Sometimes the simplest things are best. This is French Connection in the middle of Oxford Street – a store that seems to have been there for as long as you might care to remember. Which is probably why there has been something of a tendency to treat it as an Oxford Street also-ran.

However, it would be difficult to pass by at the moment without looking, given the summer-themed windows that have been installed. The thought processes in these windows are simple – an old-style British summer holiday (Cliff Richard and the gang spring to mind) combined with bathing belles. And the great thing about it is that they probably didn’t cost much.

The side windows feature headless mannequins surrounded by a sea of inflatable beach balls. Two would-be photo surrounds, applied to the glass-line, are intended to create the impression of seaside snaps. Almost no cost would be involved in this and a long window is filled effortlessly.

It is the Oxford Street-facing windows that really catch the eye, however. One of these has a rust-bucket Mini, its roof piled high with antique packing cases and a driver wearing a cheap-looking, brightly coloured rubber ring. On the other side of the main door, a pastel-coloured ice-cream cart with outsize cone completes the seasonal picture (and remember it’s “97% FAT FREE”).

The unkind might be inclined to say that Ted Baker did something of the sort last year, but there is sufficient distance between what was done then and the soaraway summer fun to be found in French Connection’s windows. And with FCUK now a distant memory, this represents the retailer’s new face.