A menswear store under the influence

On our ongoing series of Window displays, it’s about normal that every year around this time, we make one specially dedicated to the Holiday Season. As with every other Window, the challenge is big and more so with this one as people always expect something to Uau them and we must try not to disappoint. Including lights is always a good start, simply because we like lights, they are usually associated with the season and we always include them in our Christmas Windows. For this one, we’ve searched for old glass globes on our usual suppliers. These are antique pieces which are not being produced anymore, that at some point made part of people’s homes and that by itself connects to fond memories. Skipping the explanatory mushy part, it was a lot of trouble hanging all those globes, wiring them up and connecting the light bulbs in order to create a kind of light cloud that reaches all the way through the shop’s front.
Here’s a video of how it turned out. Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Guess we have all grown accustomed to wintery images of people, with their scarves being blown away by powerful winds. These images were the starting point for our latest Window display. We wanted to capture that moment when the scarf is gently flowing, parallel to the ground, while wrapped around a person’s neck. For those of you who haven’t noticed it, when cruisin’ down the avenue or just couldn’t come and see it, only because you are too far away, here’s a little video we made about it.

Here’s some new single shots of our Green Window. This was the first outcome of the collaboration work that lead to our current window display. These new isolated shots show more in detail the product itself allowing to focus on the vegetable/natural aspect of it. As a quick reminder, this whole concept started after the basic idea that all Buttero footwear is made from vegetable tanned leathers (the most eco and environmentally friendly available).

After enjoying such a great feedback with last year’s Moving Window for the Buttero sneakers, we couldn’t help ourselves and try it again this year. Once all Buttero footwear is made from vegetable tanned leather, (which btw, is the most non toxic, environmentally friendly type of leather available), the starting point was to go green on this one. With this in mind, we challenged our friends and shop collective Os Suprematistas, who gladly joined us with their dedicated hard work and peachy plant selection. Together, we came up with the idea of using the items as containers for the the plants, after ensuring careful protection. As with all ideas, it derived and expanded a little and we ended up also using some Property Of… bags, a 19th century net hammock and some aged wooden flooring to set up the perfect backdrop.

A special thanks to Pedras & Pêssegos.

Not a year goes by that, by this time of the season, we don’t make a Window specially dedicated scarves. As inspiration doesn’t come easy, we try to even things out by working real hard on the subject. Eventually, something comes up. With the idea rolling, we have to find ways to make it happen, as frequently as possible in a low tech kind of way. Creativity is the key, with sourcing being another important part of the equation, as we’ve shown in this earlier post. For this window, inspiration came from an upcoming Found Photo
about some school kids having their picture taken. Let’s say, that was just the starting point…

Preparing for our next window. Yeah, you guessed right, it has something to do with chairs…
Usually there’s a lot of research work involved and this time was no exception.

We admit being a little bias when it comes to Raf Simons so, after the last post, we dug into our Window Archive and came out with this one from the AW07 season debut featuring some of his shoes. Keeping it low-tech, this was what we came out with, using lamps, plastic straps, wire (… and some imagination). What we most remember about it, was the impact it made on the people passing by at night.

As our Sale is flying away, so are the little furry guys who helped us spread the word. We’re definitely no Takahashi’s
when it comes to dolls but still, this window was real fun to do and we’re pretty sure somebody else also enjoyed it…

Although most of our windows are made from scratch with original developed ideas, we sometimes draw inspiration from other cool stuff we come across. That was the case with this window made for a very stunning pair of Paul Smith shorts in June 2004. At this time, we’re not quite sure where we’ve seen this first but it was such a good idea that we decided to adopt it for a window. In case you’re wondering, there was massive bleeding on the shorts colors during the weeks they were immersed so our word of advice is, don’t try this at home kids…

This is the window we made for the SS10 Buttero sneakers, with movement in mind.
With more than 50 windows done so far, the reaction to this one has been really amazing.
We are quite happy to say that the Moving Window is a real showstopper!…

Windows are very important to us and we’re always trying to create something new and exciting for each one we make. With that in mind,
we made a field trip to our friend João’s company, to sort out some ideas for the upcoming one. His company – Italcor III, creates solutions for industry from simple conveyor belts for your car engine to large airport luggage transport systems. What we most liked in our visit was
the factory production line with all those machines, each one custom built for a special purpose.
New window, conveyor belts,… are you already trying to figure out what’s next?!
These pictures might give you some clues…

When we came up with this window, we had no idea what was going to happen. They haven’t all been counted yet but there must be around 400 posts up there. It’s impossible to point out each and every one of them, so here’s a general picture. Thank you for all of you who came
by and those who sent e-mails. Thank you all and Happy Valentine’s Day!

As promised, here’s some pictures from the 2nd day of the window.
A rainy day, but that didn’t stop people from coming by and post their feelings. Once everything stays outside 24 hours a day, we’re still
amazed how all is still intact and not even one single pen is missing – so far, so good…
For all of you who are sending messages, keep those emails coming as we promise to post them all, even if that means working overtime!