Summer Windows. Some spectacle to lighten the mood

A sweep of this summer’s Oxford Street windows highlights that for a window to succeed in pulling customers off the street and into the shop it must do two things: 

1. Stop the customer in their tracks by standing out from the pack with a clear point of difference.

2. Communicate the offer inside the store in a way that is engaging and relevant to the customer. 

The windows on and around Oxford Street that achieve both impact and communicate an offer belong to Selfridges, New Look, Timberland, Banana Republic, Liberty and Ted Baker. These windows not only manage to grab the distracted eye of the passer by; they manage to hold their interest and reward the potential customer for spending more time looking deeper into the display before enticing them inside.   

Selfridges leads the window way, creating a feast for the eyes using mannequins on moving contraptions to display product in a way that is fun, inventive and quite magical. By attributing the windows to a design company (the White Wall Company) they are instantly elevated to works of art. The Selfridges store experience begins from the moment you step onto the pavement outside it. The men in panamas stopping to inspect each window were testament to Selfridges’ windows appeal across the board.

New Look’s windows are left open next to the stairs leading inside. With a beach scene including bunting floating in the muggy Oxford Street breeze and the sun shining straight onto the beach huts, the display evokes a brand of fun and frivolous fashion and tempts the public to step into the scene - or indeed the next best thing… the store.

Timberland has washing machines switched on in their window with product placed around them and messages such as “all our leather is washable”. Not only does this immediately open up questions for the passing public (‘why washing machines in a clothes shop window?’) it is also a tangible representation of the product benefits Timberland offers customers.

Banana Republic, with their oversized cardboard African animals forming the accompaniment to their safari themed clothing range create something quite beautiful whilst at the same time playing on their in store offer.

Liberty plays on its heritage with a retro style swimming block displaying modern swimwear. Whilst understated in its presentation, it is so evocative you can’t help but stop and be transported to old swimming pools and lazy afternoons.

With its’ flying bees and garden hedge foreground, Ted Baker exhibits its usual quirky sense of humour. A quintessentially British brand, the window evokes British summers in the countryside but with a surreal twist that invites a second glance.

Whilst these six stores stood out on the high street, others blended into one with bright summer colours versus sleek stylish windows dominating the mix. In a time when cash is tight and the media is filled with doom and gloom, the high street needs some fun and spectacle to lighten the mood. The stores that have created a spectacle and sense of theatre in their window displays succeed in standing out like beacons in an otherwise pretty but content-less highstreet landscape.

By Zoë Daniels