When you whiz past in L.B.S Marg, Mulund or M.G Road, Ghatkopar, what catches your eye first? If you are an aesthete or someone with a penchant for shopping, it is probably a creative window design of an apparel store that grabs your attention.
 
Window dressing options have exploded within the past few months in the city. And it is slowly proving to be as creative and critical an exercise as store interior design. No more does a window display merely show off a haphazard heap of merchandise or dour shelving. Today the psyche behind window displays is a reflection of a multitude of ideas that flow through the minds of creative window dressers, shrewd shop owners and imaginative visual merchandisers. The window is now becoming more than just a hole in the wall.

Window dressing is an effective strategy for gaining the interest and attention of prospective customers. Departmental stores, exclusive showrooms and shops have innovative windows that attract and urge window shoppers to step in. This idea of imaginative and slickly executed window displays, for long the forte of shiny shopping malls abroad, is now catching on in India’s cities and malls too. It appears that a new class of local designers, specializing in the art of window dressing, has emerged.

Samata Saha and Dinesh Ruparel are two such innovative artists who have successfully translated business objectives into attractive and effective window displays.

Samata Saha is a visual merchandiser at a ‘family-oriented’ store in Mulund and has been in the profession for the past 25 years making her a pioneer in the industry. She graduated from Bhavan’s College in the late 50s, majoring in advertising. Initially she decorated homes for friends and relatives on occasions. The word spread and soon she found well-known stores like Bhagumal’s, Rajsri Brothers and Fabindia lining outside her front door. They wanted her to dress up their windows as well.

The glass window of the store in Mulund each day exhibits a plethora of designs and colours. “We generally dress it up monochromatically,” Saha says, “which means one colour rules. The window is first adorned with curtains and fabric of the chosen shade and then the mannequins are dressed with outfits of the same colour. This creates a definite impact,” explains Saha.
In addition, even as the window is immersed in black or purple based on Saha’a fancy, it also displays merchandise based on a concrete theme which she conceptualizes, visualizes and executes. These themes may be any one of several occasion or product-range based concepts: Valentine’s Day special (Red and white), traditional, western, mix and match, sports wear, woolens and denims are some of the more popular ones. Apart from all this there apparently is one key ‘business objective’ point which is to be taken care of and Saha sums this up well: “We see to it that whatever may be the theme or colour of the day, the mannequins in display portray all characters of the family from the toddlers to the parents so that the positioning of the establishment as a ‘Family store’ is rendered clearly to potential customers.”
 
But at a boutique in Ghatkopar things are a little different. Off comes the heavy drapes and instead we see light and breezy linen, cotton, chiffon, or vintage fabrics. Huge decorative rods hold pillow shams in place. Curtain edges are embellished with strips of gold lace. A piece of wide ribbon holds curtains in place. There are no mannequins staring out. Yet this window does leave its mark in the mind. This is Dinesh Ruparel’s handiwork.
 
“Mannequins are too common. Every storeowner dresses mannequins with a variety of clothes. But the concept of window dressing can also be exploited effetively without mannequins as well. Which is why I believe that just decorating the window exquisitely is a pretty good strategy,” explains Ruparel, one of the owners of the store. With no professional qualifications like Saha but with over forty years of experience, Ruparel is the man behind several major showrooms in Ghatkopar and Matunga.

A flair for decoration, an eye for detail and old-fashioned good taste are all that one requires, or so Ruparel believes. While Saha believes in theme-based decor, Ruparel considers ‘community-culture’ a key factor in planning and executing his windows. From the South-Indian Kanchipuram sarees to the sober Bengal cotton to the more Zatak Benaras sarees, all find their place in his window arrangements. “After all Mumbai is cosmopolitan and so we have to cater to a wide variety of communities. Thus everybody’s interests need to be, and are, taken care of.” adds Ruparel.
 
So whether one is displaying fashion products, technical products, cars, or any other product, colours, positioning and an expert choice of props is essential. That and the fact that the glass should, while providing security and visibility should in no way interfere with the display. For all its ubiquity in modern retailing window design and execution is an even mix of art and science.

Creating stunning window displays begins with careful thinking, listing the objectives to be achieved and the positioning of the store and the target customer. This then has to be balanced with the resources available to implement the design keeping in mind both the attributes and limitations of the window, its location and the setting. Being realistic about what you want and what will really work from a design perspective is the key to their success! Window dressing has emerged as a great marketing concept and many in the city like Saha and Ruparel are undoubtedly pioneers in an increasingly popular tool to sell more things to more people.

(Surya Ragunaathan is passionate about writing and currently writes a column for the Times of India.) 

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