DALLAS, Nov 5, 2009 / FW/ — Italian design maestro Giorgio Armani has a unique philosophy when casting models for his runway shows; he always chooses new or unknown faces. His reason for this – he wants the audience to focus their attention on the clothes not the model.
He has point! And though Giorgio Armani is actually a minority in this way of thinking, I can see the same logic at the Barneys New York store windows wherein all the mannequins are “faceless”, which we are classified as “abstract” in mannequin categories.
Men’s windows are a combination of forms, abstract faces and headless mannequins arranged like a group of CSI checking out a man lying down. Or, it could be a camping scene for all we know, the “lying man” still asleep in camp while his friends are already all dressed up to go hiking.
Urban or country, the goal is the same – the window dresser wants the passerby to focus their attention on the merchandise, not the mannequin.
The next window is definitely outdoorsy, and this time, the forms and mannequins are gone. The down-filled quilted jackets are just hanging on hangers (pun intended.)
The women’s windows are using abstract mannequins also with post it notes on their “faces” to make the connection between the fish at the background that was created using different color post-it. As this window suggests, the ladies made the fish.
[MARI DAVIS]
Photos by Rudy Pospisil / www.anothernormal.com
