Although online shopping is wildly popular, it just can’t replace the joy of shopping in stores, particularly specialty shops. Nothing can beat the feeling of walking into a beautifully-designed store, touching items of interest and trying things on. You’re greeted by cheerful staff members, and you love the thrill of making an impulsive purchase.
You might be pulled into a store for various reasons, but a key draw for many consumers is the window display. The most successful displays go beyond simple mannequins wearing the latest styles. They embody the innovation and class of the stores that create them. How many times have you stopped under a store’s window awning to admire the innovation and creativity of the store’s designers and marketing team?
There are some pretty impressive displays out there, including this list of last year’s finest displays.
1. Gucci’s Hallucination Display
In the summer of 2018, Gucci held a campaign for its new product line Hallucination. As part of their efforts, designers created a stunning window display with the power of augmented reality (AR).
Using classical paintings and mannequins wearing Gucci clothing and accessories, the creators designed a breathtaking piece of art in and of itself. It painted an image of individuals in an art gallery. Interestingly enough, most of the mannequins were facing away from the window, giving it the feel of an actual art gallery.
The AR came in with a QR code printed on the window glass. When passersby stopped to take in this mesmerizing display, they could scan the code to download the Gucci app.
2. Galeries Lafayette Children’s Competition
Every year at Christmas, Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris designs innovative window displays to promote in-store shopping. This year, the innovators behind the displays held a drawing competition among children ages five to 11. The best artwork was then transformed into window displays for the holiday shoppers to enjoy.
There were groups of cuddly characters set in a dream-like setting, a Cinderella staircase displaying shoes, a dream factory featuring a whimsical sandman creature, piles of Christmas gifts, and more. The resulting artwork was simply stunning.
3. Type Books Colorful Display
There are few independent bookstores left thanks to the digital age, and those that are in existence must work hard to remain competitive. Type, a bookstore in Toronto, always manages to impress with its creative window displays that easily draw in passersby.
During the summer, they featured a well-organized set of their best summer reads surrounded by paper popsicles and foam ice cream cones. Arguably their best display yet occurred over the 2018 holiday when their bestselling novels were shrouded in paper houses, tree and snowflake cutout garlands, and fake snow.
4. Barney’s Okamoto Studio
Last winter, the New York department store Barney’s outdid itself to draw in customers for last-minute holiday shopping. Their Okamoto Studio is renowned for elegance and unique innovation, which didn’t disappoint with their intricate ice carvings and sculptures.
But this display was not a stagnant exhibition to be admired at a distance. Instead, it offered real-time carvings of ice sculptures. Professional sculptors dressed in futuristic-looking snowsuits braved the window-turned-freezer of Madison Avenue to chip away at ice blocks. They turned an ordinary block into breathtaking statues of penguins and other wintery wonders.
5. Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. boasts some of the best window displays year over year. They’re so iconic that many couples have enjoyed romantic moments in front of the window, including many marriage proposals. This one with snowy New York streets is one of our favorites.
While many of the displays we saw last year were larger than life, Tiffany & Co. recently seemed to operate under the assumption that bigger is not always better. Their presentation featured a series of mousetraps containing wedges of swiss cheese. Next to these traps was a statue of a mouse. Having triumphed over a trap, the mouse holds a precious gem.
The display certainly follows minimalist guidelines and is small enough that you wouldn’t be able to see it from the street. However, thanks to Tiffany’s years of successful window displays, this piece of art has garnered plenty of attention.
The many luxurious window displays around the world present some of the finest aspects of brick-and-mortar shopping, and the best is yet to come. Keep your eyes peeled for some of the finest and artistic displays in the coming years.
