Autumn 2012 Window Installation at Ballantynes
Autumn fashion window installation at Ballantynes, designed by Majka Kaiser & Monica O’Brien
I love paper. I love its humble nature and the idea that such a seemingly ordinary material can be elevated beyond the extraordinary. The brief for the autumn fashion window was simple; a forest theme using natural materials but with a polished finish. My mind quickly turned to the use of cardboard, then corrugated card which allows flexibility and is an inexpensive material to cover great expanses. This window is great deal larger than the average retail window measuring a very long 21 metres, which calls for some clever, creative solutions, to produce something of great effect and often within a tiny budget – we’re often talking pig’s ear, silk purse realms! However, this being the first big window installation since Ballantynes’ grand reopening, leading the city forward post earthquake in the new container city dubbed Re:Start, our new managing director was willing to be a little looser with the purse strings in order to make an impact. This being the case, we were afforded the luxury of printing on such grand scale. Usually we do all our printing in-house, but given the scale and the material on which we were printing, it called for outsourcing. All in all we produced in excess of 30m2 of printed corrugated card for two windows (Christchurch and Timaru stores) as well as in-store displays. A huge thanks goes out to the wonderful Lee at Action Signs who was so patient with me getting every last detail just right! We pushed the boat out even further by investing in these gorgeous deep red wigs for our new ladies which were definitely worth it!
The concept I created was a giant rolling wave as the backdrop which enveloped the mannequins. On either side of the ‘wave’ were groups of plinths at varying heights, showcasing accessories and shoes, which were made from cardboard tubes wrapped in the printed corrugated card and rolled 18m strips of the same material which formed the tops of the plinths. We were quite chuffed with the overall outcome!
All Photos by Majka Kaiser
Stay tuned for the upcoming winter fashion window installation here in Re:Start, container city in Christchurch.
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