design industry, seamlessly blending innovation with commercial viability. Regularly travelling the world, Adrian has cultivated a profound understanding of international retail markets, enriching his creative repertoire with invaluable global insight.

Leading the studio team on a myriad of high-profile projects, Adrian collaborates closely with esteemed brands and retailers including adidas, Crocs, HEYDUDE, JD Group, Pets at Home, and schuh to name but a few - leveraging his extensive experience to deliver insight-led design solutions tailored to clients’ unique needs.

He passionately nurtures emerging designers, guiding them to harness their potential and infuse their creativity with strategic brand direction. Adrian's mentorship serves as a cornerstone for the next generation, empowering them to craft designs that resonate with audiences and exceed expectations. His dedication to fostering talent and translating abstract brand concepts into tangible commercial designs underscores his commitment to continually raising standards in the retail and leisure sectors.

Iain Kimmins
Owner/Founder – Creative Download

With 25 year’s experience in the Visual Merchandising industry, Iain is a Visual Merchandising professional with an outstanding history in the industry. After completing the British Display Society training course in Visual Merchandising & Retail Design, his career spans many years at Harrods moving onto Selfridges in London and then as Head of Visual at the department store Tangs in Singapore.

Iain now runs Creative Download, a Visual Merchandising Consultancy with many on-going projects in UK, Europe and the Middle East, dealing with retailers, exhibition work, and visitor attraction centres.

Iain and his team of visual merchandisers work on an assortment of projects from Visual Merchandising, Window Concept and Product Styling, Retail Design, Store Layout, Interior Design, Exhibition Stand Design & Product Styling, Photographic Styling, Events & Product Launches and VM Training & Guidelines.

Iain is also the Chair of The British Display Society, A VM/Educational organisation that has been going for nearly 80 years!

Abbie Rossington
Editor - A1 RETAIL MAGAZINE

Abbie began her career in publishing and marketing back in 2015 working across various departments, gaining experience across the world of publishing before training in the editorial team. Abbie was appointed as Acting Editor of A1 Retail magazine and sister title, A1 Lighting magazine, in 2020. After navigating the challenges of Covid-19 and keeping the world of retail informed during a turbulent time for all, she was appointed as Editor of A1 Retail magazine and A1 Lighting magazine in 2021.

With a close eye on the predictions for the future of retail and the next big trends, Abbie’s knowledge of the retail world makes her a perfect judge for the VM & Display Awards. She is passionate about spreading the latest news, tips from the experts and updates from the sector to help retailers stay ahead of the competition in the ever-changing landscape that is retail.

Published 11 times a year, A1 Retail brings you the latest news and updates from the retail sector, via a digital edition that is read globally. Must-read announcements from the retail industry are also posted daily on www.a1retailmagazine.com and shared on socials, keeping you one step ahead. A1 Retail is the first place for news in your industry.