IDEAL OR SUBLIMINAL CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE

FRENCH VERSION

The Christmas windows in Paris are finally revealed! The world flocks to Boulevard Haussmann and beyond to marvel at them: the visual merchandisers of the Grand Stores have once again unfolded treasures of creativity for the Holidays. Christmas presents an annual challenge to all VMs (visual merchandisers).

CHRISTMAS: VM'S ANNUAL CHALLENGE

This year, Le Printemps has wagered on a ‘Wish’ theme. Birds of all kinds are seen busy collecting and granting these wishes. The decoration and animation work is dazzling, involving the marvelous "artist paper" Mathilde Nivet, and nearly 150 other people over 650 hours of setup.

The BHV has also invested a significant amount of time and talent to showcase a more classic "Christmas in the Forest". Scenes filled with animated animals occupy multiple windows and spread into the floors above... However, VMs of these luxurious department stores are not the only ones getting their hands dirty in November. The period is a challenge for all shops trying to catch the attention of gift-seekers. So, visual merchandisers everywhere simultaneously ponder the same question: how to create a successful Holiday window?

HOW TO SUCCEED IN YOUR CHRISTMAS WINDOW?

For businesses that offer Christmas-related items, the answer is simple. If you need to highlight products only consumed or used during this season, the theme of your composition imposes itself. This is the case if you sell Advent calendars for example. The Advent theme, counting down the 24 days before Christmas, plays on the excitement of anticipation. This effective concept was chosen this year by the confectioner A la mère de famille and by the Nature et Découverte stores.

A la mère de famille  – November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

Nature & Découverte – November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

Similarly, if you sell an interior fragrance aptly named... "Merry Christmas"! Frederic Malle has bet everything on his white "perfume gun," perched on a bright red base and dusted with a shower of snow-flowers. This red snow successfully evokes both the magic of winter and the warmth of happy Christmases. The flowers found on the external window film and inside the display create beautiful depth and a 3D effect. The "focus" guiding us to the product is magnificent, and the challenge of "the beautiful Christmas window" is thus met with simplicity and elegance.

Similarly, in the Villeroy & Boch windows, Christmas decorations are ensured by... Christmas decorations! The Franco-German tableware brand offers each winter a range of cutlery and utensils explicitly placed under the sign of Christmas. It's then just a matter of arranging them elegantly for a convincing result. On the left: a small staircase with a gift and paper stars, and on the right: a red sign and an evergreen wreath - and voilà: the Christmas porcelains and the Santa Clauses finish the job.

MIX GREEN-RED and WHITE-GOLD

If your store doesn't have "Christmas products" to sell, you'll need to be more creative. Fortunately, the period is not lacking in codes and benchmarks to boost your inventiveness

__The first marker of Christmas: color. The Villeroy & Boch compositions above summarize the Christmas visual merchandiser's options. They must choose their chromatic camp: team tradition (= white-green-red) or team refinement (= white-black-gold). These two color assortments are so powerful they alone invoke the Holiday spirit.

Villeroy & Boch – November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

REPLACING THE FIR TREE with a CACTUS

On Rue des Francs Bourgeois in Paris, the MarocMaroc personal care store has chosen to showcase its cosmetics in a "Winter Oasis" adorned with magnificent white cacti. Christmas cacti? Why not! A few golden prickly pears as Christmas balls, and the exotic Christmas window is validated !

The combination of white and gold works very well. Another winning option: the pairing of white and black. This minimalist choice is that of the Chanel window, which this year creates an elegant New Year's Eve ambiance with two black mannequins in front of a pristine white camellia (the emblematic flower of the Chanel house), resplendent in stark light and surrounded by shadow.

Chanel – November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

PLAYING WITH GIFTS AND CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENTS

Beyond just colors, the Christmas theme can be present thanks to numerous and very effective symbols like: gifts, Christmas trees, ornaments, snow... Here's a brief overview: 

__Gifts: a true blessing for visual merchandisers! Boxes of various shapes, sizes, and colors, can one dream of a better way to structure and organize a window display? They are often called upon, like the beautiful Louis Vuitton creation below (note the brand's iconic diamond shape transformed into snowflakes in the background).

Louis Vuitton – November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

• __Christmas ornaments: without even needing a tree, the (often) red and shiny Christmas baubles alone encapsulates the Christmas universe. Prada understood this well, and chose to place its mannequins inside this magical sphere
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• __Snow: the magic of snowflakes is irresistible. As long as they are white, even if they are made out of forks or bottle caps, it works… Especially if you manage to create a magnificent winter alpine setting in parallel ( composed of two triangles and three barrels: well done Pylône!)
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• Prada - November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

Pylônes - November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

• __The tree: the most obvious symbol of Christmas, of course, is the Christmas tree. In branches, wreaths, or entire forests, as soon as it enters your display, the celebration comes with it because the tree is a must-have for the perfect Christmas window display.
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INFUSE THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT INTO YOUR DISPLAY

The Christmas tree at Christmas is easy. Too easy? Some bold window display creators strive to spice up the exercise by creating "subliminal Christmas trees".
Look at Devred's setup below. Do you seen it? Not easy to spot: it's blue and somewhat cubical. But it's there! With three stars glued to the window, it does the job perfectly!

Even more subliminal is Acqua di Parma's creativity. It's red and well decorated, but you might have missed it because it's inverted! That’s normal, as it's not really a tree but the visualization of a perfume spreading in the air like a funnel. Now turn it over: isn't it splendid?

Aqua di Parma - November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

ADD A PINCH OF MAGIC

The most successful Christmas displays are sometimes the least obvious. Look at the Christmas display of the Balmain house on Rue Saint-Honoré.

Balmain - November 23 © chic.une.vitrine

At first glance, the celebration is not immediately apparent. Look again. Doesn’t this black capsule filled with pearls represent a New Year's Eve night scattered with white snowflakes? And those black and red luggage placed here and there, could they not be Christmas gifts? The umbrella on the right, the Evening star? The white and sober floor, that's snow, of course. Now squint a bit and look deep into the display. Do you see it? A bowtie. A huge black velvet bowtie, suspended in the heart of the starry night; and it’s almost invisible.

So, as you walk down the street and suddenly feel enchanted by the holiday spirit when nothing around you indicates it—no tree, no Santa Claus... it's because you've just encountered the work of a brilliant visual merchandiser: the perfect subliminal Christmas display
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