Barneys challenges traditional beauty ideals through realistic window displays

Barneys window display featuring Hood By Air

Department store chain Barneys New York is transporting consumers to Hood By Air’s spring/summer 2016 runway show at the Philharmonie de Paris through a lifelike display in its Madison Avenue windows.

Taking the concept of mannequin to a new level, the retailer worked with Studio UG’s Yuji Yoshimoto to build custom figures based on six of the brand’s muses, most of whom walked in the show. The realistic nature of the statues in the window will likely catch the attention of passersby, who may stop to examine whether or not they are truly inanimate.

Fabricated faces
It took two months to fabricate the mannequins. The models first sat for a 3D body scan. From there, Mr. Yoshimoto created negative molds by using plaster over silicon, hand sculpting the plaster to get details.

Then the master molds were filled with silicon in the model’s skin tone.

The studio embellished the figures with glass eyeballs, real eyebrow hairs that were affixed individually and custom dentures. The finishing touches were wigs, hand painted tattoos and custom mouthpieces by Dolly Cohen like those that walked the runway.

Barneys says these mannequins challenge conventional senses of beauty, which may cause pedestrians to stop and consider the figures in the window.

Golo, Roman, Brandon, Sunny, Chucky and Hirakish are not professional models, but men who were chosen to be a part of the Hood By Air creative community. They all live the brand’s lifestyle, making them fitting ambassadors.

Barneys window display

In the windows, the mannequins are shown in a white box, each with one foot forward as if walking a runway towards the window pane.

“From coordinating logistics with the models to the physical execution of molding and casting the forms, the whole thing took six months,” said Matt Mazzucca, vice president of windows and exteriors for Barneys, in a brand statement. “Truly, the process was just as inspiring as the final results.”

Barneys shared a behind-the-scenes look at the process on its content site The Window. In an interview, Hood By Air designer Shayne Oliver talks about everything from the origins of the pacifier-meets-S&M mouthpieces to the importance of diversity in casting.

Stepping away from the typical mannequin can help a store’s window display gain attention from onlookers.

Italian apparel and accessories label Bottega Veneta looked to a Hasbro doll to model its spring/summer 2014 collection in its window displays to stand out from other storefronts.

The life-size mannequin versions of Blythe, a doll with a large head and wide eyes, was revealed in the windows of select Bottega Veneta boutiques over the course of a few weeks. Since Blythe has been around for multiple generations, Bottega Veneta was able to connect with consumers of varying ages who recognized the doll and were reminded of their childhood (see story).

from
http://www.luxurydaily.com/barneys-challenges-traditional-beauty-ideals-through-realistic-window-displays/