By Cameron Noble

Premier UK luxury fashion retailer, Harvey Nichols, has revealed their mesmerising Christmas windows for their Edinburgh branch, and this year, they’ve gone full out.

For 2022, Harvey Nichols’ Display Team have devised an opulent display full of glitz and glamour, inspired by one of the key catwalk trends of the season, ‘Studio 54.’ Consisting of reflective angular mirrors, disco balls and an uncountable amount of sequins, the display reflects and throws lights onto the street to enchant passing customers.

Janet Wardley, Head of Visual Display at Harvey Nichols, said: “This year, we went all out with sparkles, mirrors and metallics, to create something truly mesmerising and eye-catching, that excites our customers as they shop this Christmas. We filled our windows with angular mirrored screens and oversized sparkling stars, and the most wonderful gifting ideas to help our customers get into the gifting spirit.”

Treating their window displays as a promotional stunt to showcase the variety of fashion, beauty, accessories and food products they hold within the store, Edinburgh’s Harvey Nichols store presents mannequins which are elegantly adorned with autumn/winter 2022 attire from international luxury brands such as Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent and Gucci, as well as displaying their own-branded luxury hampers and small gifts to cater to the mass market and inspire Christmas wish lists.

Behind the scenes of Harvey Nichols’ bedazzling windows, every store also has its own Visual Display Team who liaises with the Head Office’s visual management to ensure brand consistency. There is also an extensive creative process to materialise ideas into physical displays.

Mood boards are created to spark ideas by scanning magazines, watching fashion shows and sifting through old photographs. These ideas are sketched, followed by 3D drawings of the drafted window displays before they are sent off to Alperton, London, where parts are manufactured and sent to stores for on-site construction. The entire process can start as early as April, taking several months before the final idea is approved and realised, all in good time for the festive period.

Management within the Edinburgh branch has shared their praise and admiration for their Visual Display Team.

“Our Display Team are absolutely incredible at bringing our displays to life,” A Menswear Supervisor for the Edinburgh store said, “This year, they’ve done such an excellent job with the glitz and glam that Harvey Nichols was aiming to achieve.”

Especially in the dark, the windows’ beauty is amplified, helping the store to stand out from its competing neighbours such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry in Edinburgh’s luxurious high street – Multrees Walk. It also brings a pop of colour to St. Andrews Square, serving as a beautiful backdrop while also attempting to evoke curiosity within passing shoppers to take a closer look.

Harvey Nichols doesn’t shy away from dramatic displays that play with colour and creative concepts to captivate its customers. For 2021, Harvey Nichols decided to characterise each window with its own colour to symbolise positive emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement and calmness, all of which embrace the Christmas spirit. Their reputation for their ostentatious window displays over the years places them in a position where customers can expect a next-level display that reinforces the Christmas perspective in a fun and daring way for 2023.