Jd Vincent

Vintage Visual Merchandising Jd Vincent

An update of the 2014 book previously titled, "Me & The Mannequins The Way I Display(ed). This version features all new high resolution pictures form the previous book and an updated forward. The narrative is the same - one year in my life as a display window designer in Chicago at Bonwit Teller in 1978. This book has 36 photo plates that tell a story of "Visual Merchandising" from an earlier era. Mannequins are a big part of this story. Although only a few styles of mannequins are pictured in this book, it's revealing how these few impacted my creative process. It is also very interesting in hindsight how much creative freedom I had at the time. A creative freedom that does not exist, for the most part, for today's Visual Merchandiser. I often refer in the book to "Display Window Design", as this was a transition era to today's Visual Merchandising job description. The prominent display window in this book was an unusual one even for it's time - it was located in the iconic John Hancock building in Chicago. At 30 feet wide it was a monster to figure out a design approach that made any sense, both practical as well as budgetary. For anyone not familiar with Bonwit Teller, a quick "google" will tell part of the story. This was a fairly small, exclusive chain of stores originating out of New York. They had an extensive selection of designer clothing from the era, as well as being home to "Shop-In-Shop" designer labels such as Hermes, Missoni & Fendi. I was very young and had a great time with so much creative freedom - and not so much of a great budget. In the years after I left Bonwit's, I would look at these photos and think they looked awfully dated. However, in the last few years, I've come to see them as "vintage" and yes, perhaps dated a bit - but I think the apparel, as well as some of my designs have stood the test of time. I hope the reader will agree.