Louis Vuitton :: Spring LV Window Display

I do realize it is now officially fall, but this window display from Louis Vuitton is really seasonless {well, maybe if you pay attention to their handbags you may notice}. 

I love the graphic and metallic nature of these letters.  That's something Louis Vuitton always has a ton of  in their windows - amazingly shiny things.

If you look at the text on the 'L' photo you will see the reference to scanning something to get exclusive content in their 'application'.  I can't stop giggling over this because it took me forever to realize they mean their app!  Am I the only one finding this hilarious?

Louis Vuitton Window Display :: Pushy Little Men

Unfortunately Louis Vuitton stores are always in indoor malls in Massachusetts so a good photo of their window displays can be a rare thing. I debated for a few months on whether or not to show these images because they are so hard to see, but I decided in the end, it was an interesting concept, so here you are!

The displays were fairly straightforward, but scattered about there were little men holding up huge piles of blocks, pushing bags away, and performing various other 'tasks'.  They are almost like little tuxedo-clad elves.

Club Monaco Window Display :: Potted Plants

After weeks of hot and humid weather here, this Club Monaco window display looks nice and light and cool. 

They continuously do a great job with the windows at this store.

Burberry Window Display :: Golden Balloons

This balloon window is appropriate this week because I not only did my taxes on time {I still do them myself and it gets tricky with the self-employment parts}, but I managed to make it through last week alive. I started a new job recently with new responsibilities, new clients and projects, and my second week was truly trial by fire. I wish someone presented me with gold balloons like this {gold bars would be nice as well}.

Hermes Hay Feeder Window Display

I actually had a nightmare about these Hermes windows from last fall so I put off posting them. {Okay, that's not why but I did actually dream I was trapped in one of those things.}

I believe these are hay feeders like you would find for horses, but correct me if I'm wrong.  I'm truly not sure how I feel about them.  They are not bad windows and you can see that a lot of effort went into them {and they certainly are unique}, but they aren't as exciting as I would want them to be for a place that sells $50,000 handbags.  Sometimes I walk by and I feel like I just don't "get" Hermes but then I remember how much I liked the style and simplicity of the Madison Ave windows last spring so maybe I'm just not connecting with the windows lately.

In the last post on the Hermes windows, I was talking about how cluttered the tiny windows were and how much potential they had.  Well, they are much simpler now and they also have colored LEDs, or colored lenses over some sort of light, so at night they are lit all fancily.

The products are a little bit lost in these displays but the backdrop is the same as in the larger, so at least they are tied to the other windows.

So, what do you think?  Do you love them?  Are you indifferent, as I am?

J. Crew Window Display :: Watch for Falling Rock

Or falling diamonds.

I think I prefer falling diamonds.

Flower Paint Chip Display

Since the butterfly display was in the corner of a photo I posted on Monday, I realized I never posted about the display I found last month.  I was a paint shop for a seminar and they had these colorful flowers {could be butterflies} displayed on top of a shelf.  If you look closely, you can see they are actually cut from paint chips.

It is perfect for the type of shop, simple and inexpensive. 

Colorful Mannequin

I came across this colorful mannequin recently and had to grab a photo. I usually find them to be creepy {see the spear-necked mannequin to each side} or just boring.  Perhaps since this is actually a dress-form, and a Pantone inspired one at that, I really like it.  I think it wouldn't work for displaying clothes as well as the others.

The butterflies in the background can be found in this post.

Anthropologie Merchandising Techniques

Although I haven't actually purchased anything from Anthropologie in years, I like to check out their window displays and also go in to wander around and look at their merchandising displays.  They do a very good job with their merchandising and here are a couple techniques from their Boston store {I think}.

The first technique is that they make the store feel like a residential space.  With applied letters and an exterior light over the door, this back room is made to look like an apartment entry.

A note among the glassware below.  Makes it feel like you are seeing something left for a messy roommate. 

"Please keep the kitchen neat!"

The other technique is the quirky displays scattered about.  These are not necessarily for sale but they give people surprises as they peek in a corner or look through an opening.  The plush cactus leaves inside old fans, in the photo below, achieve this goal.

These are only a few examples, but have you noticed any other techniques used?

Petit Bateau Window Display

 This children's store window display is another example of a simple and effective display.  With some brightly colored prints of a wall and some hooks attached to display clothing, it looks almost as if there is a wainscot.

You can't truly confirm if it's real or not until you get close

Neiman Marcus Paint by Numbers Windows

It is very rare that I post window displays of stores I actually shop at. While I don't often shop at Neiman Marcus, I do sometimes go in and try to shop there. I've never actually found anything I wanted to buy despite my attempts {like the time I went in for jeans thinking that they may have more than boot cut or skinny, no such luck there} also, I'm pretty careful which "luxury brands" I spend my hard earned money on.  I'd prefer to purchase from the little guys.

With all that rambling and nonsense out of the way, I like Neiman Marcus's current, okay July, window display with it's paint by numbers concept.  They created the paint by numbers drawings out of the photographs in the same window.

And do I spy a dress with the elusive short sleeves?

Louis Vuitton Windows with Yayoi Kusama

I try to post window displays in a timely fashion but this Louis Vuitton / Yayoi Kusama window is a bit late.  However, it is just in time for the last days of the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York. 

Her work is quite interesting if you have never seen it, it's worth a look.  It's slightly surreal with polka dots and flowers that look like something out of Little Shop of Horrors - man-eating flowers.  The window displays capture this quite well.

 

Hermes Summer Window Display

A while back, when I saw the Hermes store on Madison Avenue did a great job with their windows I complained a bit about their lack of attention to all their shops {specifically Boston}. I was right and I was wrong.  I actually did take a walk down at lunch a few months ago to check things out - I mentioned it last week in a post but then realized I had never posted the photos.

These windows are a bit cutesy, not as simple as the ones in New York.  That's not to say it's bad, just different and a bit more cluttered.

I do like Mr. Squid.

What I was remembering about the windows were these tiny ones.  They are a bit cluttered and I'm not sure what kid's toys have to do with ties or pottery.  Any ideas?

A local jewelry store, Shreve Crump & Low, used to do amazing things with their tiny window displays, I wish I had taken some photos back then since they've moved and no longer have the same type of windows.

J. Crew - Hot Days, Cool Looks Window

I first spotted this J. Crew window display way back in May at Rockefeller Center along with this one. I photographed it, but it all you could see was me {and I don't like being in photos} and all the other buildings. So, I found it locally and rephotographed it for your viewing pleasure.

I haven't had a snow cone in years! I can't actually eat the regular ones anymore which is okay since they are just sugar water. This real fruit snow cone syrup recipe sounds delicious though and you can add whatever fruit you want.

Anthropologie Window Display - Under the Sea Extended Rockefeller Center Edition

I posted a different, Boston, version of these windows a couple of months ago.  In May, I visited the Rockefeller Center Anthropologie windows and they were a quite different take on the same theme.  According to the sign I found, the windows are trying to bring attention to the disappearance of the ocean's reefs.

{this one is from a Boston area shop}

As I mentioned before, this year stores seem to be using multiple windows for one scene.  This display was no exception {I photoshopped all the people out since they didn't agree to be in the photo but wouldn't move out of the way}.  The ship windows are best viewed from far away before seeing the details.

The windows have cardboard rocks and seaweed {or are they coral?}.  The seaweed/coral is dipped in paint and the barnacles seem to be made in the same fashion as the Boston display - paper wrapped cardboard.

The cute little sea urchins are painted barbeque skewers {or something similar} stuck in styrofoam and painted.  Probably made in the same fashion as their winter displays were.  There is also a bottle cap turtle {and whale tail perhaps?} swimming by.

The other side of the window contains the same elements but also a school of swimming wood shim fish.

I didn't get a photo of these windows together like I did with the ship but this was also a window that used two sections to tell it's story.

More fish.

These giant sandpaper clam shells are great and nearby you can see bubbles made out of light bulbs.

I think these windows are quite nice but I think what would make them even better would be to make these window displays out of found objects.  These items don't look used at all and they change out quite a bit.  If Anthropologie was very serious about saving reefs, I think keeping things out of landfills {and that giant plastic reef in the Pacific} would be a big help.  

Just a thought.