Christmas in NY - The Dazzling #SaksHoliday Window Display

Since I was a child, experiencing New York during the holidays has always been a magical experience. Probably the most breathtaking sights, besides the concrete canyons and hustle of the people whizzing by, had to be the whimsical themes and sparkling decor of the holiday windows. I've always admired how the holiday windows creatively showcased themes and stories from the imagination of retailers - and no doubt the inspiration and drive behind my visual merchandising career! One of the many spectacular holiday presentations I was able to see during my recent visit to New York was a night-time view of the #SaksHoliday windows. For the 2015 holiday season, Saks Fifth Avenue created a Winter Palace banquet theme in addition to their creative interpretation of the earth's most spectacular wonders - transforming them into remarkable wintry fantasies... Grab yourself a cup of coffee, tea, or wine (depending on your time zone) to view not only my photos (which really don't do these windows justice!) plus some behind the scenes videos towards the end of the post...

 

 

 

After viewing these fabulous holiday windows at Saks, I basically felt like this...

Mind blowing! The attention to detail, and the time it had to take to plan, create, and execute these meticulous windows -- truly a lost art within the retail industry today -- and not something one can experience through online shopping. 

Intriguing window displays are very much a brick & mortar experience. And New York City has definitely evolved this tradition including unveiling presentations of historic flagship stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, plus also now utilizing the addition of social media (hence the use of #SaksHoliday in this post).  
And this year, Saks Fifth Avenue has created a designated, interactive social media driven content hub, SaksHoliday.com, where consumers may download exclusive Saks' holiday emojis, join The Winter Palace experience by sharing photos of their favorite icy destinations, and participate in holiday contests, polls, and quizzes.

Although I wasn't there for the unveiling, I did see the video on their Facebook page, you can watch here...

Before seeing the windows, Jeff and I were across the street at the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, where we also watched and listened to the light show extravaganza that is on the exterior of the historic Saks Fifth building.

This stunning light show is the first of its kind for Saks Fifth Avenue and required:

• 225,000+ individual points of controlled light
• 10,000+ hours to produce
• 250+ individuals involved both internationally and domestically 

You can view the behind the scenes making of the #SaksHoliday window here...

The Winter Palace is a completely new concept for Saks Fifth Avenue and is certain to leave audiences mesmerized! (I know we were!!) And although you may not be able to make it to New York to see this presentation, Saks Fifth Avenue stores nationwide also transformed their windows & stores into a Winter Palace holiday theme, which also included icy chandeliers, frosted decor, and wintry, lux fashion throughout its departments. 

Seasons Greetings and I hope you are inspired to have a magical Christmas!