After watching channel 4’s behind the scenes documentary about Liberty of London I was excited to see the final Christmas window and store concept in real life. Managing director of the store Ed Burstell claims that ‘Christmas is one of those things that liberty owns’. It was head of the visual merchandising team Liz Sylvester who was in charge of living up to the Liberty standards by designing her first Christmas window for 2014. The concept of the Christmas window came from the heritage of the building. Originally the building was constructed of the timbers of two retired war ships. This is where Liz Sylvester got her initial nautical idea to run with. As a customer, weather you know the history behind the store or not, you still feel like you are on board the Liberty ship travelling around the globe. Gold disks lined the walls of each window, some printed with boat silhouettes as if they were coins. The silhouette represented the iconic liberty weathervane. Each window felt like the inside a treasure chest filled with Liberty beauty, fashion, accessories and homeware products. The products were all rich in colour from purple and turquoise. In contrast they were stacked high in old wooden boat frames. The main focal point of the store was the large ship mast that stood in the centre of the shop, in the famous scarf hall. It drew your eyes from the ground floor all the way up to the 4th. Hung from the mast were ship sails made from liberty fabric called strawberry thief. From the sails were suspended oversized coins swinging across the store from purple rope. As you travel from floor to floor you can see the ship mast from a different angle, each one as breath taking as the last. The theme carried on through the store in every little detail leaving no stone unturned. Even the mannequins wore bronze paper sailor hats. After seeing the work done at Liberty and the Christmas window concepts from the second years (reviewed 6/12/14) , both displays demonstrate strong concepts based around a central focal point. This is a device which is used to tie the display together in a narrative which makes it appropriate and enjoyable for their target market. |
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
CategoriesAuthorI am Olivia Davies, aged 20. This is my blog for Fashion Retail and Enterprise. Archives
April 2015
|