Christmas window displays are a staple for the retail market, each year creating wonderful and weird displays that will outshine the rest. At Imageco, we have created many window displays, and we have started to notice key trends that have been emerging over the past couple of years.
We are starting to notice a lot of displays featuring nature into their designs. Displays are beginning to push the boundaries and incorporating both artificial and real greenery. Ivy in Chelsea Garden has taken it one step further this year covering every inch of their façade in frosted foliage. The icy design makes it feel like you have taken a step through the wardrobe into Narnia.
Companies are creating three-dimensional spatial displays around products to tell a story. One of our favourite examples was ‘How the Grinch Stole Bloomingdale’s’. Bloomingdales has always been world renowned for its display but this one truly created a 3D dimensional scene, incorporating both props and products. Each window presented scenes from the story with written extracts in window graphics. Each one featured a Grinch style mannequin dressed head to toe in the latest fashion.
Another one that has taken inspiration from an iconic story, is the Fenwick’s store in Newcastle. This year they have chosen the classic ‘Charlie and Chocolate Factory’ as their inspiration. Each one presenting 3D structures replicating key moments from the book, and some even included moving mechanical figures.
Displays are no longer just to be admired by the human eye; they are photo opportunities and businesses have begun seeing their displays as an opportunity for social media. Displays are now being created with the perfect atheistic backdrop in mind for photos that are ‘Insta worthy’ and they can gain free promotional attention through visitors’ social media. The Ivy definitely had this in mind when they created their display featuring an ice thrown for guests, making it the perfect Insta spot.
Today window displays are more than just promoting the key products of the season, they aim to create an experience that will engage the customer.
Utilising animation, sound, lighting and even mechanical motion sensors to encourage engagement and immerse shoppers into virtual reality. A great example of retailers incorporating motion into their Christmas Window Displays this year is Selfridges. They have created robotic forest creatures wearing children’s coats and a mechanical rowing boat that is crashing on waves, carrying a very expensive feast.
It’s not just the images and designs that are trends within retail Christmas displays, it is also the materials being used to make them. Statistics have shown that the UK alone creates 30% more waste during the Christmas period compared to the rest of the year. With this in mind, companies have begun being more consciousness about the amount of waste and trying to minimise it as much as possible. Retailers are using more sustainable and eco-friendly products in replace of plastic, such as Ocean Tex and Xanita Board. Selfridges this year is using biodegradable confetti within each snow globe.
