Behind those magical traffic-stopping holiday windows

Rivaling New York City’s 72-foot Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center
for visitors are the enticing holiday windows all along Fifth Avenue. But
from Galeries Lafayette in Paris to Harrods in London, top retailers of the
world’s most important shopping cities participate in the tradition of
decking out their windows with boughs of holly, animatronics, possibly even
a Hollywood movie tie-in theme (such as Bloomingdales’ depictions of the
new Dr Seuss’ The Grinch) to coincide with its theatrical
release.

The tradition of department stores leading the way in holiday window
design is long-standing. While early 19th century businesses understood
that ground floor window spaces could act as advertising, it is believed
that R.H. Macy was the first to create the quintessential Christmas window
when, in 1874, instead of displaying merchandise, he decoratively arranged
porcelain dolls in scenes from the American classic novel, Uncle Tom’s
Cabin. Over 140 years later it is estimated that nearly 10,000 people
a day pass Macy’s festive windows.

Each year Saks goes the extra step by projecting its traditional light
show onto the store’s Fifth Avenue facade after sunset, requiring the
cordoning off of the sidewalk as lines of people snake around the block,
shuffling forward, and gazing at each window’s themed vignette while rows
of viewers across the street take in the lights from a distance.

Designs range from charming chic at fine jewelers Cartier and Tiffany
where nothing outshines the diamonds to no-holds-barred flashy blitzes on
our every sense, and costing as much as a Broadway theater set. Barneys’
windows are designed annually by artists with minimalist leanings while the
team from fellow luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman artfully assemble
towering stacks of candy canes, gingerbread houses, Swarovski fountains,
hat boxes, mirrorballs, multi-tiered cakes, mythical creatures, musical
instruments, chandeliers, crystal palaces and enchanted forests until not a
millimeter of surface area is left unadorned. Then teetering in front of
this cornucopia are custom-made mannequins draped in Italian sequined gowns
and bejeweled platform heels from the store’s designer labels. Often the
name of a sponsor is printed on the glass––in Saks’s case, it’s
Mastercard––as well as the brand names behind the featured merchandise and
on which floor you’ll find it.

While these must-see tourist destinations reflect the magic and fantasy
many associate with the holidays they are essentially commercial honeypots
for brick-and-mortar stores in an era when it can be tempting to do all
one’s gift shopping with a click on Amazon. Linda Fargo, who has styled
Bergdorf Goodman’s windows for 20 years, described the importance of their
experiential factor to Business of Fashion: “Given the inherent abstraction
of digital retail, there’s an increasing attraction to actual and physical
experience. It’s rooted in memory and simple pleasures, like delight and
surprise, especially important emotions during the festive season.”

Holiday sales remain critical to retailers as according to market
research firm NPD Group, stores do 25 percent of their annual business during
holiday season and 24 percent of all holiday purchases are influenced by the store
windows. Festive window design is perhaps the one powerful marketing device
that Amazon cannot deliver on and a screen cannot mimic the
stop-you-in-your-tracks impact of the window––which is why the hundreds of
team members behind the city’s current holiday windows are making a list
and checking it twice, their minds already lit up with ideas for next
year.

Windows featured in order are: Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales, Saks,
Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier and Louis Vuitton.

Fashion editor Jackie Mallon is also an educator and author of Silk
for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion
industry.

Photos FashionUnited