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THE GRAND REVEAL
A sure sign that Christmas is on the way, the Brown Thomas windows are always a highlight on the festive calendar. We take a look behind the glitter to reveal the true story behind this year’s Christmas windows.
How do you know it’s Christmas? Perhaps it’s when you hear the first festive song on the radio, maybe it’s when you buy your first gift of the season or possibly it’s a little later when you decorate your tree. But for the vast majority of people, it’s officially Christmas when the Brown Thomas Christmas windows appear. Which, after much anticipation, are finally here!
After what was a very different Christmas for many last year, the promise of a festive season spent with family and friends seems to be more likely and the Brown Thomas windows for Christmas 2021 reflect just that. Here to celebrate those cherished moments on the holiday calendar, the renowned Christmas windows are luminescent, shimmering theatre sets each representing a moment of festive celebration with a hint of glittering disco. “The concept really was inspired by last year and how far we’ve come. No matter what comes our way, we’re never going to have another Christmas again like last year. So with that in mind, we just knew it had to reflect some form of party,” says Conor Dunbar, head of creative at Brown Thomas Arnotts.
A year in the making and featuring over 8,500 decorations, the incredible eye-catching window displays have been entirely hand dressed. A celebration of hope and radical optimism, welcoming the return of a Christmas spent together.
What we looked at was what was making people smile, what people love and look forward to at Christmas. Be it being at home or going out and socialising, it was really that sense of celebration we wanted to capture and illustrate throughout the store.
Conor Dunbar.
GIVE THE GIFT OF JOY
“Each window is based on those key pivotal moments around Christmas time. Our first window set reflects the task of Christmas shopping. Obviously, it’s such a massive part of our company and we cherish creating unique shopping experiences especially at this time of year so that was the idea and spirit behind our first window. The second window is a nod to gift-giving. That’s the true joy of Christmas. Giving gifts is about bringing someone you love joy which can then bring joy to you and that is what it’s all about.”
We hand dress all props that aren’t prefabricated, there are very few department stores in the world that would do that and that’s a huge part of our heritage that we want to hang onto.
ALL THAT GLITTERS
“Our third window is the classic Christmas cracker. It’s important to us to hold onto the Brown Thomas heritage with each window we create. That’s why we like to challenge ourselves with props that are truly unique. We don’t use what’s on the market or ready-made, we like to come up with creative ways to create each prop. For example, in the third window, we could have easily taken Christmas crackers made from cardboard and sprayed with glitter like you’d see in displays all across the world, but we didn’t. Instead, what we did, was combine two different components to create these crackers so we could add illumination from within each cracker. The fourth window then is the classic Christmas scene of trimming the tree. So just like with the crackers, we could have easily gone down the route of having real Christmas trees and decorate them with hundreds of baubles and lights, but to challenge ourselves, we made the tree very geometric to bring an exciting new element.”
One thing you might notice in this year’s windows is our classic mannequin. She’s become a part of our Christmas family in a way as we repeat and reuse her year after year.
MARVELLOUS MOMENTS
“Our fifth window is a nod to another classic festive scene: Christmas dinner. But to keep things exciting and to continue with our theme of ‘Those Who Shine ’and the goal to make people smile, we decided to set Christmas dinner on top of a swinging chandelier. This was perhaps the most challenging of all the windows as there was a lot of technical things we had to figure out to bring this set together but thankfully, it all worked out. I really love this window as it reflects the fun and joy that is the big Christmas meal. The next one then is where we embraced the disco theme the most. This window depicts Christmas night. Whether you get up and have a dance after dinner or you play games or stay up all night partying, we all have our own form of a party at home. Christmas is about celebration and that’s just what this window symbolises.”
For the costuming, we always look to the big fashion houses for references. This year, we also looked to Studio 54 and the likes of Bianca Jagger, Grace Jones and Debbie Harry which you can see at different touchpoints in the display.
A BRIGHTER FUTURE
“Then for our final two windows. Our seventh window is a nod to Champagne popping but rather than just a giant Champagne bottle in the window with streamers pouring out of it (which would have been a whole lot simpler) what we did instead was, build a Champagne staircase made from screen glass so we could fully illuminate it. Then to brighten it, even more, there’s additional illumination coming from the back wall which features hundreds of baubles each individually placed by hand. These baubles are illuminated to symbolise the Champagne bubbles. As for window eight, our last in the Christmas series, this symbolises the new year. We chose to represent this with a 13-hour clock as although it’s about new year celebrations, we didn’t want it to be a countdown to just the new year. Or a countdown to Christmas. We wanted it to be a countdown to looking forward, to new beginnings, to happy moments ahead, a countdown to whatever you need it to be.”
We wanted to bring a lot more light to Grafton Street. Everything is designed to shine. Even with the fabrics we use in the costumes, we used liquid silks so they are reflective of the lights.
MORE TO READ
And when you stop to look at The Brown Thomas Christmas windows in all their might, why not stop in-store to discover the ultimate designer finishing touch courtesy of our new luxury boutiques. Read all about it in The Luxe Lane.