Dressing Windows
a multimedia essay about an H&M store
Store window displays have not yet capitulated completely to the big, windowless boxes dotting America's strip malls. It appears that the two have demarcated their territories - the boxes stay on the outskirts, while the windowed retailers get the malls and the downtowns.
I've always noticed store
windows, but since they are meant to be noticed, I can't claim special status.
Perhaps I am sometimes more aware than others of their power. When I lived
in New York, the window displays buffeted me between covetousness for the beauty
within and frustration that I could not afford most of what I admired. Washington,
D.C., had quieter, less appealing windows, providing a respite from those constant
twinges of desire and disappointment. Boston and Cambridge lie somewhere in
between, partly because my daily routes keep me away from the most appealing
shopping areas.
The other day, I broke with
my daily routine and headed to Downtown Crossing for a few errands and a little
wandering. It's not hard to come face-to-face with the massive storefront of
H&M, a Sweden-based retailer of men's and women's fashion at prices so affordable
it's hard not to think of the third-world contractors who make that possible.
But, as a reasonably fashion-conscious and somewhat income-deprived young woman,
it's also hard not to be tempted by the "cheap chic" approach. I wanted to learn
more about whom H&M Boston targets with its two huge window displays, one
on either side of the doors. 
Karen Bacon is a visual merchandiser for H&M's Downtown Crossing store. She has an extensive art background in dance, theatrical performance, and multimedia installation. H&M recruited her during its East Coast expansion just a few years ago, and she was drawn by the company's growth potential and the lure of financial stability, hard to come by for an artist. H&M aims to make "fashion for everyone" - women, men, teens, kids, trendy, basic - and Bacon says the company gives her great autonomy in interpreting its concepts. The head office in Sweden or the U.S. head office in New York will suggest loose themes (such as swimwear or Valentine's Day), types of clothes they'd like to move (such as sweaters or suits), and will provide some display materials. Bacon works out the specifics, getting feedback from colleagues in Sweden, New York, and Boston. She acknowledges that it can be tricky to market to everyone, so she tackles her mission a few demographics at a time. For the spring blitz, which wrapped up this past week, Bacon aimed for feminine women and sporty kids.
| Hear Karen Bacon describe a mannequin named Maude |
Bacon says Maude's display is about the basics a woman has in her closet. She says she's not going for anything too trendy, but she does bring her own artistic edge to the display. She uses the word "simple" several times in our interview, and it shows in her work. Both Maude's and the children's display are spare and immaculate, which I find surprising, given the huge volume of merchandise waiting in the vast store behind them. Bacon says that's deliberate.
| Hear Karen Bacon wax semiotic |
The result is a space between street and store that fulfills its primary duty of beckoning the customer inside to make a purchase. More surprisingly to me, however, is that the window displays also invite human engagement in a noncommercial way.
| Hear examples of noncommercial human engagement |
So while Bacon works with a stereotyped image of her target customer - an image drawn from local sales figures, inventory needs, and Sweden's head office - the real consumers, the ones passing by the H&M windows in Boston, Massachusetts, are in her creative vision as well.
| Hear about the corporation-customer dialectic |
Bacon says that sometimes, while walking down the street, she'll see someone wearing an outfit she had put together for the window. That's pretty clear feedback.
One thing that I feel merits
further exploration is the question of trends. 
Are
H&M and people like Karen Bacon, setting trends or following them? Is it impossible
to tease out one without the other? In talking about trends, Bacon moves fluidly
between both. She sounds like an anthropologist studying American high and popular
culture. Her extensive magazine reading list includes: W, Vogue, Elle, I/D,
Better Homes and Gardens, Elle Decor, Bambini, teen magazines, men's magazines,
and obscure art magazines. On television, Bacon considers "Queer Eye for the
Straight Guy" to be a must-see. She checks in on "The Apprentice" to see what
Donald Trump and the contestants are wearing. Not to leave anyone out of "fashion
for everyone," Bacon also watches HGTV (Home & Garden Television) to see what
homemakers in the suburbs are doing and wearing. And, as she mentions earlier,
she's people-watching in Boston and getting feedback while on the store floor.
But there's more than just trend following. There's a bit of economics in the
mix, too.
| Hear how Karen Bacon assimilates Skateboard Kenny |
Here we have a multi-level trend - someone decided it would be trendy to design a t-shirt that says "Skateboard Kenny" on it, someone else thought it would be trendy to offer it in H&M stores, and now Bacon builds on the trend by showing customers a trendy way to wear it.
I ask Bacon whether, with her extensive artistic background, she ever feels stifled in a job with such constraints. Her answer is no.
| Hear about where freedom meets chaos |
In a culture that prizes notions of meaning and purpose in our daily endeavors, Bacon sums up hers easily.
| Hear about windows and souls |
I admit to holding a number of paradoxical attitudes toward retail chains. On one hand, I shop at them because they are easy and affordable. On the other, I hate the plastic imagery that accompanies so many of them, including H&M. And yet, scratching the plastic surface, I find a remarkable depth that elevates my impressions. It makes me want to keep scratching.
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