Photo Essay: Liberty's Christmas Windows for 2013

With Selfridges out the way, it's time to focus on Liberty, another London department store with a rich history. Right now, Liberty is also the centre of attention thanks to a behind-the-scenes Channel 4 documentary, the final part of which will be broadcast tonight, so there's no better time to look at the windows of the famous mock Tudor building with its signature purple bags, that same purple of the lining of a bar of Cadbury's chocolate. Tuck into the company's minimalist visual merchandising vision for Christmas 2013...

 In previous years, these windows have featured a psychedelic frog and glamorous tableaux of mannequins, but 2013 called for simplicity, a smattering of sequins and starbursts.

 Each star contained products based on a particular theme or customer - this one definitely covered travel, with a distinctive wooden sculpture and some beautifully covered maps.

 More travel, anyone? The phrenology head sat alongside a globe and a Moroccan lantern.

 A little Statue of Liberty snowglobe or paperweight added a pun on the shop's name.

 Fancy setting sail with these gifts?

 A flamingo ticked the kitsch box.

 A solitary mannequin in this window showed just how uncluttered the displays were in comparison with previous years, when it was hard to see everything crammed in.

 Rockstud pumps by Valentino got my attention.

Fur trimmed boots were placed with stylish homeware pieces.

 I couldn't resist a peek inside, either. These mannequins and their present hats stopped me in my tracks.

One of the building's rare open spaces, overlooking the scarf hall, was dedicated to the West End musical, Matilda, complete with letter panels and a paint-splattered satchel.

Considering Liberty's Christmas shop alone attracts 250,000 visitors every year, it's fair to say that the visual merchandising on the outside plays an important part in drawing potential customers through the doors. 

Obviously going minimalist can be a risk for a place so readily associated with opulence and floors piled with goods, but I think it will help Liberty to stand out from the crowd. I would have liked to see a bit more colour in the windows, but otherwise the content is still going to grab people as they walk past. 

Do you think going minimalist at Christmas is a good idea for the store, or would you have preferred something crazier? Tweet me - @misspallen - or leave a comment below.

Photo Essay: Liberty's Christmas Windows 2012

 Liberty always has the power to make you feel glamorous, even when you're peering through the window in a decidedly unglamorous outfit and wishing yourself to jump through to the other side. 

 No bog-standard Ikea stool for this lady - instead there's an elegant branch/antler-inspired chair.

 What I love about visual merchandising is when you take a trend and exaggerate it to the hilt.

Here we have the fashionista bun, turned into an elaborate feat of hair engineering.

 Burgundy and oxblood tones look great against Christmassy silver and gold.

 If you hadn't guessed it by now, the theme is 'party'.

 One of the biggest shoe trends for this season is the flared chunky heel, worked best by Miu Miu.

It's the perfect example of seasonal excess, and it somehow works.

 The children's window did old-fashioned festive fun with plenty of animals and books.

I loved the absence of chunky, homogenous plastic.

 There's definitely something magical about this kind of traditional Christmas.

 Obviously setting the table is slightly difficult when there's someone sitting on it.

 I love this set-up - the lobster, the lightbulb, the delving under the table.

It feels eccentric and typically British (with a slight nod to Dada).

 The appearance of seafood on the table shows that this isn't just about Christmas; it's the whole festive season and not just the bits with turkey in.

 The brilliantly subtle thing about the use of multiple sets of gloves is that it suggests buying (well, and grabbing) without seeming forceful. However, you still want to be the person clutching those bags.

I think Liberty's windows are much more understated than last year (remember the giant frogs?) but they're really effective and they combine the party excesses with the down-to-earth decor of home. Everything's warm and friendly and feels a million miles away from the 'candy cane rammed down your throat' feeling that sickly over-saturated Christmas displays can sometimes leave behind. Liberty, as always, stays classy.

[All photos my own].

P.S. After my trip to Liberty I popped along the road to see the Carnaby Street lights. They paid a fitting tribute to the Rolling Stones with the gold LPs and giant Stones tongue logo.

Window Displays: Selfridges vs. Liberty at Christmas

In what could easily be described as Baroque and Roll, Selfridges went for all-out decadence but in a strict palette of white and silver. I love the cheeky skull that made its way into the display.

Mannequins showed a lot of uber-modern minimalist fashion, without distracting patterns. These pieces did the talking by themselves.

Against a backdrop of whitewashed wooden planks and giant ribbon decorations, the scene was set.

The Blackberry tree got me interested. This was a simple but effective piece of product placement and it's much nicer to look at than an advert or a slogan.

Homeware also got in on the act, with these laddered shelves catching my eye.

At Liberty the windows were definitely fantastical, but with an underlying craft element that was very British. The baubles in cages are already a feature at our house, and it's nice to see window displays that take on elements of reality as well.

Eveningwear gets a look-in with the moon taking centre stage

Seven swans a swimming, as the carol goes... you can see how the theme took hold in this window.

Mannequins looked languid and seemed to drape themselves over the products.

The theme really drew together all of the corresponding windows and it didn't feel detached from the spirit of Liberty as a department store.

Could I pick a favourite?

It's a tough one. I love the starkness of Selfridges, but I also keep coming back to the scene setting at Liberty. If I was pushed to decide then I'd say Liberty, as the traditional aspect really appealed to me, and it was a very welcoming piece of visual merchandising.

Window Displays: A Very London Christmas

[All photos my own. Please ask permission before reproducing].

Here's a condensed snapshot of my window snaps. More to follow tomorrow...

Selfridges is an ocean of white right now. The Visual Merchandisers went for a crisp and stark look, softened by silver glitter and traditional green trees. Inside the decorations were kept to a similarly strict colour scheme, but with more warmth to brighten up the shop (loads of white + yellow shop floor lighting does not make for the best combination in large doses, folks, so you have to add a little something).

John Lewis was having a ball (yup, Christmas joke, sorry) with its choice of polystyrene globes in varying shapes and sizes, which were also suspended in long strands from the ceiling by the escalators. I really liked the balancing out of textures with the tree trunks, which also helps to draw the eye upwards. Clothing was simple and trend-led.

Liberty's displays always have an air of fairytales about them, and this year was no exception. Top marks to the VMs for adding a subtle fetish twist here with chains and the gorgeous Vivienne Westwood dress that references Paul Delaroche. There were loads of Baroque influences, little animals, stacks of books and luckily they'd got rid of their strangely hypnotic frog which freaked me out so much previously.

Going further than Selfridges for the simple white theme, French Connection continued its text-heavy campaign (you know the ads: 'You Are Woman', etc.) with 'I Am Your Gift' boxes. The haphazard stacking really appealed to me - let's face it, the older you get, the more disorganised Christmas becomes - and the floor lighting also gave it an edge.

I love stating the obvious. Obviously.

For more Christmas windows, check back here tomorrow.