Make It Extraordinary

There’s a little store window inside the Las Vegas airport that always stops me dead in my tracks no matter how sleep-deprived I’m feeling at the moment. In May, on my way in for Lightfair, there sat a tailor’s form adorned in a black and white dress accented with a hot pink, flowered belt. Closer inspection revealed that this outfit was crafted using patterned tissue paper. Here in the capital of glitz and neon, a simple, handcrafted display is the one that I’d remember for days.

A month later, standing inside an Anthropologie store, I looked up to see a rainbow-colored “chandelier” hanging above the cashwrap, constructed entirely of suckers. A simple candy turned prop god.

It’s moments like these that I really appreciate the opportunity to write about visual merchandising. I mean, how can you not be inspired talking to professionals who turn ordinary objects into the extraordinary?

Every year, VMSD celebrates moments of visual genius like these through our International Visual Competition. It’s a great chance to see what’s really making an impact, from big-name New York department stores to small boutiques in Europe. For the most part of a day, our panel of judges oohs and aahs over window displays, in-store presentations and storewide promotion campaigns. We look for common themes, unusual propping and trends that speak to the state of visual merchandising. During this year’s discussions, the judges kept asking, “How does the presentation connect the product to the brand?” Those entries that won awards excelled at this simple-sounding, yet vital task. (For more on the winners, click here.)

Taking home this year’s Best in Show, a set of fashion windows for Macy’s New York featured only colored paper and mannequins. The presentation was striking, but more important, the paper backdrop worked beautifully with the merchandise to make it stand out even more. “It makes me want to buy what’s in that window,” remarked one judge.

Commenting on another winning entry – a colorful in-store presentation for tableware – a judge said, “Who wouldn’t want to just go in and sit down at that table?’”

Getting shoppers in the door is one thing. Inspiring them to stay (and buy) – that’s what great visual and design are all about. As the new editor of VMSD, that’s what I’ll continue to revel in writing about each month.