1. Bergdorf Goodman, New York City. Part One. While the official theme of Bergdorf’s windows this year is “Compendium of Curiosities,” it’s difficult to categorize the maximalist windows with a single phrase. Even David Hoey, the store’s senior director of visual presentation, has a hard time describing what makes a B.G. Christmas window, well, Bergdorf-y. “It’s that old-world quality—it’s that opulent, madcap thing we do,” he says. “It’s layer upon layer of incident and antiques and things happening … but there’s also a kind of deliberate non-commercial quality.” This particular window is made entirely of mirrored glass. Hoey explains that the artistic team tends to get “very obsessive about a particular material.” The effect is enchanting. Courtesy of Zehavi & Cordes.
2. Bergdorf Goodman, New York City. Part Two. Hoey lists three main inspirations for this year’s windows: Lewis Carroll, M. C. Escher, and Rube Goldberg. He describes this window as a “phantasmagoria of staircases”—a sort of Escher to the 10th degree. Revealing the full-time nature of his profession, Hoey told us that after seeing one miniature model staircase in an antique store, he spent several years collecting them without a clear use in mind. His foresight, and pitch-perfect selection of a look from Alexander McQueen’s “psychedelic Victorian” fall collection, is our holiday delight. Courtesy of Zehavi & Cordes.
3. Saks, New York City. Part One. For Saks Fifth Avenue, window designer Julio Gomez updated the traditional window theme—a children’s fairy tale—with a technological twist. The windows, based on Twinkle Twinkle Little Flake, a new book by Mike Reiss, are filled with both mechanical and computer animation, provided by Microsoft. In the spirit of 2009, there is also a Twitter component: viewers can Tweet holiday messages at a specific address and watch as their messages flash across the window for all gawkers to see. Twitter, Tweeter, Little Flake! By Jemal Countess/WireImage.
4. Saks, New York City. Part Two. Gomez sums up the book as “a story about a snowflake that’s kind of mustering up her courage to fall from the clouds and then start her ascension down to earth.” A team of artists used foam, fiberglass, and other industrial materials to create the landmarks that Twinkle (that’s the flake, of course) passes on her flight around the world. And if the tale isn’t enough to warm a viewer’s heart, the entire display is promoting Saks’s charitable partnership with St. Jude’s Children Hospital. Proceeds from sales of the book, as well as other merchandise displayed in a dedicated window, benefit the hospital. Sighting the difficulties of working with an abstract, fantastical children’s book, Gomez says, “I think the parents are going to be thoroughly confused. But kids are going to like it.” Our verdict? Even in the digital age, adults and kids alike are still fascinated by animatronics. By Jemal Countess/WireImage.
5. Harrods, London. Part One. In the land that gave the world fruitcake and A Christmas Carol, London’s most prominent department store chose an American film—The Wizard of Oz—for its windows theme this year. Lest British traditionalists be perturbed, the classic film works perfectly in the massive structure that, clad in a generous handful of green lights, is a spot-on Emerald Palace. Mark Briggs, Harrods’s image director, cites the film’s 70th anniversary as the reason for the celebration, as well as the store’s chosen philanthropy for the season, the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. (Who enjoys the Judy Garland masterpiece more than kids?) Perceptive tykes might notice that Dorothy’s never looked so chic—the characters sport a combination of costume and actual designer pieces. Even Toto sits in the lap of luxury, surrounded by glitzy collars and mini-bottles of champagne. Toto knows: Knightsbridge ain’t Kansas. By Mel Vincent.
6. Harrods, London. Part Two. London readers, be sure to turn the corner off of Knightsbridge Road to catch a glimpse of the Wicked Witch of the West. Not that you need a reminder: it’s difficult to miss a pair of legs that reach 12 feet into the air! Harrods commissioned Bigstuff Design to create the witch—well, her calves and ruby-slipper-clad feet—to give the impression that, no, it wasn't Dorothy’s shack that did the old girl in; rather it was Mohamed Al-Fayed’s retail palace. According to Briggs, the glittering shoes are covered in 46,000 crystals, 500 pounds of glitter, and 200 fiber-optic lights, which makes for a very sparkly sight. If the sparkles inspire, head inside to the shoe department, where a Yellow Brick Road is studded with custom “ruby slippers”—red heels by leading designers. Proceeds from the shoes will go toward raising money to donate to the hospital (the goal is $500,000). By Steve Finn.
7. Barneys New York, New York City. Part One. Barneys refuses to take its pricey wears too seriously, display-wise at least. Fittingly, the atypical department store chose an atypical holiday theme: Saturday Night Live. Explains Barneys creative director and White House holiday decorator Simon Doonan, “I thought it was a great year to focus on humor. Everyone needs a good chuckle right now.” Viewers of the current season finding nothing to chuckle about know that the theme is usually chosen around the previous February—that means pre–January Jones. But S.N.L. diehards can find comfort in classics, such as the Coneheads, sitting behind the glass on Madison Avenue. The effort included both Marci Klein, Doonan’s “old pal” and S.N.L.’s senior producer, and a team of freelance artists who first stage the scenes in a studio before installing them in the actual windows. By Jenny Ross.
8. Barneys New York, New York City. Part Two. Doonan and his team delight in the flea-market look. “We love to make everything very crafty—found objects, papier-mâché, collage, decoupage,” he says. “I like everything to look quite hokey.” In one of the only nods to the actual season, characters are reimagined as huge ornaments. Shoppers can’t help but smile at the sight of an enormously stern Church Lady and reminisce about the comedic genius that was Gilda Radner, as she bobs over Amy Poehler and her Weekend Update globe. But working with such enormous props has its hazards, says Doonan: “We hung the giant ornaments using cheap plastic chain. During the first night the windows got hot and the chain melted and everything crashed to the floor! We had to start all over again!” Ah, to be a Madison Avenue matron on a midnight stroll, and catch a glimpse of a mâché Tina Fey cum Sarah Palin deadhead into the floor. ’Tis the season indeed. By Jenny Ross. (vanityfair.com)
My favorites are Bergdorf Goodman and Harrods.
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