When a store window is art

It was a warm afternoon in 2004 when Munna Jhaveri owner of Joy Shoes was sipping chai with his regular customerturnedfriend late artist MF Hussain at the Golden Dragon Taj hotel He had news ldquoMy shop was expanding to 500 square feet from 1200 square feet When I told Hussain this he shocked me in return by deciding to design the new store What would he do I wonderedrdquo recalls Jhaveri who till date has not painted over his green and orange walls shades that Hussain chose The Meditating Man at Rajesh Pratap Singh store in Khar Pic Pradeep Dhivaru00a0 On the store window is a fascinating rack to place shoes and bags with a dancing girl figure in the centre ldquoEarlier when customers walked in they were grumpy irritated and had little patience They would want to be attended to immediately After the addition of Hussainrsquos touch they walk in with a huff and walk out with a smilerdquo laughs the 61 yearold In spite of being a shoe and leather accessories store the store window is dimly lit ldquoEvery store that sells products flamboyantly highlights its windows Flashlights are fitted in and the bulb wattage is high But Hussain had a point He told me lsquoLet the customer take a closer look at your goods Let them appreciate the worksrsquordquo Installation by Manish Arora at The Hab in Khar PicPradeep Dhivar A splash of Holi Zoom in to 2012 In March painter Mike Stilkey was hired to create an installation for Hong Kongrsquos highend fashion retailer Joycersquos store window displays He created largeformat paintings on various book assemblages and multiple shelf displays with smaller pieces typical of his style Closerto home The Hab an experiential haberdashery store by Usha that opened in Khar in March this year roped in Delhibased designer Manish Arora to design a star installation for the shop window ldquoThe installation is inspired by the vibrant colours of the playful festival of Holi and symbolises energy It was divided into three parts mdash a chandelier a sewing machine and a fabric tent thatrsquos suspended from the table on which the machine was kept The chandelier is made using pichkaris Its bursts of colour and vibrant motifs are inspired by the annual Jaipur Elephant Festivalrdquo explains Arora known for his bright colourful designs Artiste Maadol Mukherjee at his Andheri studio PicSantosh Nagwekar The trend of brands bringing in renowned artistes to set up window displays has been a regular practice internationally While the importance of window displays in India has grown in the last 10 years roping in artistes has only kickstarted recently Installations help draw the consumerrsquos attention and create an exciting impact explains Sheetal Choksi a retail consultant from Mahim ldquoWhen a renowned artist is brought in to design a window he adds a different perspective and brings the window alive When designers create installations for their own stores they end up creating a perfect fit as they make a relevant statement about the brandrdquo she explains This installation was created by MF Hussain in 2004 at Joy Shoes Taj Arcade PicBipin Kokate When Arora was invited to chat with the Usha team the discussions revolved around the concepts of colour joy creativity and the festival of Holi ldquoWe went to Manish Arora for his innovative technique of blending colours with unique design elements andu00a0intricate surface textures There are some attributes we wish to reflect at The Hab which is an experiential space where an individual can explore onersquos own creativity through sewing and designrdquo says Chhaya Shriram executive board director Ushau00a0And it seems to have worked Customers are taking their time to stop and appreciate the intricate designs on the installation says Shriram Scissors maketh the man Others like store ownercumdesigner Rajesh Pratap Singh wanted to add an element that would represent the brand Singh in 2009 created what he calls the meditating man made of scissors that now sits imposingly at the menrsquos garment store on Linking Road Khar ldquoIt was welded in our backyard and was a lot of fun to put together Any kind of creative element lends an interesting twist to a storerdquo says Singh who enjoys working with metal ldquoThis came about because of my experimentation with a ramp show for the finale at India Fashion Week in 2007 where we used scissorwelded flowers encapsulated between a glass case on which the models walked The collection was a juxtaposition of hard and soft strong and malleable and it seemed appropriate at the time to use scissors to make flowers to convey this mood of the collection I created this man especially for the store as it brings in an unexpected element of surprise for a customerrdquo says Singh Stick to budgets Itrsquos also a new experience for the artiste This even though retail storeowners work with tight budgets Riddhi Mehta owner of a Goregaonbased visual merchandising company explains ldquoSometimes it is difficult to take creative liberties as we have to stick to the budgets This is why not many artistes have contributed to store windowsrdquo Still some enjoy it Thirtythree yearold artiste Maadol Mukherjee who created quirky figures of a man woman and a dog out of scrap metal for the store displays of two major denim brands in Khar and Kemps Corner in 2007 says that although he had to follow the brandrsquos brief it was a new experience ldquoI worked with metal scrap which is my forte Using ferrous metal I created random figures by moulding hammering shaping and culling the ironrdquo explains the Andheri resident who studied metal craft at the JJ school of Arts ldquoThe work of an artiste is like plating up a food itemrdquo he feels ldquoThe way a practised chef will garnish his dish an artiste will lend an outofthebox touch to a store window An artiste will always take a left when the world takes a right and that makes all the differencerdquo Mukherjee grinsu00a0 David Lynchrsquos window to women In 2009 one of Parisrsquo biggest department stores Les Galeries Lafayette invited American filmmaker and artiste David Lynch to design 11 of their store windows which he based on the theme Machines Abstraction and Women One titled Woman with a Dream featured a fully functional model train that drove nonstop along the tracks As he describes ldquoI see these windows like a labyrinth a street museum where to move through indices A window it is a transparent door on the unknownrdquou00a0 4 questions for Jonathan Baker MA UEL MA CSMu00a0course director Visual Merchandising The London College of Fashion What is the current status of artistes creating store window installationsu00a0 In fashion everything happens in trends Currently as London is about to celebrate the Queenrsquos Jubilee and the Olympics retailers are concentrating on these Artistes are being invited to give their contribution as they add a sense of mystery and style to a window which is the first thing a customer checks out Why are brands roping in big artistes for their window setups When works by an artiste are displayed in a window it offers a fresh perspective to the brand Retailers see it as a promotional activity They also invite a cool artiste or designer to elevate their brand value How does it attract customers When we see artistes lending their creativity to a store window it adds dynamism excitement and amusement to a store window It is a sort of still entertainment for customers as it attracts them to step into the store and check out a collection Name a few painters and or artistes who may have created shop window installations for brands Historically painter Andy Warhol and paintersculptor Salvador Dali have done works for Bonwit Teller a departmental store in New York American film director Vincent Minellirsquos first job interestingly was that of a window dresser at Marshall Fields a departmental store in Chicagou00a0In the contemporary world illustrator Su Blackwell sculptor Benedeta MoriUbaldini and illustrator Esther Coombes have designed windows for fashion house Nicole Farhiu00a0Japanese artist Houxo Que has done set ups for Topshop a British multinational retailer brand for womenrsquos clothings Pop singer Dizzee Rascal and Florence Wench designed a store for Selfridges based on their songs u00a0