The art of visual merchandising is often, no pun intended, overlooked by the average consumer. A great storefront display can give whole new meaning to window shopping, taking it from a passive activity and turning into a deliberate act of observance. Anyone who has ever visited Bergdorfs, Barneys or Chicago’s Marshall Field’s/Macy’s in mid-December solely to look at the holiday window displays will understand. Year round, studios that specialize in visual merchandising, as well as artists and designers are enlisted to create true works of art in the storefront windows of luxury brand flagship stores, major department stores, boutiques and mom-and-pop shops around the world.
The 15 windows in this gallery are awesome examples of visual merchandising, from the iconic and incredibly detailed windows by Leila Menchari at Maison Hermès in Paris to simpler displays that convey a big message through a few words, shoes or balloons.
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AllSaints is well known for their storefront windows filled with vintage sewing machines.
Photo via Flickr / by Douglas LeMoine
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Apple used a sticker to create the appearance of a shattered window to promote the 2006 release of the iPod Hi-Fi speaker system.
Photo via Flickr / by Roger Jones
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Studio Xag created a colorful and bright window display using light up neon letters for the Christian Louboutin flagship stores in London and Paris.
Photo via Studio Xag
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San Francisco's Cole Hardware is well-known locally for their window displays by Noelle Nicks, who predominantly uses hardware to create her themed displays.
Photo via Cole Hardware
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Consumer experience design firm Crack created this patriotic window display for the opening of Converse's fist West Coast retail store.
Photo via Crack
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République Beirut recreated the Mona Lisa using 1,292 spools of thread for ready-to-wear line Jawdat Ejjeh & Sons' Beirut, Lebanon storefront.
Photo via Design Milk
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Tommy Hilfiger used its storefront window to wish the world good luck at the London Olympics.
Photo via VM / by Haley Mills
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A playful JoAnn Tan Studio creation for Hermes.
Photo via JoAnn Tan Studio
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Leila Menchari created some of the most iconic window displays at the Maison Hermès in Paris starting in 1977.
Photo via TrendLand
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Zim & Zou told the story of a fox who took up residence in the window of the Hermès in Barcelona. The entire display was created using paper.
Photo via Zim & Zou / by Nacho Vaquero