2007 Visual Competition – 1st Place Winners, Part I

Seasonal Promotion – Specialty Apparel Retailer

Holiday Installation

Hugo Boss, New York

For the 2006 holiday season, specialty apparel retailer Hugo Boss transformed its Fifth Avenue store into a giant snow globe wonderland. Using the entire glass-box store as a canvass, designers from Hugo Boss and Holiday Image Inc. suspended more than 50 2-by-4-foot custom glittering white snowflakes from the store ceiling. Flashing strobe lights and 18 custom lights illuminating the store’s exterior columns added to the festive package. A 14-foot tree served as a sparkling centerpiece.

“The scale of the space is so magnificent that taking advantage of the full 40-foot height main floor was critical to the design,” says Holiday Image president Matthew Schwam.

Judges applauded the white-against-black contrast that became a striking focal point for the display.

Client: Hugo Boss, New York – Lisa Chamberlin, visual merchandiser; Heike Schraub, director, retail marketing and visual merchandising

Design: Holiday Image Inc.., Long Island City, N.Y. – Matthew Schwam, president

Photography: Courtesy of Hugo Boss, New York

In-Store Accessories/Beauty/Shoes Presentation

Juicy Couture fragrance launch

Macy’s North, Chicago

Macy’s fragrance launch for Juicy Couture was lauded as “breaking the formula” by this year’s competition judges. By capitalizing on the brand’s national advertising image, the retailer was able to make a strong visual statement in the store and window displays in celebration of the launch.

Vitrines and display tables featured candy, apothecary jars and rolling pink/brown carts. A rainbow of neon letters showcased Juicy’s tagline, “Smell Me.”

In the windows, a large graphic of models wearing the latest Juicy fashions was incorporated with gold opera chains with satin pink cushions. Dramatic lighting added an extra punch to the over-the-top display.

“I like that they carried it through from the windows to inside the store,” said one judge.

Another added, “It’s all Juicy.”

Client: Macy’s, Chicago – Paul Anthony, visual presentation designer, cosmetics

Flooring: Exposition Carpet, Chicago

Props and Decs: Hall’s Rental, Chicago

Signage/Graphics: Color Image, Chicago; NE-ART-Custom Neon, Minneapolis; Signworks, Chicago

Photography: Susan Kezon, Chicago

In-Store Seasonal Promotion – Specialty Department Store

Holiday Trim, main floor

Bergdorf Goodman, New York

The respect designers showed in decking Bergdorf Goodman’s New York flagship with holiday trim earned it first place recognition in this year’s competition. One thousand linear feet of custom white birch branch garland hung from the store’s main floor entryways, creating an elegant presentation. The garland, which was treated with paint, glitter and lights, was installed over two nights by a crew of 50 workers.

Chandeliers, sconces and floral arrangements were decorated to match the holiday decor for an overall aesthetic that complemented the architecture of the retailer’s prestigious flagship.

“It’s simple but stunning,” commented a judge.

Client: Bergdorf Goodman, New York – Linda Fargo; Susan Homan; Christina Quidone

Design: Holiday Image Inc., Long Island City, N.Y. – Matthew Schwam, president

Photography: Richard Cadan Photography, Brooklyn, N.Y.

In-Store Seasonal Promotion – Seasonal products promotion/home goods

Christmas Street Shop

The Bay, Toronto

The Bay created a holiday home for each category of seasonal merchandise, such as trees, lights and ornaments, inside its Christmas Street Shop. A subtle holiday treatment unified the aisleways throughout the department floor, while signage indicated each area’s theme, including “Twilight,” “Royal Majesty” and “Crystal Ball.” Lighting, propping and presentation varied according to each theme.

Judges applauded the retailer’s ability to give a unique aesthetic to each area while unifying it into one holiday package. “Each theme had its own world that was fully realized,” said a judge.

Client: The Bay, Toronto – Denis Frenette, director, visual presentation; Ana Fernandes, creative design manager; Karl Dodham; Aggie Salvatore

Props and Decoratives: Studio Specialties, Toronto; Floridus Design Ltd., Toronto; Hoflands, Toronto; Decorative Novelty, New York; Holiday Foliage Inc., Chula Vista, Calif.

Wallcoverings and Materials: Metro Wallcoverings, Concord, Ont.

Photography: James Dioron, Toronto

In-Store Storewide Promotion

“Think Pink” Cancer Month

The Bay, Toronto

To honor the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s annual cancer awareness month in October, The Bay created a “Think Pink” awareness campaign that included in-store merchandise and window displays.

Merchandise developed by the department store retailer and its vendors was showcased in displays decorated with printed scrims and pink accents. Outside the flagship building, pink window awnings called attention to the campaign. Window displays included three large frames rotating to relate different messages. In another, 10-by-10-inch panels containing 100 shiny plastic disks were assembled to create a 10-by-12-foot backwall with the message, “Think.”

Said one judge: “It’s very simple but gets the point across.”

Client: The Bay, Toronto – Denis Frenette, director, visual presentation; Ana Fernandes, creative design manager; Martin Lee, Walter Elliot, Lisa Desroches, Kenny Boone and Dario Hariman, window team; Karyn McGhee, Susan Chin, store team

Mannequins/Forms: DK Display, New York

Props and Decoratives: ALU, New York

Signage/Graphics: Zebra Studios, Toronto; Vinylxpress, Concord, Ont.

Awnings: Amy Awnings and Signs, Kitchener, Ont.

Photography: James Dioron, Toronto

In-Store Storewide Promotion – Event

La Belle France,

Liverpool Stores, Mexico City

Every year, Liverpool’s flagship in Mexico City celebrates another year in business by choosing a country or region of the world to honor through in-store promotions and visual displays of special products featured in mini-boutiques throughout the store. In 2006, Liverpool chose France and re-created the Parisian way inside its store, as well as by converting part of the store’s ground-level parking space into a “La Belle France” boutique.

Over nine months, Liverpool’s visual merchandising and display team planned and designed the promotion, which launched in late September. For the parking lot, more than 3300 man hours, involving carpentry, plasterboard work and paintwork, electrical wiring, special lighting and air conditioning installation, were used to convert the space in 21 days.

Then visual merchandisers had just 10 days to install the Paris Streetscape set, which included a crepe-vending cart, outdoor cafe and boutiques. Parisian façades from the 17th to 19th Centuries created the elaborate setting, while inside each shop, designers added just a few props. Dramatic lighting added the sense that shoppers were out in the “City of Love” at dusk. The red-carpet treatment was given to a large circular platform where a group of Pucci mannequins wore custom haute-couture dresses.

Raised, white-painted platforms were installed to keep shoppers from having to navigate the parking curbs, while the concrete floor and yellow directional markings were left intact to add a warehouse feel.

“The parking lot was transformed into a completely different retailscape where our clients could find themselves lost for a moment in an afternoon in Paris,” says Eduardo Fernandez, Liverpool’s visual merchandising manager. “The promotion ran through October 15 and reinforced our flagship store’s lead in offering our clients something to look forward to each year.”

Client: Liverpool, Mexico City – Eduardo Fernandez, visual merchandising manager

Photography: Gerardo Hellion, Mexico City, and Marco Vital, Mexico City

Non-Holiday Seasonal Window Display

Flower Show

David Jones, Sydney

More than 50,000 blooms and 300 plants from all over Australia went into making David Jones’ spectacular “Flower Show” window display. Celebrating the arrival of spring, the Australian department store created an “Archipelago” theme with a Tahitian Island floral paradise at its flagship store in Sydney.

Bromeliads, Cymbidium orchids, Gymea lilies, banana leaves, seashells and a mix of tropical fruits were just some of the luscious ingredients used in the display. “We were inspired by the South Pacific, so we utilized a vivid palette of greens, tropical floral and colorful fruits,” says Lisa Lubar, David Jones’ general manager, visual merchandising.

The installation took place over 10 days and included 20 visual merchandising staff members and 10 florists, while 6 florists were enlisted to maintain the displays, replacing and watering blooms daily.

Client: David Jones, Sydney – Lisa Lubar, general manager, visual merchandising; Alisha Wilson, windows specialist; Kate Westgate

Outside Design Consultants: Fabmosphere, Sydney (prop design)

Oss Partners, Sydney (graphics)

Lyndsay Elyard, Sydney (backdrop paintings)

YS Florist, Sydney (florist)

Lighting: Tec, Sydney

Photography: Brett Cornish Photography, Sydney

Apparel Window Display

Origami

Holt Renfrew, Toronto

Holt Renfrew turned to the ancient art of origami to craft a February window display that caught shoppers; (and the judges’) attention. “It’s such an intricate design” said one judge. Layers of off-white and pale neutral tones set a serene environment accented by the traditional paper origami shapes in larger-than-life sizes of birds, fish, horses, kites, cranes and pigs.

Schlappi mannequins, outfitted in the season’s latest fashions, playfully interacted with the architectural forms. In a scene for men’s suiting, origami shapes provided a textured backwall to the artful display.

Client: Holt Renfrew, Toronto – Mary Pompili, vp, marketing; John Gerhardt, director, creative services; Tracey Peters, manager, national visual and merchandising

Susanne Shaw, visual presentation manager

Outside Design Consultant: Tom McAneney, Toronto (construction designer, window origami)

Mannequins/Forms: Adel Rootstein USA Inc., London; Schlappi/Bonaveri, Cento, Italy

Signage/Graphics: Dot and Dash, Toronto

Photography: Saw Photography, Toronto

Accessories Window Display

Blue Shoes

Shreve, Crump & Low, Boston

Shreve, Crump & Low’s “Blue Shoes” window display melded countries, customs, generations and artforms. Inspired by the traditional Dutch delft blue tiles of 17th and 18th Century Holland, Lucy-Ann Bouwman, creative director, Sightgeist Design, created modern-day platform pumps painted with images and scenes beloved to the retailer’s Boston home.

One platform depicted Boston Harbor’s famous U.S.S. Constitution warship, while another shoe featured a painting of the “Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture in Boston’s Public Garden. Vintage and semi-precious jewels and brooches adorned the footwear, while delft china added to the setting.

Client: Shreve, Crump & Low, Boston

Design: Sightgeist Design Inc., Boston – Lucy-Ann Bouwman, creative director; Christina Zwart, Marleen Bos, design team

Outside Design Consultant: Lighting Services Inc, Stony Point, N.Y.

Photography: Chris Akelian, Boston

To see more First Place Winners, click here.