The 2016 Holiday Windows was a learning experience filled with new challenges, immense pressure, and a test of our skills. But for our time at the High School of Fashion Industries, this project was not only our first holiday windows but something we looked forward to since being freshman. Now was our turn to show 23rd Street what these Fashion students can offer.
Simon Doonon, ambassador and window dresser from Barney’s New York, came to my class and we discussed possible themes that will be the focus of all 6 Holiday windows. After many pitches, we happily settled on to honor women who have impacted the music industry in various genres. The six women chosen were Beyonce (Pop/RNB), Dolly Parton (Country), Joan Jett (Rock N’Roll), Celia Cruz (Salsa), Madonna (Pop), and Grace Jones (Pop/Disco).
Celia Cruz, the queen of Salsa, was the woman my group had been selected to focus on. In a group of 4, we each created our own thumbnail sketches of the design, agreeing on one at the end. After the main story of our window was approved, we immediately moved onto the mood board and model trying to make it as detailed as possible. Using my Photoshop skills, I created a rendering to show our model in a digital version.
The story we wanted to portray in our window was a collection of items that represent Celia Cruz’s background, sort of like a giant collage! With her Cuban roots being a main factor in her music, there was no way we can miss this opportunity in including it for our window. We wanted to give the viewer a Cuban tropical feel. Bright color feathers everywhere (my personal favorite detail)! Of course, we handled the flooring and the backgrounds first. As for the floor, we decided to have a typical cobblestone street. One of my group members, Gladys, is Cuban herself therefore explained how a grey tone to cobble floors would be perfect. As for the background, we used printed layers of a Cuban poster. The side walls contained tropical flowers with other old-school Cuban posters. We popped out the side posters to grab more attention.
The designing of the mannequin was a fun process! We knew for sure there needed to be bright colors and ruffles. That was a given fat knowing Celia Cruz! Luckily, a company had donated a tropical dress to the fashion department that heard this could possibly come in handy. Turns out it was a perfect fit. We made sure to include lots of dimension, layering, and wanted to have a fun collage look to it.
Now, you may see Holiday window and wonder.. how in the world is Celia Cruz related to the holidays? Well. We all made sure within the 6 windows, each were assigned 3 gift boxes that had to represent the artist. This includes the paper, the bow, and even the sizing! Also, the inclusion of Christmas lights was mandatory. It had to fit your theme of course, ours in this case was a great opportunity for the rainbow lights.
Oh! I can’t forget to mention that while we were running inside and out of the window making sure all details were as visioned, Celia Cruz’s hairdresser had passed by. He stopped with his dog and complimented us on our work saying “Celia would’ve been so honored to see this”. He showed us a picture of them together and went about his day. Such a coincidence!
*We were also interviewed by Channel 2!*
Thumbnail Sketch:
Digital Inspiration board:
Photoshop Rendering:
Physical Model:
–Process–
–Process–
That’s me!
Night Window:
Day Window:
The “Celia Cruz” Group featuring Simon Doonan, from Barney’s NY
Spectrum News, Channel 2:
Alyssa Lee Santiago 