Dressed in Holiday Style

2000 Holiday Windows 1
BERGDORF GOODMAN
SAKS FIFTH AVENUE
BLOOMINGDALE'S
MACY'S HERALD SQUARE
HENRI BENDEL

2000 Holiday Windows 2
LORD & TAYLOR
FORTUNOFF
TIFFANY & CO.
BARNEYS NEW YORK
HENRY BIRKS & SONS

2000 Holiday Windows 3
MYER MELBOURNE
SONY STYLE
AMERICAN GIRL PLACE
MARSHALL FIELD'S
TYSON'S CORNER MALL What makes a good holiday window presentation? Bergdorf Goodman (New York) subscribes to the three-second rule. “The window has to grab somebody's attention and hold it for three seconds,” says David Hoey, Bergdorf's window director. People should be able to understand what the window is about in that brief amount of time, he adds. “But it should also be good for those standing there for 15 minutes.” “Windows do have a different function at Christmas than the rest of the year,” says Randy Yaw, window director for Saks Fifth Avenue (New York). “The people who line up are not necessarily regular Saks Fifth Avenue New York customers.” Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York, regards his witty, entertaining windows as a gift to the tourists as well as for the natives. “Christmas windows are these magnanimous things stores do for the city.” It's a collaborative effort, the New York designers seem to say, because out-of-towners are coming to see everything the city has to offer. “I think it's fascinating that each store reflects its individual identity through its windows,” says Yaw. For Bergdorf Goodman, this is a style packed with “hilarity and meaning,” says Hoey. Bergdorf's holiday windows — so meticulous in detail — will often challenge streetside spectators with visual clues, enticing them to stand awhile and play. “Holiday windows are about touching families,” says Lucy-Ann Bouwman, visual display consultant from Sightgeist Design (New York). And while some feel the windows should in fact be geared toward children, Bouwman says that today's adults also “aspire to that youthful ideal.” Losing that child-like appeal can be a big mistake for some retailers. Saks Fifth Avenue discovered this the hard way several years ago. Yaw recalls an outside image consultant (trying to be consistent with Saks'sophisticated image) who decided that the windows needed to appeal more to adults. It didn't work. “I think there was a negative backlash because of Saks'proximity to Rockefeller Center,” Yaw recalls. “This area is a family destination.” The stakes are high because the costs are high. Hoey admits the price of its holiday windows can comprise as much as half of Bergdorf's yearly budget, and Saks execs estimate holidays are about a third of the budget. Manoel Rehna Rezende, visual creative director for Lord & Taylor, says it's a year-long process that takes about 2000 hours and 80 people, including carpenters, electricians and model-makers. “But it's our gift to the city, and in giving a gift, you don't mention the price.” It's a gift, that (due to the temporal nature) can only be treasured in people's memories. The windows disappear soon after the New Year. And no sooner after visual people sigh in satisfaction and exhaustion, relieved that another holiday season is behind them, it's time to start planning next year's windows. But first, let's remember this Christmas past.